D-S Beverages Partners with Bud Light & NDSU
Photos provided by D-S Beverages
“It’s been a goal of ours for a long time to bring a custom Bud Light can to Fargo” As a longtime distributor of Anheuser-Busch products, D-S Beverages has built a strong relationship with the iconic brand over the years, which is really what laid the foundation for an opportunity like this to even be possible. D-S Beverages President Doug Restemayer says the formal partnership with NDSU started out rather informally with building strong relationships with the program over the years.
In Good Company
NDSU is 1 of 22 colleges across the nation with branded Bud Light cans, some of which include LSU, Texas, Oklahoma, and others.
Because of these longstanding relationships, when the conversation of sponsorship came up, things just naturally fell into place. When NDSU joined forces with Learfield (a collegiate sports marketing company), their marketing business model changed to support more sponsorships, and D-S Beverages was the first name on the table and became the official beer sponsor of the Bison in 2020. As the saying goes, “all good things take time,” and certainly nothing happened overnight for D-S Beverages. Having influential team members and being the main provider of beverages for many NDSU functions, eventually, it was a no-brainer for the sponsorship to take place.
Anyone who knows Doug Restemayer knows that he’s a passionate Bison fan through and through, yet the relationship D-S Beverages has with NDSU really goes all the way back to the very beginning in 1968 with D-S founder Don Setter Sr. and the friendships he formed early on with the NDSU coaches and his involvement with the community.
When Restemayer came on board with with D-S in 2000, he sought to continue that strong relationship with both the Bison and the Fargo-Moorhead community that Setter had started. “I’m very involved in the community, but this is less about me and more about the other guys that have worked here for a long time who have special relationships with people throughout the NDSU organization,” Restemayer said.
Did You Know?
The NDSU Bison limited edition Bud Light cans will be available not just in Fargo, but
across the whole state of North Dakota! Check your local liquor store and stock up while you can!
Did You Know?
The approval process for the design of cans like these usually takes around 9 months!
On the other side of the coin, the strong relationship D-S Beverages has formed with Anheuser-Busch was also key in making this sponsorship possible. This idea for the cans had been on Restemayer’s mind for a few years, and persistence paid off. He and the D-S team knew just how valuable something like this would be for the local market and with the incredible success that NDSU sports have had in recent years it made NDSU a great candidate.
As a member of Anheuser-Busch’s advisory panel and being well-connected to its senior management, Restemayer helped lay the brickwork for D-S Beverages to gain the visibility to even be on the radar in the first place for an opportunity like this. The average consumer may think, ‘How difficult could something like this be to pull off?’ And that’s exactly what makes this sponsorship so unique and exciting—this is a very exclusive production run that Anheuser-Busch does, and NDSU was just 1 of 22 schools in the nation who were selected to have limited edition Bud Light cans this year—and they’re in the company of some impressive names.
Although D-S Beverages is excited about this special edition run, what Restemayer is especially excited about is the first home game at the FARGODOME and seeing all the Bison fans tailgating, showing off their Bison pride in a whole new way. “Seeing the parking lot flooded with fans with Bud Light cans with the Bison logo on it…adds one more dimension to how big the Bison sports brand is that a company like Anheuser-Busch would take the time, energy, and expense to create cans specifically for them,” he said. “I think it’s going to add a lot to the gameday experience.”
“It adds one more dimensionto how big the Bison Sports brand is”
– Doug Restemayer, President, D-S Beverages
And this exciting sponsorship isn’t just for tailgaters to get excited about, but also for all the Bison fans enjoying gameday from home—having a branded product like this will give fans all across the state more of an opportunity to feel connected and show off their team pride.
This also amps up more exposure and will encourage future sponsorship opportunities to help support NDSU and its growth in becoming the school athletes from all over the nation want to play for. And with a sponsorship like this, it just goes to show how NDSU is growing in popularity, relevancy, and success to be included in something that is typically only offered to much larger schools. Restemayer is excited for what opportunities lay ahead, not just for the growth of D-S Beverages, but also for the relationships they will continue to build.
Ready to show off your Bison pride in a whole new way? Find these limited-edition cans in liquor stores and local bars.
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