Objectives

Natural Light’s biggest competitor is Miller Lite, and Natty aims to poke fun at them whenever possible. In April, at the peak of beer wars between Anheuser-Busch and MillerCoors, Miller Lite was boasting on social media about how they had less calories than Bud Light. However, Natural Light trumps them all with one fewer calorie than Miller Lite. With the Masters coming up, the biggest moment in golf and a sport where the lowest number wins, a scrappy earned media idea started to formulate. It also helps that the strict, uptight image of the Masters is the antithesis of the bold, young, and fun personality of Natty Light.

Strategy and Execution

With one fewer calorie, Natty Light (95) is one under Miller Lite (96), scoring a birdie while Miller is stuck at even par. So, the first Major of the year was the perfect moment to celebrate Natty’s one-stroke win vs. Miller.

Calling attention to this victory, Natty gave away free beer for a year every time a golfer shot a birdie on Sunday’s final round. All fans had to do was tweet #BirdieLight and #sweepstakes on Sunday to be in the running for free beer for a year.

To bring this to life, Natural Light created the “Official Light Beer Leaderboard” that mimicked the leaderboard at Augusta National. By rebranding the Natural Light logo to “Birdie Light” and changing Miller to “Part Lite,” Natty creatively showcased it’s “one under” finish. And to top it all off, the “Official Light Beer Leaderboard” took over Augusta, GA by way of mobile billboards that circled the world’s most iconic golf course.

Natural Light hit media across sports, golf, food & beverage, national and local news outlets early on in Masters week, gearing up for the free beer for a year frenzy on Sunday. These outlets, highlighted Natural Light’s one fewer calorie victory vs. Miller Lite and prepared their audience to be engaged on Sunday. 

With the main free beer tweet and “Official Light Beer Leaderboard” going live on social early on Sunday, Natural Light interacted with Pat McAfee and Barstool Sports to create the snowball of buzz, adding to the excitement that’s Masters Sunday.

Results

As a result of the Birdie Light activation, #BirdieLight was trending on Twitter, with 4.4M impressions, 221K engagements and 30K retweets of the #BirdieLight tweet. In total, the program garnered 88 PR hits and 141M impressions.

• Top Stories:

  • https://www.golfdigest.com/story/natty-light-giving-away-years-worth-of-free-beer-for-every-birdie-made-on-masters-sunday

  • https://www.golf.com/news/2019/04/09/birdies-at-masters-win-free-beer/

  • https://terezowens.com/natty-light-giving-away-year-of-free-beer-for-each-birdie-made-on-masters-sunday/

  • https://www.thrillist.com/news/nation/natty-light-masters-free-beer-deal-2019

  • https://www.foodandwine.com/beer/masters-tournament-golf-natural-light-free-beer-2019

  • https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/natural-light-worth-free-beer-190418054.html

  • https://www.mensjournal.com/food-drink/natural-light-is-giving-away-free-beer-for-birdies-hit-at-the-2019-masters-final-round/

  • https://twitter.com/GolfDigest/status/1115850164055552000

  • https://twitter.com/PatMcAfeeShow/status/1117407330667253770

  • https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/1117394642474012672

  • https://twitter.com/5thYear/status/1117395599140245505

  • https://twitter.com/totalfratmove/status/1117409430243610625

Media