For Budweiser Canada’s, hockey in Quebec isn’t just fuel for a campaign, it’s a cultural entry point.

The brand’s new “Et Le Bud Méga Gros Lot” contest is a Quebec-specific activation that ties a growing jackpot to every NHL goal scored during the back half of the regular season. While the real-time mechanic – now pushing the pot toward six figures – is central to the execution, the campaign represents a broader strategy of building specifically for the province as its own market.

“It certainly started from a point of view of authentically connecting with Quebec hockey fans in a way that wasn’t just extrapolating the rest of our work from from around the country,” says Pat Heembrock, head of mainstream brands at Labatt Breweries of Canada. “So we started from scratch.”

The work builds on Budweiser’s existing “Et la Bud” platform, which began as an OOH rollout in 2023 and plays on the phonetic overlap between “Bud” and “but,” the French word for goal. “Méga Gros Lot,” a collaboration with creative agency Anomaly, extends the idea into a larger hockey platform by making each NHL goal build toward a collective jackpot.

Inspired by in-stadium 50/50 draws, the campaign uses creative across channels to show the pot growing in real time, including through broadcast integrations on TVA, where a lower-third message appears immediately after a goal, followed by a “score bug” that updates the jackpot live on-screen.

In-game updates are supported by an integrated ecosystem spanning retail, social, influencer, with Citizen Relations is supporting on PR and Starcom is handling media. A partnership with Alimentation Couche-Tard anchors the program at the point-of-sale, where consumers receive scratch cards with PIN codes that can be entered into the retailer’s app for a chance to win the final jackpot.

Retail closes the loop between awareness and participation, Heembrock tells strategy, with in-store displays, exterior signage and integration within the Couche-Tard app reinforcing the mechanic.

“Couche-Tard was the perfect partner, because where else would you go to pick up, lottery ticket or something, which is where we’re taking inspiration from,” Heembrock says. “It’s not just us pushing something out there, they’re fully running with us on it.”

Beyond participation, the brand is also tracking engagement, particularly across social, where a high-volume content push featuring former Montreal Canadiens enforcer Georges Laraque for the campaign’s February launch generated strong organic reach in-market. Bud will announce a winner on April 17, after the final regular-season game.

While the activation is currently limited to Quebec this season, Budweiser sees potential to expand.

“We’re expecting that the results are going to be strong, both from an engagement point of view and, hopefully, connected back to retail with our partners at Couche-Tard,” Heembrock says. “If that’s the case, then we’d look to at least replicate in Quebec again and look to find ways to expand it further across the country.”