Behind the scenes of Bush’s college football bowl…of beans

It’s College Football Playoff season, and the postseason bowl games have become a platform for some of the zaniest marketing moments in recent memory. We’re looking at you, Pop-Tarts mascot sacrifice and Cheez-It wedding.

This month, Bush’s Beans is joining the party after securing the naming rights to the Boca Raton Bowl, which will this year be called the Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans.

The brand is no stranger to college football, having been a sponsor of the SEC for four years, or to outside-the-box marketing, from cornhole sponsorships to bean-themed Halloween costumes. At the upcoming game between the University of Louisville Cardinals and the University of Toledo Rockets, and with its college football marketing in general, the brand is aiming to cook up some hype for beans among the brand’s traditional consumers in its southern home region, as well as with the sport’s younger fans.

“Our mission in life is to elevate beans in people’s lives, and really celebrate what beans can stand for,” Bush’s SVP of marketing, Stephen Palacios, told Marketing Brew. “We look for partners and opportunities to celebrate beans in all kinds of culturally relevant and interesting ways, and this was certainly one of them.”

All bean everything

Bush’s isn’t just calling the game a “Bowl of Beans”; it’s actually attempting to transform the stadium at Florida Atlantic University into “the world’s biggest bowl of baked beans,” according to the company. Integral to the effort is Bush’s “bean merch,” which includes clothes, hats, and shoes. At the game, Bush’s will pass out free bean-themed bucket hats to help create the visual.

In place of a ceremonial torch, there will be a pot of beans on a stove lit at the start of the game, along with a “delicious surprise saved for the winning team’s celebration,” according to Bush’s. The brand is also bringing a ball pit of beans to the venue, as well as the Bush’s Canper, a mobile camper outfitted to look like a can of beans both inside and out. There will be a bean-can tunnel for players to run through, bean-themed snacks, and generally “beans, beans, and more beans,” Palacios said.

The first 2,000 fans through the gates can trade a can of Bush’s Beans for access to the “MVBean section,” and Bush’s will donate those cans to local charities.

“The whole place is going to be completely surrounded by beans,” Palacios said.

To help drum up excitement at the stadium, Bush’s tapped actor and comedian Keegan-Michael Key, a sports fan with ties to football, cross-generational appeal, and the type of humor and energy that Palacios said is fitting for the Bush’s brand: “He’s fun, he’s interesting, he’s a little bit wild,” Palacios said.

Can Fan opener

To amplify the promotional efforts on social and help drive conversation, Bush’s is partnering with a handful of influencers across the food and comedy spaces to post content ranging from skits to real-time reactions to the game, Palacios said. In addition to social engagement and impressions, Palacios said his KPIs include brand sentiment boosts and media coverage. He’s especially focused on making inroads with younger consumers, and through the SEC partnership, he said that Bush’s had already made gains in terms of household penetration among millennials and Gen Z.

“College football crosses many demographics,” Palacios said. “There are lots of older consumers who love college football as well, but the focus…is really to go after that younger demographic.”

Bush’s current deal with the SEC is set to last for another two years, and if this year’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans goes according to plan, Palacios said his team will likely look to continue with that property, too. While football remains the focal point of the SEC work, the brand has also shown up in college baseball and volleyball, he said, and the marketing team is looking to continue activating with the SEC outside of football season, and may explore other regions in the future.

For the last few weeks of the year, though, Palacios said his main priority is to get visions of beans dancing in college football fans’ heads alongside those sugarplums.

“When it came to bowls and having consumers thinking about bowls, we want them to think about bowls of beans, especially before the cereal and the ice cream guys get into the mix,” he said.