2017 marked the inaugural year of the Budweiser Stage, Canada’s premier outdoor music venue. Formerly the Molson Amphitheatre, the iconic site was riddled with
consumer pain points such as long queue times, minimal points of purchase, and poor wayfinding. Despite being the No.1 beer in Canada, Budweiser was contending with the reputation of being an exclusively American beer. Furthermore, Ontario is a key market where Budweiser is continually trying to make strides with millennial consumers.

The beer company didn’t want just to slap its logo on the side of the building. It needed to create share-worthy installations throughout the venue, instill a more streamlined consumer experience, drive incremental growth and increase positive sentiment among Ontario concert-goers.

The concert experience is more than just a 90-minute set from a headlining artist. The experience starts from the point of ticket purchase and lasts until the ride home. The opportunity to enjoy oneself exists before and after the performance. Anomaly’s approach was simple. Better experience, faster service, extended hours. Essentially, encourage consumers to spend more time at the venue by creating enticing retail experiences, and ensure service is streamlined and easier for them.

First, the look and feel of the Budweiser Stage was reinvented. This carried across every piece of signage both internally and externally and projected a clean, premium style. Clarity was paramount, as wayfinding and amenities had previously been a source of consternation.
Budweiser also updated its most prized asset, its beer can, by creating venue specific packaging for the summer line-up. The 740ML created shareable social content and acted
as a retail driver for future concerts.

The River Bar, a previously underutilized space, was revamped to create a pre- and post-concert hangout complete with a stage where shows were programmed with performances of local talent before the headlining act.

Experientially, the Budweiser Stage, became the most Instagrammable location in the city through permanent installations such as a 15ft Marquee sign lit up with the evening’s acts called out front and centre. Additionally, an artist walkway was added, commissioning visual artists from across the city to interpret the summer line-up in their style. Leaning into the global Buds & Burgers platform, Budweiser retrofitted a steel space container into a B&B restaurant, boasting a partnership with Ontario’s favourite burger, Webers, which was the only location outside of its flagship restaurant. Finally, more points of purchase were created throughout the venue and tap technology was added -- getting the product in the hands of fans faster than ever.

Sentiment upon opening increased to 62% favourable as fans got their first glimpse of the new, improved venue. And beer sales at the River Bar grew volume 270% vs. 2016. By its third show of the season, the venue already exceeded 2016 burger sales with 18,000 sold in total.

The venue upgrades received an estimated 400,000,000 earned impressions shared across all social channels. And tap technology increased debit/credit usage, accounting for 37% of all transactions. Also, overall consumption rose to 1.4 beers per person.