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Budweiser eyes mobile, social content to connect with music fans

Anheuser-Busch?s Budweiser has launched a mobile and social platform that churns out content to keep music fans discovering new music on a regular basis.

The beer brand has partnered with Facebook and Vice to create a microsite and Facebook application for its recently-launched Made for Music global campaign that connects music fans through mobile and social media. Six different sets of content will give music fans a behind-the-scenes look at some of their favorite musicians.

?Mobile plays two roles in the Budweiser Made for Music global campaign, both as a channel and as content,? said Kathy Sattler, New York-based global marketing director at Budweiser.

?Channel, as a majority of social content is consumed via mobile, and all of our content has been optimized for mobile,? she said.

?The Budweiser Made for Music campaign is built upon the brand?s dedication to music as a universal language.?

Mobile music
The Facebook app and microsite is accessible at https://budglobal.thismoment.com/ and is aimed at connecting music fans that have either achieved fame or are on a successful performance path.

The platform is launching with a set of content that features videos from musicians that are performing at Budweiser?s Made in America Festival from Aug. 31 through Sept. 1 in Philadelphia. Videos from musicians such as Jay-Z, Phoenix and Empire of the Sun are featured on the site.

After the festival ends, the site will include content from artists in markets across the world. The campaign will run through October.

The site will churn out a series of content franchises that use photos and videos to convey specific themes with music.

For example, the Made In A Minute content franchise will show 60-second videos that tell short stories about the journeys of artists.

Another set of content with gig posters features a series of virtual posters that include quotes and photos from band members. The posters will then be printed out for some of the participants in Budweiser?s campaign.

Using mobile to connect with music fans

Mobile past
Budweiser has been marrying its social and mobile initiatives together for quite some time.

For example, Budweiser recently rolled out an app as part of its sponsorship of the Man of the Match award with the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 and the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil that uses a Facebook account to let users vote in real-time (see story).

Additionally, the brand ran a mobile advertising campaign earlier this year to help launch its Black Crown beer (see story).

Mobile and social goes hand-in-hand for music fans. Mobile devices continue to grow as the dominant platform that consumers prefer to access  content on.

Consumers are also sharing music with friends and family via mobile to find new artists and music that they would not know about otherwise.

?Given the nature of consumers today, people watch, enjoy and most importantly share on their mobile devices,? Ms. Sattler said.

?Allowing fans to access video and content on their mobile device was crucial,? she said.

?Before launching we did a week of testing with unpublished posts in which we saw that 90 percent of engagements happened in mobile and, specifically, mobile video outperformed desktop video.?

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York