JAY Z and Budweiser’s Made In America
Music Festival
I spearheaded the launch of the groundbreaking national music platform MADE IN AMERICA in collaboration with Budweiser and JAY Z’s Roc Nation. Served as Creative Director and Designer of the property. I conceptually guided the build-out, design, and execution of a comprehensive 360° campaign for the 2-day music festival in Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The festival inspired Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard to capture the movement in his first-ever documentary feature film which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and aired on Showtime 10/11/13.
The phenomenal success of year 1 inspired the creation of “MADE,” Budweiser’s global music program featuring JAY Z and Rihanna, which went live in 80+ markets. In year three the festival expanded to two cities (Los Angeles & Philadelphia) and served as Anheuser Busch’s single largest sampling platform.
TV :60 Budweiser Made in America - Makers of Tomorrow
Festival Recap
The Festival
The Beach Club play space was the ultimate party spot for the EDM crowd. Guests were able to get a heightened view of the EDM stage with an elevated deck build out. Misters, white beds, umbrellas and beach balls added to the beach feel. A roped off area with wait staff and table service was available to attendees who won the text to screen activations via monitors onsite.
The Mural Wall was a place where patrons could see art come alive. Mural and Graffiti artists were invited to create large scale images in association with the festival theme. It was an all day process for the artist and a place patrons came back multiple times to check on he status of the work.
Imagine Entertainment's Ron Howard and Brian Grazer signed on to film a documentary about the fabric of what it means to be Made in America -- what the festival represents and why JAY Z is part of it. Howard directed the film, Produced by Grazer alongside Translation founder and CEO Steve Stoute and the global transmedia company @radical.media. Executive producers JAY Z, and Paul Chibe Anheuser-Busch VP Marketing Officer.
Video testimonial booths were located in each play space encouraging attendees to record clips of themselves reciting their own iteration of how they MAKE IT in America everyday. The booths also allowed attendees to print BMIA themed photos of themselves.
For those not at the festival, there were video tie-ins through the Budweiser Made In America website and Youtube Livestreams.
Using Instaprint technology, photographs taken by attendees and tagged with a dedicated hashtag were turned into a Mosaics of the American Flag.
Stage design
Bottle Design
Festival moments
Made in Tour
To build national anticipation of the festival, Budweiser hosted 30 parties across the country starting in April and leading up to the festival weekend. Parties featured high-caliber indie and electronic talent, Budweiser and much more. Fans that volunteered at America Made Better watershed cleanups leading up to the parties were granted VIP access.
Budweiser fans visit BudweiserRSVP.com to claim their spot and learn about what to expect. Once onsite fans experience:
Premiere of Budweiser bowtie cans
Budweiser Black Crown sampling
T-shirt & sunglasses customization
Commissioned local artwork
Social/ digital integrations
Opportunity to win festival tickets and paid trips
T-shirts were printed on-site with the name of the city the Made In Tour was stopping at. The first 100 shirts were free, and the rest were sold
as official tour merchandize. People were encouraged to share pictures of themeselves wearing the t-shirts for a chance to be selected for an artist meet-and-greet at the end of the night.
Digital walls were aggregating content from the hub and the local event, pulling in tweets and Instagram pictures in a colorful display of red, white and blue. As the tour builds, so does the display. Throughout the night Budweiser music content that tells their heritage story was highligted. The Wall of America social feed traveled across the nation and culminated at the Budweiser Made in America Festival telling the full story of the Made In Tour.
