Anheuser-Busch Partners with Gratafy to Turn Marketing on its Head for a Pilot Campaign on Facebook

SEATTLE, Sept. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Anheuser-Busch and Gratafy announced a partnership to enable real-time connections between the world's largest beer brand and its millions of customers through a new mobile gifting pilot launching on Facebook.  The partnership is being launched through a series of Anheuser-Busch campaigns that will target consumers nationwide in their Facebook News Feeds, giving them the ability to send friends a Budweiser (budweiser.com/budsforbuds) or Bud Light (budlight.com/birthday) in select cities, beginning with Chicago and Denver.

Given that 93% of word of mouth conversations still take place offline¹ – and a large portion of those presumably happen over a meal or drink inside of a bar or restaurant – brands are looking for meaningful ways to engage consumers at the point of consumption in a relevant way, thereby keeping their brand experience top of mind.  Now, with over 500 restaurant and bar partner locations across six markets, Gratafy gives brands the ability to reach consumers on their mobile device with a gift, connecting online marketing to offline experiences through product sampling and trials.

Gratafy has taken a unique approach to mobile gifting by developing patent pending point of sale (POS) integration technology that enables a seamless in-venue redemption experience at partnered restaurants and bars. The POS integrations also allow Gratafy to provide brands with analytics, increasing the quality of their experiential marketing campaigns and helping to more effectively direct marketing spend.

"For brands, mobile-first experiential marketing is the next frontier, but thus far campaigns have proved difficult to effectively execute and measure." said Brian Erke, CEO and cofounder of Gratafy.  "With Gratafy, Anheuser-Busch can activate a digital campaign that leads to a consumer enjoying a Budweiser at their favorite local bar, while also providing transparency into the relative success of each campaign. It's a win for consumers, restaurants, and brands alike."

The Buds for Buds Campaign
Beginning today, Anheuser-Busch will launch a Facebook advertising campaign giving consumers nationwide the ability to digitally purchase a Budweiser for friends in Chicago or Denver. Gifts are immediately delivered via email, Facebook, or text and recipients will be able to choose the Gratafy partner where they would like to claim their Budweiser.  Recipients can then redeem their gift when they visit the selected bar by providing the server with the three-digit code generated by their confirmation email.

The Birthday Bud Light Campaign
Additionally, Anheuser-Busch will run a second Facebook campaign giving consumers nationwide the ability to send friends in Denver with an upcoming birthday a free Bud Light.  Gift recipients will have the option to redeem their Bud Light at one of the many Gratafy partner bar locations across Denver.

For both campaigns, Gratafy will serve as the delivery and redemption vehicle for Anheuser-Busch to digitally distribute their product, provide a localized and personal interaction with the customer, while also capturing valuable insights and analytics about the on-premise experience.

The Buds for Buds and Bud Light Birthday pilot programs were created in collaboration with AKQA, Anheuser-Busch's digital innovation agency of record, and Facebook's Creative Shop.

For more information or to send a friend a beer, visit Budweiser.com/budsforbuds or BudLight.com/birthday.

About Anheuser-Busch
For more than 160 years, Anheuser-Busch and its world-class brewmasters have carried on a legacy of brewing America's most-popular beers. Anheuser-Busch is the U.S. arm of Anheuser-Busch InBev and is best known for its fine American-style lagers, Budweiser and Bud Light, the company's beers lead numerous beer segments and combined hold 47.2 percent share of the U.S. beer market. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.

About Gratafy
Gratafy (www.gratafy.com) is an award-winning experiential marketing platform that brings brands, merchants, and consumers together inside of restaurants and bars – where many of life's most memorable experiences and conversations take place. Gratafy works with restaurant and bar partners enabling them, as well as consumers and brand partners, to gift their unique menu items (cocktails, wines, beers, desserts) to friends, family, and customers. Gifts are redeemed via mobile device inside the restaurant or bar through Gratafy's patent-pending POS integration technology. Founded in 2012, Gratafy is a privately held company based in Seattle. The Gratafy app is free and available for download in the App Store or on Google Play.

¹ Berger, Jonah. Contagious: Why Things Catch On. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013. Print.

SOURCE Gratafy