Advertising / Anheuser-Busch InBev

Emotions Drive Budweiser To Create Global Brand:
Biometrics Help Anheuser-Busch Inbev Dial Up Consumer Ad Engagement

Challenge

Anheuser-Busch InBev’s Budweiser brand aims to be the first global beer brand. To do this, it needs to connect with consumers on universally important emotions. After some success with a campaign built around “anticipation” at sporting events, the Budweiser team decided to expand that theme. They also added another powerful theme that connects consumers globally: “celebration.” The Budweiser team understood the importance of dialing up consumers’ emotional engagement with ads to reach their brand goal, but wanted to know how to do so most effectively.

Solution

Combining Innerscope biometrics with Ipsos ASI’s more traditional metrics gave the Budweiser team the information it needed to evaluate early-stage creative work. The research focused on two ads: Epic Toast, which featured celebratory speeches or toasts in a variety of different settings, and Coming Home, which documented the parallel journeys of a soldier returning from overseas duty and his brother planning a welcome-home celebration. Both research methodologies identified the high potential of the concepts, while Innerscope’s biometric approach identified key points in each ad where emotional attention lagged.

Results

• Innerscope made specific recommendations to improve engagement throughout both ads, which were used by the agency to develop the finished creative. The changes resulted in a significant increase in emotional response.
• The Budweiser, Innerscope and Ipsos ASI teams presented the results at the Advertising Research Foundation’s Re:think 2013 event.
• The research was part of an ad campaign that won a 2012 David Ogilvy award in the International category.