Bud Light: The Heinicke deal

Bud Light, the US beer brand, quickly responded to an endorsement opportunity that came at the expense of a competitor, resulting in 159m media impressions and 99% overall positive sentiment.

Situation Analysis

During the 2021 season, Taylor Heinicke, the Washington Football Team's Quarterback (now known as the Washington Commanders), became an American football sensation.

Everyone on social media was talking about his meteoric rise and his unique name—a wide-open opportunity for one beer brand to secure an endorsement deal. But after getting radio silence from 'that other beer brand,' Bud Light—the official beer sponsor of the NFL and a brand to never shy away from some fun—was quick to hijack the moment.

So, how did Bud Light close a sponsorship deal with one of the most promising American Football players,...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands