Dos Equis is a brand known for its advertising, particularly the "World's Most Interesting Man" campaign, which featured the fantastical feats of a cultured elderly gentleman, and the tagline "Stay Thirsty, My Friends." , which spread everywhere. Internet meme culture. like a forest fire.
But according to Heineken USA Marketing Director Johnny Cahill, being a brand based on advertising is not enough. "It's a great location and we continue to give the market strong publicity," he told the marketing chief. "But we also realized that we need to appear more often throughout the year at points where people are passionate, about things and places that are important, so that they too can experience the brand."
This fall, join the Dos Equis College Football Tailgate Throwdown campaign, featuring a variety of local activations, limited edition merchandise, collegiate collaborations, a streaming partnership with FOX and a contest challenging fans to create the ultimate experience to create and own. . We spoke with Cahill about the marketing objectives of the campaign and the key performance indicators achieved; the strategic thinking behind customer outreach in the Sun Belt region; Development of a brand marketing mix; and investments planned for 2024.
Marketing Manager: What caused the college football crash?
Johnny Cahill, Chief Marketing Officer, Heineken USA: Historically, the brand has been known for its advertising. It was one of the few brands that relied on advertising in its marketing mix. And it's a great place and we continue to provide effective advertising to the market. But we also realized that we need to present it more often throughout the year at points that people are passionate about, at things and places that are important to them, so that they can experience the brand as part of the joy of living. their daily events.
KM: Why play college football?
DK: Taking it to the next level, our company's goal is the joy of true togetherness. And I don't know anything to prove it except Saturday college football in the United States. There is passion in many sports in the world, but it is passion plus friendship and joy. It is something sacred.
We've seen an increase in viewership and engagement with college football, whether it's Google searches, views of the Fox Big Noon broadcast, partnerships with us, attendance at games - it just keeps going up. diverse audience More young people, more women and more multiculturalism are positive trends in sport. Through our desire to reach and excel across consumer passion points, and in part through our purpose as an organization to celebrate people together, it combines the perfect Venn diagram of opportunities.
KM: How are your marketing programs different now?
DK: Looking back, we were teammates at the national championships. It was more about advertising, the brand was on TV and at key moments. We've moved to a broadcast partnership with Fox, as well as a more hands-on, activation-based approach to making sure we're physically in those stadiums, those tailgates, and those bars on Friday night. And the Tailgate Throwdown celebrated that sense of togetherness in a favorite pastime: college football. So much so that 33% of people don't even go to the game after being behind the scenes. There is a group that really prefers it .
KM: Since when has the brand been moving to this activation-based strategy?
JC: We've been working together for three years now since we started working with Big Noon Kickoff and Fox. We work with them on stadium tours, do Big Noon Kickoff games and activate the brand in the cities and towns that host the games. .
KM: What about the marketing mix? Where are you on this?
JC: When you activate your brand you look for balance. And because Dos Equis is so popular, people don't need to see the logo. We want people to identify with the brand and feel our tone, which is fun and engaging, honest and a little mysterious. It was a collaboration with [sports reporter] Charlotte Wilder a year ago on [car] tours, or the Tailgate Throwdown, where we let people design the perfect tailgate. [We ask people:] What do you want? It was great for my brand colleagues and my brand team. I said, well, we're going to let them get what they want and really have fun.
And why we do it: When you look at the college football landscape based on those fundamentals, it's a very crowded field, with Lexus, Cheez-Its, Dr. Pepper, Home Depot or us. While we're not as big a brand as many activated brands (for example, Coca-Cola recently had a big activation), we have a unique opportunity as a beer brand to bring it to life in the gaming environment. Because, of course, we live in this past moment. A budget war has erupted during a TV commercial break. And it may not always be a war we can win. That's why we want to work harder, strive harder and really do both: great media penetration, great partnerships and everyday brand experience.
KM: What do you mean by "residual consciousness"?
DK: We have very high brand awareness, spontaneous and activated. It does not decrease; This is not an ancient discovery. The level of awareness is very high these days. But brand awareness can also be quite passive. I know a lot of brands that I don't use or that I admire and will never use. I know Aston Martin. I don't have For us, it's about using all the elements in the mix to achieve disproportionate justice. It is consciousness plus distinction and meaning. You want your brand to have meaning, not just stand out. You can be big and buy a lot, but we want people to really interact and feel what the brand is about and how fun we are. And I think that's the part we're working on, not just tripling awareness more and more. It is awareness and commitment.
