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Bud Light matches native video with Tinder to reach mobile daters

 
By submitting 15-second audition videos, participants receive a chance to spend a weekend partying in the yet-to-be named location. The leveraging of Tinder?s mobile native video reflects marketers? growing maturity in creating seamless experiences that blend online interaction with the mobile app with an activity that only takes place in a physical location ? the consumption of beer.

?A lot of consideration and planning went into our decision to partner with Tinder, and knowing that we could do this within the native video offering was important,? said Hugh Cullman, director of the Bud Light unit of Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis. 

?The ability to create unique video content that was relevant to consumer interests and native to the existing experience made Tinder a great partner to drive awareness and entries to visit Whatever USA.?

Native flow
Last summer, more than 1,000 consumers 21 and over were rewarded with a Whatever, USA citizenship in a three-day celebration in Crested Butte, CO.

To participate, users log in to the Tinder app. The Bud Light video unit is displayed in the native flow. Users can pause, resume and replay an #UpForWhatever call to action as they engage within the app.

Tinder app.

If a user swipes left or ?dislikes? a video card, it will disappear. If the user taps the button in the top right corner that says ?Enter to Go? then he/she will be redirected to the Whatever, USA mobile site to submit a video audition.

All audition videos must include the hashtags #budlight and #entry. Tinder and Bud Light will test various video lengths throughout the campaign.

Tinder?s choice of Bud Light as its first advertiser is smart because the beer brand and the social site?s targeted millennial audiences have a lot in common. 

?#UpForWhatever, which Bud Light has already been using for some time, perfectly sums up many of the motifs of the beer?s yearly Whatever, USA campaign,? said Shuli Lowy, director of mobile for Ping Mobile. ?A catchy hashtag that is well promoted can add a lot of value to a campaign as it encourages trackable social sharing. 

?When partnering directly with a publisher for a campaign it is important to take into account that publisher?s user experience,? she said. ?The content format should fall right in line with how users typically engage with content in that app.? 

For example, if a brand partners with a news publisher then the article content should look like a news piece. If it partnered with Buzzfeed, the content would work well as a list. 

?The goal of using the publisher?s format is not to trick consumers into thinking that the ad content is not an ad,? Ms. Lowy said. ?Rather, it honors the consumption format the consumers came to the publisher to experience and is therefore more likely to resonate with the user.? 

The campaign uses mobile to engage with millennial customers in a fun way ? using Tinder's "swipe right" mechanism.

?This type of targeted interaction is not possible with traditional media,? said Bill Aurnhammer, CEO of Aurnhammer, New York.  ?It looks like Budweiser and Tinder have found a match.? 

More brands are betting on full-length mobile video as consumers become more comfortable watching content on smartphones and tablets. Video attracts brands that need to get the most out of television-heavy media buys. 

Native mobile video, now featured on Facebook and Twitter, among other sites, has the power to boost the number of people who engage with a brand and broaden its appeal.

User experience
Bud Light worked directly with Tinder and Vayner to create custom videos and messaging built specifically for the Tinder platform.

Bring on the fun.

?There is no denying that our consumers are active, mobile and constantly on their phones,? Mr. Cullman said. ?For this campaign, we wanted to reach connected 20-somethings that are beer drinkers and live in the moment. 

?Bud Light?s target audience perfectly aligns with Tinder?s tuned-in, mobile users and allows the brand to drive awareness for Whatever, USA,? he said. 

Final Take
Michael Barris is staff reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York