Morgan Franklin at a soccer game

The Woman Who Helped ‘Bring Home the Bud’

Morgan Franklin, ’21, still early in her career, has already hit milestones others spend a lifetime trying to achieve.

  • By Leah Rachel von Essen
  • June 12, 2024
  • Marketing

Budweiser had plans to run its biggest ad campaign at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. But just 48 hours before the tournament began, alcohol sales were banned from inside and around the stadiums. How would the beer brand respond? It started with a simple tweet: “Well, this is awkward. . . .”

Budweiser followed up its message by pledging to host a victory celebration and give all the unsold beer to the winning team. The Bring Home the Bud campaign won the Titanium Lion at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity—the highest level of recognition in the field—as well as numerous other accolades. Morgan Franklin, ’21, led the brand’s social media and digital team through that pivot as global marketing manager of New York–based Budweiser at Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Since graduating from Booth, Franklin has helped launch multiple campaigns at Budweiser. She also took up a novel personal challenge, competing with her sister on season 35 of The Amazing Race, a reality show in which two-person teams travel the globe, racing against obstacles and one another to win $1 million.

Chicago Booth Magazine talked with Franklin about these two recent career and personal highlights.

How did you decide to do The Amazing Race?

My little sister, Lena, is my biggest challenger. She’s the person who encouraged me to get an MBA. When she said, “We can race the Race,” I was skeptical, but she convinced me that we could win. I never aspired to be on a reality show—as a professional, you present yourself in a certain way. But I was excited to be on TV as a Black woman with an MBA, hopefully killing it.

What about the show brought out what you do well?

Leaning into trusting each other and knowing the things we were good at was a big strength for us. We earned the nickname “the Chaos Sisters” from fans online. In reality, we were wicked fast at 90 percent of the obstacles.

What about the experience was easier than you anticipated?

I was surprised by how similar it was to business school, where part of your “job” is to get to know people, accept them for who they are, and put yourself in their shoes. To build relationships with the people I met along the way, I had to learn and understand who they were as people. Booth helped prepare me for that.

What was the hardest thing about The Amazing Race?

Moving on from the day before. I wasn’t scared of jumping, or eating the bugs, or doing any of the challenges. My fear was that the mistakes I made on Day One would affect my performance on Day Two. But I had to commit to no “what-ifs.” I’ve taken that very much to heart since the show: I stand by my decisions, and if I make a mistake, I learn from it and move on.

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How did you end up at Budweiser?

When I came to Booth, I wanted to lean into my entrepreneurial side. At the time, the hard-seltzer brand White Claw was huge in Chicago. But back in Atlanta, where the majority of my friends were Black, nobody knew what it was. We weren’t being targeted.

I mocked up an urban-branded hard-seltzer campaign. A friend of mine, Nick, told me about an internship at Anheuser-Busch InBev’s innovation arm, ZX Ventures. That internship completely changed my trajectory. I got hired by our CMO to join the global marketing team, and I’ve been here ever since.

What was it like to be part of the Bring Home the Bud campaign pivot?

We had spent two years getting ready for the 2022 World Cup, and it all had to change. That tweet put consumers in our shoes. We created this moment when our brand was humanized and recognized for its legacy. It was career defining, very early in my career.

What was your mentality during that pivot?

I knew that having a clear focus on what our consumers wanted to hear, what was going to excite them and make them root for us was important in crisis mode. Professor Bunch and I are close, and he was one of the first people to call me when everything happened. He always pushes for putting the consumer first. If you have your consumer front of mind, you will make the right decision.

What in particular ignites your passion at Budweiser?

I have always been about conversations, community, and celebration. I love bringing people together, building community through conversations, and getting to celebrate small and big moments in life.

In the first project I worked on, the “Yours to Take” platform, for instance, we built a campaign that showcased up-and-coming creators from around the world, led by Grammy winner Anderson .Paak. It launched a new global identity for the brand. I could not ask for a better marketing experience coming out of business school, and it’s something I believe will be with the brand for a long time.

Gregory D. Bunch is adjunct professor of entrepreneurship. Nick Jaroszewicz, ’21, is a graduate of the Full-Time MBA Program.

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