Budweiser was the centerpiece of a campaign that leveraged a heartwarming Super Bowl ad and the Minibar Delivery mobile application to drive beer sales during the widely watched game and high-priced advertising showcase.

Upon the airing of the brewer?s ?Lost Dog? commercial, which starred the lovable little pup who stirred viewers? hearts in an ad in last year?s Super Bowl and Budweiser?s iconic Clydesdale horses, Minibar sent a push notification to thousands of smartphone users of the Minibar app, prompting them to buy the beer through the app. The resulting huge jumps in orders, dollar sales and engagement point to how mobile can drive both marketing and commerce when it is at the hub of a multichannel strategy.

?Mobile is a very personal channel,? said Kathryn Fokides, Minibar?s director of marketing. ?Thoughtful multichannel marketing programs can compliment a brand's primary TVC investment with the addition of a more personal touchpoint.

?Together, multichannel marketing can help brands complete their desired purchase cycles faster by connecting equity campaigns with on-demand services like Minibar.?

Showing the campaign?s effectiveness, the promotion led to Minibar?s highest-ever Budweiser sales day. Orders soared 500 percent compared with the previous week while dollar sales increased 650 percent from a week earlier.

In-app mobile engagement jumped 400 percent during the 10 minutes surrounding the push notification.

And on that single Super Sunday, Minibar delivered more orders of Budweiser than it did in the entire month of January.

The initiative sought to establish a direct connection between brand advertising and on-demand Budweiser delivery. 

As part of the collaboration, Minibar also engaged its audience via a dedicated email to users and social media posts to drive Budweiser sales on the app.

Minibar?s app lets users easily order wine, spirits, beer, mixers and bar supplies for delivery in less than an hour.

Once the free app is downloaded, users are matched with a local wine, spirits and beer, vendor, providing access to its inventory and allowing an order to be placed by fingertips. There are no delivery fees, just the tip. The order is delivered in under an hour.

 

?We know that the vast majority of all our users watch TV with a second screen, particularly with mobile devices,? Ms. Fokides said. ?By sending a branded push notification at the same time the Budweiser TVC aired, we were able to connect the Budweiser equity driving ad with on-demand purchase.?  

In the social portion of the outreach, a dedicated email encouraging Budweiser purchase was sent on Sunday morning while consumers were stocking up for the game. Additionally, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter posts made users aware of the Budweiser-Minibar partnership.

The partnership?s success coincided with Anheuser-Busch?s decision to step up its social outreach for the Super Bowl.

Although the St. Louis-based Budweiser parent?s brands have been prominent for years in TV commercials shown during the winter football classic, it put resources into engaging drinkers on social before, during and after the big game. 

Before a vast global audience, it was a way for Anheuser-Busch to get its star brands into the hands of the 18-to-34 age group, which collectively is expected to spend more than $200 billion annually, starting in 2017.

?We knew Super Bowl would be a huge weekend for Minibar,? Ms. Fokides said. ?We wanted to find a relevant partner for our audience.

?In our mind, there was no better choice than Budweiser ? the classic American beer,? she said. ?Everything about the campaign was thoughtful and timely, from coordinating the moment of push notification with the Budweiser spot to featuring their Super Bowl creative throughout the Minibar app.?