The Young Ones competition is one of the most acclaimed advertising, interactive and design student competitions. It has a tradition of excellence dating back to 1986.
Budweiser has for the past few decades had a steady decline in sales. However, this summer they saw a sudden increase. But when they looked closer at these numbers it showed that it was predominately the group 45+ beer drinkers who drove these gains... What about the young ones, why don't they drink Buds? Therefore Budweiser asked for ideas that put their beer front and center to drive recruitment with their younger audience (21-34 beer drinkers).
We found research that showed under 10% of the target audience (21-34) plays an instrument. However, 85% wish they knew how.
You may be familiar with the concept of blowing on a bottle. It sets the air molecules inside the bottle in motion and they start vibrating – resulting in sound. Depending on the level of liquid you can get both dark- and high-pitched tones. And at certain points of liquid you will get pitch-perfect tones.
By using this knowledge we can make Budweiser into an easy-to-play instrument. The solution feeds the target audience's appetite for wanting to learn an instrument, but they won't have to pay for lessons or an expensive instrument. All they need is a pack of Buds.