Anheuser-Busch this week is announcing a national loyalty program around Busch beer and will leverage the value brand’s NASCAR assets to get the message out.
The program — Busch Bucks — is part of the beermaker’s push to revive the Busch brand since it switched the brand it promotes in NASCAR from Budweiser at the beginning of last year. NASCAR makes up a significant segment of Busch’s total marketing.
A-B will launch BuschBucks.com, where consumers who purchase Busch products can snap a picture of their receipt, the value of which will determine how many bucks the person gets. The consumer will then be eligible to earn prizes such as T-shirts, coolers, tents and signed memorabilia from Kevin Harvick, driver of Stewart-Haas Racing’s No. 4 Ford, which Busch sponsors.
A-B tested a pilot program for Busch Bucks in a select retail locations last year, but this move marks its full launch.
“The Busch consumer is unique in how loyal they are as people in general, as well as with their beverage choice, so we wanted to reciprocate that and thank them for their loyalty to us by offering up this program that turns their purchases into things they can take home and show off,” said Chelsea Phillips, A-B’s senior director of U.S. value brands.
Busch will tie the program into NASCAR’s Monster Energy All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. At the race, Harvick will run a dollar bills-covered paint scheme promoting the program, and the brand will hold a contest where fans who enroll at BuschBucks.com by May 6 get a chance to win $1 million if Harvick wins the race. The potential winner will be invited to the race to watch trackside.
A-B will promote the contest both digitally and at the upcoming spring NASCAR national series race weekends at Richmond and Kansas. Busch will also promote the full Busch Bucks program at retail.
Phillips said the push to reinvigorate the Busch brand in NASCAR “has worked really well for us as a platform in general,” and produced upticks in market share.
