AB InBev: Budweiser

The Client

Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) is a publicly traded company based in Leuven, Belgium. Its diverse portfolio of well over 500 beer brands includes global brands Budweiser, Corona, and Stella Artois; multi-country brands Beck’s, Hoegaarden, Leffe, and Michelob ULTRA; and local champions such as Aguila, Antarctica, Bud Light, Brahma, Cass, Castle, Castle Lite, Cristal, Harbin, Jupiler, Modelo Especial, Quilmes, Victoria, Sedrin, and Skol. Geographically diversified with a balanced exposure to developed and developing markets, it leverages the collective strengths of approximately 169,000 colleagues based in nearly 50 countries worldwide. 

The Situation

Ab InBev was launching its biggest activation in history for its biggest brand, Budweiser, for one of the biggest events in the world: the FIFA World Cup. Its goal was to leverage brand awareness related to the sports event, increase customer loyalty, and boost retail sales. 

The Challenge

AB InBev needed a system that could run promotions and gamification and deliver a robust, seamless, multilingual experience globally, with some regional adaptations, but without multiple vendors. The company needed a multilingual platform capable of running in 13 countries. And it needed to create a consistent experience from the real world to the digital world, as the activation required customers to purchase their beer in-store and scan their code into their mobile device for a chance to win the big prize. The system needed to be able to handle millions of customers engaging with the Budweiser website to participate in the promotion for a chance to win a trip to the World Cup.

The Solution

The company partnered with digital marketing agency Just Digital, which performed a pilot test phase, splitting partial deliveries among countries with the most similarities before moving to those with the most particularities. This proved to be a winning strategy, as the teams could evolutionarily build the system, practically eliminating rework.

On the end customer side, Just Digital integrated AB InBev’s site with its relationship platforms, ensuring that activations followed the company's standards, respecting privacy laws but also providing data to strengthen customer relationships. 

Just Digital created a fully responsive website, with everything consumers need to participate in the promotion, understand its mechanics, and follow its awards. Although each country has specific legislation regarding promotions, all promotions coexist within the same system, making it transparent for the consumer.

Using Drupal, Acquia Site Factory, and Acquia Site Studio, Just Digital delivered a tightly integrated system to handle the millions of customers engaging in the promotion. Site Factory facilitated multiple environments, meaning the team could work, develop, test, and validate multiple hypotheses to get to the final deliverable. And Site Studio leveraged AB InBev’s previously built design system, saving money while allowing local brands reusability and flexibility. 

The Results

The project took seven months of development time and has officially launched, with continued support from Just Digital to the platform as a whole.