KM: How do you measure that? And what guarantees success?
DC: We looked at overall brand awareness, and that went up... But that's not the only goal. We have seen a 13 percent increase in purchase intent among consumers who have participated in the program. Usually, the middle figure increases the intention to buy. As you'd expect, we look at all of the social metrics that we track to determine engagement, whether it's video completion rate, AVOC [audio and watchable after completion], all of those proxy metrics. Will this content be used? Is it consumed in good quality? Do people care? Are they interesting? Do they comment?
Therefore, in this sense our social activity was also very positive. Because you have a very simple concept, which is basically a shark tank in the back, but brought to you by a beer brand that promised to give you everything you want. I mean [within reason] for security reasons etc. We saw increased awareness, purchase intent, and social performance. Then at some point we'll track sales and market share, but it's a little slower in our business because we're a little disconnected from our consumers. As for Verizon or AT&T, they'll know this afternoon if it works, but right now we're looking at this process based on customer feedback.
These PR-driven experimental efforts are time-consuming. They are difficult. It's much easier to buy more GRP [rating points]. Philosophically we believe in both, but it takes a lot of work to achieve them. On Friday nights we meet in pubs in college towns and invite ex-players and celebrities to discuss and talk about the game. We stood on the floor in front of the back door. Something is complete. CMOs and brands talk about fully integrated campaigns (and we think it's the way to go), but implementing them is difficult because it takes a lot of energy, effort and time. I am very grateful to the team for their help in this matter.
KM: Let's talk about marketing spend by 2024. How will it change?
DK: Next year we will significantly increase spending at Dos Equis. We expect direct-to-consumer media spend to increase approximately 20 percent next year and expect overall brand growth to be in the double digits. We stay active in college football through advertising and at our partners' events around the country, such as the Albuquerque Balloon Festival. We have 11 university alliances.
KM: What is the marketing plan for next year?
JC: We continue to see significant investment in broadcast and linear TV as a foundation for awareness, but greater growth in digital. By enabling DCO (Dynamic Creative Optimization) through marketing technology, we have been able to tailor thousands and thousands of messages to consumers throughout the year. So more digital, more direct for the consumer. As we move towards a cookie-free world, we connect more and more with consumers. And we believe that if they are willing to give their data, we should respect them and create quality creative content, not just use the data they gave us.
There is also geographic variation. The brand is disproportionately strong in the Sun Belt, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Oklahoma, as well as Florida and California. But the central sun belt is very important to us. And we will see local media activity grow significantly in these key markets. Traditionally, when we do an ROI analysis, the brand responds very well to local media. We expect to make significant investments in these states next year, to see if we can clear up this issue.
KM: So you're specifically targeting the Sun Belt region because college football is so popular there?
DC: Actually, there are several reasons. When it comes to beer, it always comes back to the product. And the product has something to do with the weather. Dos Equis is a great beer with a very refreshing profile, perfect for a region with such a warm climate. Of course we have Mexican roots. But while Mexican beer brands are growing in the overall beer market, Mexican culture is, of course, an important part of Sun Belt culture. Here is a natural coincidence. It was also a historic moment to strengthen our market share. So you build from the ground up. They have culture, a strong foundation and great beer.
It's the demographic changes we're also seeing in the Sun Belt, which is growing as a region. Take Texas as an example: The influx of net migration to the Sun Belt continues. This is a consumer who particularly values the Dos Equis brand. But we also have net immigration. Growing cities are great cities for Dos Equis. And the people who come to those cities are very interested in the brand - places like Dallas, Austin and San Antonio - where we have a large "commercial" presence, which is always a very good barometer of the health of a beer brand. . How do you feel when people have so many choices in bars?
In Texas, for example, we're having a strong year in retail as more people choose the brand. A bit of history, a bit of demographics. But to win at this point with this brand and in this business, the Sun Belt is going to be a critical battleground, not only for our brand, but for many brands in this category.
