Dilly Dilly, Bud Light. I’m Sending You to the Pit of Misery

Bud Light, you missed your own message. Sadly, you are the spiced honey mead wine. We, sir, are sending you to the pit of misery.

But, don’t worry, you are like the majority of brands. Dilly, dilly.

Why, oh why, do brands do this. They create this amazing message that resonates with a giant audience, yet they take a giant swing and a miss when it comes to connecting the dots.

Take a look at Bud Light's website and Facebook page. What’s the problem? There is zero—nothing—about “dilly dilly.” You have officially failed to connect the silos and deliver home a message that would really connect with the audience.

We should see “dilly dilly” everywhere – bars, convenient stores, your ads, your website, your social.

So many great campaigns have these fancy TV commercials, but don’t dial in the message across the mediums. A message like “dilly dilly,” which was shouted no less than 500 times at our agency’s holiday party. A message that could, seriously, make your audience want to drink more Bud Light – or try Bud Light over Miller.

Think about other great beer commercials. Long after delivering a home run message (that got me to try and love its brand) Dos Equis’ website still drives home The Most Interesting Man in the World. They are a brand that is connecting the communications silos (PR, marketing, advertising, social and digital). They have won market share.

A great advertising campaign is rare. Bud, you have had it though. You have had the Clydesdales connected to your brand. 

As I have said, you are not alone. K-Mart had an amazing shipping campaign, but when you went in the store, there was no connection, and when you went online, there was no connection. 

Brands: think holistically, not singularly, in your messaging. Whether it is a huge concept like “dilly dilly” or simply celebrating your everyday success – a great story should be hunted, ideated, delivered and boosted. Make sure you are winning with the dollars you spend. If you do, I will gladly say, “dilly dilly.” If you don’t…

Pit of misery.