Bud Light Whatever, USA Wins Grand Ex Award at the 2015 Experiential Marketing Summit

Bud Light took home three prestigious awards at last night’s 2015 Experiential Marketing Summit in San Francisco. The brand’s successful Whatever, USA event in Crested Butte, Colorado, beat out the competition to take home the Ex Award for Best Production of an Event (consumer), the Ex Award for Best Multi Market Event and the Grand Ex Award for the Best Experiential Program of the Year.

As Bud Light’s most successful event in 2014, Whatever, USA brought the brand’s #UpForWhatever campaign to life with an epic three-day celebration of spontaneous fun, unique adventures and incredible concerts that transformed Crested Butte, CO, into Whatever, USA. And Bud Light fans were not the only winners during Whatever, USA’s unforgettable weekend; the Crested Butte, Colorado, economy also enjoyed a windfall, earning nearly $1MM in revenue and adding an additional 500 temporary jobs for the weekend.

“We’re thrilled that Whatever, USA is getting recognition for being a top experiential event. Immediately after hearing the concept for Whatever, USA, we knew this would be an amazing event that would take Bud Light’s #UpForWhatever campaign to new heights,” said Jorn Socquet, vice president of marketing, Anheuser-Busch. “Driven by brilliant creative and flawless execution, Whatever, USA was a team effort and we have been blown away by the results. The experience drove an increase in Bud Light sales over the critical summer season, resulted in more than 200,000 auditions to attend and helped us build stronger connections with our consumers than ever before.”

On May 29, Whatever, USA will return for an encore performance, this time in Catalina Island, California. Bud Light fans 21 and older looking to participate in the epic Whatever-filled weekend can visit Bud Light’s Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages and submit a 15 second video for a chance to win a trip to Whatever, USA. Visit UpForWhatever.com to check out highlights from last year’s Whatever, USA, and to find the official rules.