Our goal was to create a brand moment for A&W and its iconic Root Beer Float. Our intent was to drive awareness via earned media and conversation via social. This activation supports a marketing strategy for A&W that relies on talkable, buzzworthy creative to compete with other fast-food brands with 5X the marketing budget of A&W.
For the year, our goal was to earn a total of $8MM worth of earned media value for the brand in order to increase our share of voice over competitors in the category.
Fun fact: centenarians are the fastest growing age segment in America. There are currently over 90,000 in the U.S., and that population is expected to quadruple over the next 30 years.
Yet these days, brands seem to be totally obsessed with Gen Z. Kinda sus, bro.
So, as America’s oldest fast-food restaurant, A&W celebrated its 105th birthday with a sweet new deal for its oldest customers: Free Root Beer Floats for anyone over 100…for life.
To help spread the word about this new permanent promotion, we partnered with famed ‘granfluencer’ Baddiewinkle and two centenarians (who both served in World War II) to create a campaign that would take off on social and in earned media.
In a series of paid and organic social promotions, both video and static, the trio appeared in their freshest contemporary streetwear to poke fun at advertising’s Gen Z obsession and prove that the iconic A&W Root Beer Float is an American treat that transcends time. We paired our social content with an earned media blitz, focusing on both national publications and local news affiliates in A&W markets.
This activation served two purposes: driving buzz and conversation around a hilarious new promotion, while honoring the often overlooked Greatest Generation that helped A&W become an American icon over the last 100 years.
The unusual announcement garnered 127 earned placements, 75+ broadcast syndications, 1.6 Billion earned impressions, and an estimated advertising value of $8.5 Million. More importantly, the campaign touched the hearts of its intended audience. Over 100 centenarians and their families visited A&W in the first month of the campaign and the brand received numerous thank you letters about the permanent policy.
