Keystone Light is capping off the year by landing on Morning Consult’s list of the fastest-growing brands in 2023, coming in at No. 16. The report highlights the top 20 brands that had seen the “biggest rise in purchasing consideration this year.”
Along with being one of the highest-ranked beer brands, Keystone Light joins some of the largest social media companies and fashion brands in the world. The news is even better when it comes to legal-age adults born between 1997 and 2012: Keystone Light ranked No. 7 in the list of brands favored by that demographic.
THE BIG PICTURE
Keystone Light’s high placement wasn’t surprising to Kirsten Wellna, associate insights manager at Molson Coors. “We spend a lot of time looking at three types of consumers: switchers, loyalists, and new buyers,” she says. “On all three fronts, we are seeing positive momentum.”
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Those efforts resulted in growth across all fronts for Keystone Light, which is up 5.4% in volume and 6% in dollar sales versus last year, according to Circana data for the 13 weeks that ended Dec. 10. Overall, the economy segment is down 1.5% in volume and up .2% in dollars for the same time period.
ZOOM IN
“For the first time in a couple of years, we have seen growth across all three buckets simultaneously for two quarters in a row,” says Matt Lafferty, marketing manager for Keystone Light.
What’s fueled the turnaround? Lafferty credits the brand’s focus on rural America and outdoor enthusiasts for growth.
“We recognized that rural consumers were around 50% of our volume,” he says. “All of the programming and plans were an attempt to connect meaningfully and authentically with our core consumers.”
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In 2023, Keystone Light brought back the popular “The Hunt” promotion, partnering with Realtree®, the outdoor lifestyle apparel company. Along with distinct orange camo cans, legal-age consumers were able to win exclusive blaze orange branded Keystone Light/Realtree merch including jackets, shirts and coolers.
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Other plays, including a marketing campaign around fishing, sponsorship of Team Penske’s No. 2 car, driven by rising star Austin Cindric, and camouflage thematic packaging were all investments to help boost consideration among the brand’s target audience, Lafferty says.
“Keystone Light is about celebrating the rural lifestyle,” he says. “Our consumers love to celebrate the great outdoors. We plan on continuing all the things that are working in 2024.”
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That includes reupping its work with Realtree and Team Penske, among other work to bring more drinkers to the brand next year.
Digging into the data
Morning Consult determined the fastest-growing brands by “measuring growth in the share of consumers who say they would consider purchasing from a brand over the course of the year.”
The list includes top social media and artificial intelligence platforms, beauty companies, airlines and more. And Keystone Light found itself outranking top video and social media outlets.
Consumers were interviewed in January and then again in October. Over 1,586 brands were part of the analysis.
Overall, Keystone Light grew consideration 5.7 percent between January and October. With legal-age adults born between 1997 and 2012, consideration grew 12.1 percent.