Rethinking the classic product spot. Over a five year span, DK created several domestic and international television campaigns for DDB and Anheuser-Busch that helped revitalize the Budweiser brand and reposition its image. In spite of their ever-present advertising, Anheuser-Busch was missing a campaign to showcase Bud’s key product attributes - crisp. clean, refreshing, and superior-crafted beer. Our work filled that gap.

Case Study

The Challenge

Showcase “beer quality”—a staid topic—in a manner that educates and entertains the consumer on Anheuser-Busch’s superior product.

We needed to develop a unique look and feel that felt relevant to 21-27 year olds. This group may not recognize Bud as a quality beer that competes with imports on quality and taste. The campaign needed to demonstrate Bud’s global reach, and most importantly, the taste appeal of a beer brewed with the finest attention to detail.

We were given immense creative freedom by DDB to concept original work, with virtually no storyboards, scripts, or pre-ordained conceptual work. The downloads were minutes long. But they were smart, efficient, and wildly invigorating, especially by beverage industry standards. “True Music, bring that to life for an International audience,” was the entire creative download for one particular spot. Thank you DDB Chicago for the creative trust you placed in us.

The Solution

Many stories, with one spine. The beer was always the hero across several live-action spots. Each spot starts with a single drip and expands into a spectacular world where the beer often behaves in supernatural and fantastic ways.

Development and Production

We used live action, animation, and sophisticated tabletop liquid techniques to make every spot a unique 30 second journey. We finish what we start, which is unique in live action commercial production. This set of work exemplifies the process of respecting picture, music and edit as equal ingredients, working in complete unison to create a final piece that is stronger than the sum of its components.

Tasting Victory

Immediately after the campaign launch, Anheuser-Busch’s quality scores jumped in their qualitative and quantitative research. More importantly, this campaign helped stem the sales decline that continues to affect the entire premium beer category (full calorie beers). With competitive premium beers seeing double digit slides, Budweiser was able to keep their volume declines in low single digits, while increasing market share in the premium segment.

Credits

Refreshement/Escape/Music/Anticipation
Creative Directors
Jeff Long
Paul Schneider
Producer
Mark Bashore
Designers
Chris Markos
Matt Lavoy
Andre Stringer
Ken Kornacki
Camm Rowland
Editor
Eric Anderson
Cinematographers
Crash
Ben Dolphin
Exec. Creative Director
Paul Matthaeus
Exec. Producer
Don McNeill
Music/Sound
Deep Mix
Agency
DDB
Gametime/Groove
Creative Directors
Danny Yount (Gametime)
Andre Stringer (Groove)
Producer
Seng Rimpakone
Designer
Paul Schneider
Editor
Eric Anderson
Animator
Anthony Vitagliano
Matt Lavoy
Compositor
Matt Lavoy
Live Action Director
Paul Schneider
Exec. Creative Director
Paul Matthaeus
Exec. Producer
Don McNeill
Music/Sound
Timo Mass
Agency
DDB
Pour
Creative Director
Paul Schneider
Producer
Tom Leonard
Designer/Compositor
Matt Lavoy
Rick Thompson
Anthony Vitagliano
3d
Matt Daly
Editor
Eric Anderson
Exec. Creative Director
Paul Matthaeus
Exec. Producer
Mark Bashore
Agency
DDB