MUMBAI: Budweiser comes up with Touch, the ultimate musical anthem for Halloween, co-written by American RandB Star Kehlani and Grammy Award-winner Ryan Tedder of One Republic. Developed by Budweiser, in partnership with CAA Marketing, Touch comes to life in a short film from PRETTYBIRD director Fleur Fortune, and follows masked revellers on a transformative journey from dusk until dawn, culminating in the summoning of a mythical creature – a majestic black horse (Percheron – the French cousin of the Clydesdale) that serves as the driving force for the epic night. 

“Halloween is a popular global holiday for our drinkers, a time when they are free to be whoever they want to be. We saw an opportunity for Budweiser to own this exciting time of year and bring it to countries which haven’t experienced this fun tradition. Through strong partnerships with Kehlani and CAA Marketing, we took a non-traditional approach to our content and co-produced a music video to tell an engaging story about our brand,” said Budweiser Global Brand Director Lauren Rodriguez.

The three-week content- driven campaign, which launches in 17 countries worldwide today, will introduce Budweiser Halloween to markets where the occasion does not yet exist, enabling the brand to own the popular holiday.  Budweiser and CAA Marketing worked collaboratively with Kehlani and her label Atlantic Records, to tailor the original song to the creative vision for the short film, resulting in a piece of brand-supported entertainment content that consumers will choose to seek out.  The Touch film will be released in bars, clubs, and house parties globally, and 15sec and 60sec spots have been derived from the video to serve as paid media assets.  Additionally, the song will be released on Kehlani’s Spotify and iTunes pages. The campaign has a strong presence in bars and clubs, with full trade activation supporting the program from the bottom up.

Speaking about the same CAA Marketing Chief Executive Officer Jae Goodman said, “This is a truly content-centric campaign, with an original song, short film and events around the world created to attract an audience, rather than distract it. Through this entertaining content, and the advertising and promotions derived from it, Budweiser is inviting the world make Halloween one of the biggest adult celebrations of the year. We're so proud of this super-collaborative effort with our client Budweiser, the strategic and creative team here at CAA Marketing, our partners Kehlani, Ryan and Fleur, and Budweiser's specialist agencies around the world.” 

In 2015, in conjunction with horror master Jason Blum, CAA Marketing conceived and executed the first-ever Quilmes Halloween in Argentina. It was a fully immersive 360 campaign with a live experience driving the work. The successful execution of the program and strategy led to increased sales in bars and clubs during the campaign and confirmed that Halloween is a territory worth pursuing. In 2016, the program went live in China, culminating in a Halloween Party in Shanghai that reached 26 million people via live stream and garnered four billion impressions.