Budweiser teams with Detroit rapper Big Sean to rep Michigan

Dive Brief:

• Budweiser has collaborated with Detroit rapper Big Sean on a limited-edition Tall Boy 25-ounce can, according to an announcement emailed to Marketing Dive.
• Following the release of Big Sean’s fifth studio album, “Detroit 2,” the can features the rapper’s face as he wears a Detroit hat, the name of his album and the phrase “You’re the chosen one, show the world they made the right choice.” The cans have rose imagery, an artistic motif that Big Sean has used throughout his career, per the email.
• As of Monday, the custom cans will be available throughout Michigan, and are part of Budweiser’s efforts to localize its marketing in an effort to win over 25- to 34-year-old drinkers, per The Drum.

Dive Insight:

Budweiser’s collaboration with Big Sean on a Michigan-focused can ties together several marketing trends. The campaign is part of the beer brand’s efforts to win over 25- to 34-year-old drinkers with localized marketing, Budweiser’s vice president of marketing Monica Rustgi told The Drum. 

“We are going to be hypersensitive and insightful as to how Budweiser lives and breathes within a local market and then create a campaign surrounded by that,” Rustgi said.

The company plans to continue with its hyperlocal push into next year, and the Big Sean campaign isn’t its first regionally targeted effort so far in 2020. Back in July, the company cut Bud Ice line prices for St. Louis customers by $1 for each degree higher than 95 in response to a heat wave. Previously, the company teamed up with fashion designer Darryl Brown of Midwest Kids to make a Midwest-inspired, unisex streetwear collection for children. These local efforts allow Budweiser to tap into both its Midwest roots and cultural conversations happening with consumers.

Budweiser’s partnership with Big Sean follows other companies, including McDonald’s, Doritos, Adidas and LG, that have featured hip-hop figures in their ads. For marketers, collaborating with rappers as hip-hop increasingly becomes the core of pop culture could spread their brand to a wider audience, which might pay off once the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

This also isn’t the first time the company has introduced a custom can to appeal to consumers. In May, sister brand under the AB InBev umbrella Busch Beer unveiled a can featuring corn images to support the nonprofit Farm Rescue. A portion of the proceeds went to the organization’s efforts to help Kansas farmers.