Campaign Imminent: Budweiser taps AOR for upcoming NFT service launch

Budweiser has become the first client of VaynerNFT, which it named as the AOR for the non-fungible token (NFT) space. This agency, the new arm of VaynerMedia, will work with Budweiser on new NFT experiences for the beer brand's fans through entertainment, sports and music-based experiences. New work will reportedly launch later this year and will amplify Budweiser's brand assets such as ambassadors, sponsorship assets, merchandise, products and food/beverage assets through the Metaverse.

Vayner and Budweiser have worked together for around a decade; this relationship culminated in a Gold Lion win at Cannes for Budweiser's "The Future Official Sponsor" campaign.

I expect the brand's spend to pick up soon to support this new service.

So far this year, iSpot reports Budweiser has spent approximately $3.5m on national TV commercials, less than a third of the approximately $18m it spent within the same 2020 timeframe. The brand ended up spending approximately $35.3m on this channel last year, down 23% from the approximately $45.8m it spent in 2019. Budweiser's commercials of 2021 have targeted millennials (male skew) watching programs such as MLB Baseball, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, MLB Tonight, NASCAR Cup Series and Two and a Half Men.

Per Pathmatics, the brand has allocated roughly $3m toward digital ads YTD, down 42% from the roughly $5.2m it had allocated by this point last year. Budweiser's estimated full-year 2020 spend reached $7.7m, double that of $3.6m in 2019. Since the beginning of 2021, it has earned around 343.3m digital impressions via YouTube (40%), Facebook (28%), Instagram (19%) and Twitter (12%) ads. 

Additionally, Magellan reveals Budweiser has aired five podcast ads within the past 12 months.

As I briefly mentioned, the brand's spend should pick up steam as this new service launches. Budweiser tends to target men, especially Gen-Z and millennial men. According to Kantar data, Budweiser also invests in print (newspapers), OOH and local broadcast. It holds planning conversations in Q2 and buying conversations in Q1. 

Agency & martech readers - This hire comes around a year after Budweiser selected Allison+Partners as its PR AOR in May 2020, so parent company AB InBev may seek new creative and/or media agencies for Budweiser specifically.