Budweiser Opens Doors For Fresh Upcoming Indian Talent With 'MADE Stage'

Budweiser continues to push the boundaries of celebration by spreading an infectious music fever and giving rise to fresh new talent with its latest campaign 'MADE Stage'. This music phenomenon not only nurtures a fresh perspective on music and its fusion with art, but also gives artists a platform to showcase their talent and passion for music. Featuring a synchronicity between different art forms, Budweiser brings together musicians, visual jockeys, graffiti artists, sculptors, sound & light engineers and performance directors in order to create some unforgettable, unique experiences that make for one epic stellar performance. Staying true to their long-standing support to great music & artistic expressions, Budweiser also makes way for its audience to join them in being part of the larger stage & celebration through ‘MADE Stage' with its gigs taking place across metro cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru & Goa.

What Does Budweiser Want To Achieve Through This Campaign?

Nothing spells celebration louder than music. And what better way to contribute to music than to support the rise of fresh new talent? Through MADE Stage, Budweiser bring people together, artists & music aficionados alike, and gives them a reason to celebrate. For artists, it’s all about that opportunity to scale big while for the crowd, it’s about enjoying great moments with their buddies as they hang out and chill with their favourite beer.

How Did They Do It?

Like every widespread begins with a source, Budweiser began building up the hype for MADE Stage across different Social Media platforms through continuous engagement, promos, sneak peeks of practise sessions, backstage footage etc. As the music fever spread, it caught the attention of artists & music aficionados across the metro cities. Invites were also sent to enthusiasts along with a surprise pack of Budweiser inviting them to the gig. With four successful gigs taking place across Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru & Goa, word only began to spread further. In addition to this, an event on Facebook was created so that everyone interested, in that respective city, had a chance to attend the gigs.

Twitter updates included videos of the artists gearing up for the event, sneak peeks of what happened behind-the-scenes and live interviews & glimpses of the performance. Moreover, all the events were covered live from the venues on Twitter which helped reach out to all fans back at home that couldn’t make it.

So excited about @BudweiserIndia's #MADEStage. Here's our latest work! #Prelude http://t.co/tJkhBRBvgH Stay tuned for more videos coming up!

— THE 120 MC (@THE120MC) October 28, 2014

A sneak peek of behind the scenes from @BudweiserIndia's #MADEstage #Mumbai! #Team120MC #production http://t.co/IKo5gw1Ldz

— THE 120 MC (@THE120MC) November 24, 2014

A well-designed Micro-site served as the connecting hub between all that transpired during ‘MADE Stage’. From updating fans on the time & locations to giving them glimpses & sneak peeks of practise sessions and sharing line-ups for the evening, the micro-site had it all covered. Even post the gigs, videos and moments of several performances captured were shared on the site for the audience to relive. Designed to be responsive, the Micro-site also provided access across all devices, enabling fans admission as and when it was needed.

Glorification Of Local Talented Artists On A Single Platform

Budweiser has indeed adopted a brilliant way to recognize talented individuals across metro cities by proving a platform for musicians & various other performers to showcase their hidden potential. By setting the stage for local artists to come together & perform, the brand has inspired millions around the world through music. Encouraging passionate music artists & several creative minds, Budweiser has been successful in getting the audience engagement levels higher.

Creating YouTube Videos To Leverage Brand Reach

Budweiser has made optimum use of YouTube to connect with its audience. Introducing their #MadeStage campaign, the videos strategically focus on the dreams & aspirations of budding artists that are so easily overlooked amid the monotony of one's day-to-day life. When a brand lays the foundation of reaching one's goal, who in their right mind would miss such an enticing opportunity?

Post the launch of the event, several performances were captured & put out for the audiences to enjoy. This definitely paves way for the virality factor to step in even after the end of the entire campaign.

Budweiser Built Brand Messengers In The Long Run Via #MADEStage Campaign:

By providing a platform to all those aspiring & upcoming artists across metro cities, Budweiser has managed to strike the right chords of its target group. Not only has it managed to win the hearts of hundreds of artists who will enable epic celebrations with electrifying performances, but has also managed to keep its audiences entertained with crowd-sourced content in both online as well as the offline space. With endless music lovers engaging with Budweiser across social media platforms, it has successfully managed to delight its potential target group.

Something for Everyone

Made Stage catered to both – those who create music and music enthusiasts. Budweiser also generated immense consumer delight, by gratifying some of the attendees with crates of Buds.

Not only is this a perfect way to increase recall, but this also helps Budweiser build a long-term consumer association.

3 Prime Reasons Why Online-Offline Integration Of Campaigns Is Here To Stay!
Since the divide between online-offline campaigns have begun to fade day in & day out, marketers find it practical to focus on a central message to covey to their audience. Plus integrating your online-offline marketing activities only works hand-in-hand to boost the overall success of a campaign. Let's have a look at 3 reasons why Budweiser's 'Made Stage' campaign will prove to be a huge success:

1 - Drives Online Community To The Brand's Offline Event & Vice-versa:
Through 'Made Stage ', Budweiser has bridged the gap between its online-offline community, thereby creating opportunities to build brand loyalists. An offline-online integrated marketing approach leaves no opportunity untapped, to drive traffic, increase awareness both to their online & offline activities as well as maintain a clear & consistent message throughout the campaign.

2 - Creates Memorable Moments With Lasting Impressions: 

Whether or not, your fans have been a part of your offline event, one thing that's certain is that they know where to come and peek in for live updates & more. Hence by creating a seamless experience with an integrated marketing strategy, all Budweiser fans would know where,when and how an event happened. Also, the ones who made the most of the Budweiser 'MADE Stage' , would in any case be hooked on for more.

3 - Strengthens Brand Image & Builds Credibility:

An online-offline integration of your campaign works not only towards strengthening your campaign message but also towards your brand image in the long run. Experts say that using combinations of marketing mediums creates synergy. Using the right mix has greater impact on its audience than an individual medium can have on its own

Closing Thoughts 

Music & Pop-culture have for the longest time helped brands leverage a connection and reach out to the youth, especially alcohol brands. By employing the same strategy, Budweiser builds a strong association with its audience while maintaining the brand’s key communication points of championing opportunities and optimising celebration. With this initiative, talented artists are provided a grand-scaled platform to showcase their talent in front of thousands. A sense of achievement, backed with positive sentiments spread among aspiring Indian artists, all due to an initiative by a brand makes this campaign note-worthy.

This campaign appealed to both, the audience experiencing an audio-visual treat from uber-cool artists across metro cities and of course will be special to the ones, who in fact set the stage on fire. Kudos to Budweiser for pulling off a campaign of this grandeur!