The Tag Along

Background

Last year, Swedish beer Norrlands Guld changed their positioning to "The Social Beer", aiming to get people to spend more time face to face, and less time on their phones. So, when Budweiser launched their search campaign, "TagWords", which urged people to go to Google to search for photos of beer, the brand saw an opportunity to both strengthen the idea of Norrlands as "The Social Beer” and get some earned/ paid attention.

Idea

Tapping into “TagWords”, which had just won the Print & Publishing Grand Prix at Cannes, the agency bought the AdWords that were relevant to Budweiser’s campaign thus hijacking it. Anyone searching for ‘Monterey 1967 Audience Budweiser’ or similar was served a message from Norrlands reminding them that the best place to search for beer is in the real world and preferably at a Swedish bar with a group of friends.

Results

The campaign was Norrlands Guld's most successful search-campaign ever, with an increase in CTR over 1000%. And as a bonus, the campaign also became the hottest topic when searching for "Cannes Budweiser".

Our Thoughts

The day after Budweiser “Tagwords” won the Grand Prix at Cannes, when there would be increased traffic searching for the Bud images, Norrlands did this. Everyone likes brandjacking when it’s cheeky and funny. It’s topical and cool. But this sort of advertising requires a new sort of client, someone who can make decisions quickly and who is prepared to adapt and pivot on the go. If it seems to be working, put more money behind it. If it isn’t working, pull the plug on it.

It’s not talking at people, it’s joining a conversation and setting it off in a new direction.

Relevant, memorable and cheap, what’s not to admire here?