Before every Colombia match, the players line up for the national anthem in an order that looks random. Águila turned that order into a lottery. Fans predicted the sequence of the 11 starters from left to right, and anyone who got it right won a share of a prize paid in beer.
A Country That Stopped Watching
Colombia failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup, and fans drifted away. TV ratings for national team matches fell to a record low of 5.7 points.
That was a problem for Águila. The beer, made by Bavaria, part of AB InBev, is the national team’s biggest sponsor. When people stop watching the team, they stop seeing the brand.
Águila and agency DAVID Bogotá needed a reason for fans to tune in again, right from the first minutes of the broadcast.
The Random Moment Before Kickoff
The team found it in the anthem. The players walk out and stand shoulder to shoulder in an order that changes from game to game. Most viewers had never given it a second thought.
The campaign combined 2 things Colombian fans already care about, betting and national pride. Run with the Colombian Football Federation, the Beer Lottery asked fans to guess the lineup before each qualifier. The anthem became a live draw on national TV.
How a Ticket Worked
Fans entered their predictions on the campaign website as a sequence of numbers matching the players from left to right. The first entry was free. Extra entries came through promo codes earned by buying beer on TaDá, Bavaria’s delivery app.
That link mattered. Every additional shot at the prize started with a beer purchase.
What Winners Took Home
The prize was paid in beer. The case study puts it at 500 million pesos worth, while the agency’s One Show entry lists a top prize of 1 billion pesos. When a match ended without a correct guess, the jackpot grew for the next one.
Where the Idea Was First Tried
A version of the mechanic ran in November 2023 under the name Predicción Nacional, ahead of Colombia’s qualifier against Brazil in Barranquilla. Fans predicted the shirt numbers of the 11 players in anthem order, plus how many goals Colombia would score, for prizes worth up to 100 million pesos.
What It Did for Águila
According to the agency’s awards entry, the campaign generated more than $3 million in free press and an organic reach above 36 million, 360% higher than the brand’s annual average. Águila’s share of voice in football rose 80%.
Águila also became the brand most associated with the national team, named by 48% of respondents, ahead of Adidas at 39% and betting site BetPlay at 24%.
Sales followed. Total brand sales rose 9.5% compared with 2023, and market share grew 2% compared with 2024. Sales of the returnable bottle through TaDá beat their target by 56%, and web registrations came in 163% above target.
How the Juries Responded
Entered as Anthem Lottery, the work won a Merit in Experiential and Hybrid Events at The One Show 2025.
Águila found a minute of every broadcast that belonged to nobody and turned it into a draw.
Campaign Name: Beer Lottery (entered at The One Show as Anthem Lottery)
Agency Name: DAVID Bogotá
Brand Name: Cerveza Águila (AB InBev)
Location: Colombia (2026 World Cup qualifiers)
