2021 SHORTLIST

hashtagsportsawards

MICHELOB ULTRA THE MATCH 

Entrant Company: Michelob ULTRA

FINALIST

Best Sports Return Storytelling

Michelob ULTRA The Match

ABOUT THIS ENTRY

After almost three months in quarantine, The Match provided a way to deliver to fans what they were missing most – a moment of levity and a reason to smile.

How does this represent “Excellence in Engagement”?

Michelob ULTRA believes that enjoyment contributes to success, not the other way around. As a brand we believe that you win because you are happy, not that you are happy because you win. As a brand with a long history in golf and our inherent brand positioning, it made sense for us to sponsor and activate around The Match – it was a golf event, rooted in fun with some of the most successful athletes in the world.

However, this event had added significance. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it had been months since consumers had watched any type of live sports – in person or on TV. We saw this as an opportunity to showcase the joy we all felt and frankly needed in this moment. 

Many other brands could have made an emotional film about the return of sports, but for us we wanted to champion the thing we all missed most – the fun and joy that comes with watching live sports.

 

Objective: Michelob ULTRA welcomed back the return of live sports by creating a 360 program around The Match: Champions for Charity – featuring Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning all playing golf for COVID-19 relief efforts. This campaign was more than just a sponsorship of an event, but rather a welcome back to the thing we all missed most about sports – the joy of watching them and the fun that comes with competition.

Strategy & Execution: Prior to the Match, we welcomed the return of golf by deep-faking scenes from one of the most iconic golf movies in history – Caddyshack. We inserted our brand ambassador The Match participant, Peyton Manning into some of the funniest scenes from the movie to build anticipation and have some laughs ahead of the event. We also debuted our iconic Michelob ULTRA beer cart – something all golfers missed as a result of COVID restrictions and teased the potential that consumers could win it. We also debuted a merch collection inspired by the movie that we made available to consumers.

Match Day: On the day of broadcast, we hosted an 18-hole #ULTRAPrizeScramble on Twitter. Each hole, we debuted a new prize from Caddyshack merch to our iconic beer cart featured on our TV commercial were available for consumers who tweeted using our prize scramble hashtag. We drove additional eyeballs on the event through ULTRA influencers like pro golf Brooks Koepka, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady’s NFL teams and more. We used our TVC and broadcast integrations during The Match to drive consumers to Twitter as well, ultimately resulting in the #2 trending topic in the U.S. for the duration of The Match.

 

Results:

“The Match” was the most watched Golf event in the history of cable television; its peak audience was 6.3 million viewers with an average of 5.8 million viewers, but more importantly, it gave Michelob ULTRA the opportunity to celebrate the joy of the return of sports. We helped solve the frustration and devastation COVID-19 brought to the world, even if just for a few hours. The return of sports and enjoyment of a beer was finally the escape viewers needed.

PRODUCTION

Michelob ULTRA
Wieden+Kennedy
Draftline
3PM

Dentsu

CREDITS

VP of Marketing
Michelob ULTRA
 
Sr. Director Digital Marketing
Michelob ULTRA
 
Sr. Director of Marketing
Michelob ULTRA

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