✓ Coors Banquet continues its impressive momentum, becoming a top 15 beer brand year-to-date in overall volume sales
✓ It is also the fastest-growing beer among legal drinking-age Gen Z
✓ To achieve this, the brand has focused on its 150+ years of history and deep connection to the West
At the recent CAGNY conference in Florida, Chief Commercial Officer Michelle St. Jacques explained that the key to unlocking growth in beer is to be "category first."
"When we think first about what’s best for the category, when we act in the total beer category’s best interests, we put ourselves at the forefront of that growth," she said.
The brand that exemplified this best is Coors Banquet: "Banquet is the perfect example of what happens when a brand fires on all cylinders driving the category first," she said.
Coors Banquet’s results are hard to deny, as the brand is the fastest-growing beer brand of the industry’s top 15 volume share brands. Year-to-date, the brand is No. 11 in overall dollar sales, according to Circana for the week ending Feb. 9. It’s also up 16% in dollar share over the past 52 weeks for the week ending Feb. 9.
Senior Marketing Manager Alyssa Lynner explains that Coors Banquet has been on a roll for years.
“We have three straight years of momentum, with 13 consecutive quarters of dollar share growth and in 2024 volume growth in every single region,” says Lynner.
Now Coors Banquet has another impressive win to add to the list: it is the fastest-growing beer among legal drinking-age Gen Z, posting a 32% increase versus the previous year according to a Circana Receipt Panel for the last 52 weeks ending 12/1/24.
“Many brands—not just beer brands—are hoping to resonate with Gen Z,” says Lynner. “This group is incredibly influential and, as digital natives, they set trends in culture rapidly.”
Continuing its storied legacy
Lynner credits several reasons for Coors Banquet’s ongoing success, especially with legal drinking-age Gen-Z, but believes it all starts with the brand’s legacy.
“This beer was born more than 150 years ago and has stayed true to its legacy every single day since 1873,” says Lynner. “We still use only 100% Rocky Mountain water and only brew our beer in Golden, CO. That commitment to who we are is attractive to a lot of people, including legal drinking-age Gen Z.”
That history is central to its current campaign, “Start Your Legacy,” launched in 2023. As the name suggests, the program highlights the brand’s Western bona fides while encouraging other people to create their own proud history.
“The platform is equal parts aspirational and motivational,” says Lynner. “In essence, Start Your Legacy asks people, ‘Would you want to have a beer with you in 20 years?’ It’s a question that’s thought-provoking for both LDAC Gen Z and others alike.”
Cool as a cowboy
According to Lynner, just as important as what the brand has done is what it hasn’t.
“We haven’t tried to pander,” says Lynner. “Our marketing efforts have only further solidified the fundamentals of the brand.”
Over the past few years, cowboy culture and Western wear certainly has boomed in popularity, with the cowboy boot market expecting to grow from $238.12 million in 2023 to $291.3 million in 2025 according to Global Growth Insights.
Coors Banquet’s strong foundation in the West, from only being produced in Colorado to supporting sports like rodeo, has meant that the brand naturally fit right in. That helps explain why sales from the Coors Banquet merch site are up over 150% versus last year.
“Our merchandise is more popular than ever,” says Lynner. “You’d be hard-pressed not to see it on the shirts or hats of country music concertgoers everywhere.”
Over the past few years, the brand has appeared in several TV shows, including getting plenty of screentime in “Yellowstone,” the hit Paramount Network show that returned for its long-awaited fifth season in November. Since its first appearance, Coors Banquet has become the official beer partner for the show. This has led to several popular promotions, including the “Live Like a Dutton” sweepstakes, “Proposal Packs,” and the Yellowstone x Coors Banquet Recaps packaging.
Coors Banquet has teamed up with other brands that exemplify the same Western bona fides. In October of 2024, the brand teamed up with Wrangler, the iconic Western-themed apparel company, for Beer Wash Jeans. Lynner adds that this is just the beginning of the partnership.
“Something big is in store for our continued partnership with Wrangler,” says Lynner. “Beer Wash Jeans was such a success last year. We’d be remiss to not continue our partnership with this top Western apparel brand. More on this front coming in late summer.”
Protect our Protectors
Lynner also notes that part of Coors Banquet’s legacy is “believing in doing what’s right, even when it’s hard.”
For ten years the brand has proudly partnered with the Wildland Firefighter Foundation for the Protect Our Protectors program, donating more than $2.75 million to help the families of injured or killed firefighters. After the recent wildfires in Southern California, the brand teamed up with Blue Run Spirits to donate to the California Fire Foundation’s Wildfire & Disaster Relief Fund.
“With wildfires becoming more frequent and more severe, Protect Our Protectors is more important than ever,” says Lynner. “The program encourages donations to local causes that support those brave people who run towards the fire to protect us.”
As for what’s next, Lynner says the brand will be busy in 2025.
“We have a new Start Your Legacy equity campaign rolling out in Q2, with a film that will air across numerous channels,” she says. “These new ads will be supported with new legacy collection packaging, exclusive merch sold on Shop.Coors.com, national PR and influencer efforts.”