✓ CCO Michelle St. Jacques opened and closed the convention, detailing Molson Coors’ biggest priorities for the years ahead
✓ The company is focused on strengthening its core brands and making big bets with its above premium portfolio across beer, flavor and non-alc
✓ It will also dedicate even more resources and investment to attracting Latino consumers and convenience shoppers
SAN ANTONIO – At the 2024 Molson Coors Distributor Convention, Chief Commercial Officer Michelle St. Jacques laid out the company’s biggest priorities for the upcoming year and beyond.
“Our next chapter starts from a point of strength,” she said. “Since 2022 and through June 30, we have grown our total share of the category by 1.5pts. We have grown our total share of shelf by over 6%. And we’ve driven $1 billion in distributor net revenue.”
What’s next for the portfolio? Strengthening the core, and transforming the above-premium portfolio in beer, in flavor and in non-alc beverages.
These points were a constant theme over the two-day conference, underpinned by substantial plans to reach more legal drinking-age Gen Z consumers, Latino consumers and convenience-store shoppers across nearly every part of the portfolio.
Here are the three biggest takeaways from the company’s 2025 marketing and sales plans.
1. Strengthening the Core
Since crafting its Revitalization Plan in 2019, Molson Coors has been focused on strengthening its core brands of Coors Light, Miller Lite and Coors Banquet. That won’t change in 2025, as each core brand intends to continue its current campaign while branching out with new programs to appeal to new consumers.
“These are powerful platforms that go all the way through the line, and they work,” said St. Jacques. “I’m incredibly proud that we've retained approximately 80% of our peak share gains from last year. Now we have to build off what’s working.”
Coors Banquet’s “Start Your Legacy” campaign will continue, as will its partnership with the hit TV show “Yellowstone.” The brand will also launch a new apparel partnership that will be announced soon.
Coors Light’s successful “Choose Chill” campaign will feature new national and localized ads, along with bigger plays in soccer and basketball. The brand also announced that it will add new artists to its Chill Amplified platform that launched this year.
Miller Lite relaunched its classic “Great Taste, Less Filling” campaign this year, and most recently launched a new football campaign that features familiar faces from their All-Star roster. The brand also has significant plans to honor its 50th anniversary in 2025, with more celebration plans to come.
2. Going Big in Above Premium
Throughout the conference, Molson Coors emphasized that it plans its biggest bets in 2025 to be in its above premium portfolio, across beer, flavor and non-alc.
Chief Marketing Officer, Sofia Colucci, said the company plans to give Peroni a substantial step up in support to make it a major brand.
“Today marks the first day of a bigger, better future for Peroni,” said Colucci. “Now with a consistent, reliable domestic supply and a passionate fan base, 2025 is the time to unleash Peroni, which we believe has the potential for massive, transformational growth.”
To do that Molson Coors plans to triple its investment in the brand, and will launch new national ads, including one that’ll air during Hollywood’s biggest award show of the year. The brand is also launching an all-new food platform, where it will sponsor major food festivals and bring on new partners. Meanwhile, Peroni 0.0 will ramp up its involvement with Formula 1.
Colucci also detailed how the Blue Moon family made big moves this year, including updating its packaging, renaming Blue Moon Light and launching Blue Moon Non-Alc. And it’s going even bigger in 2025, focusing on two major programs geared toward the on-premise and key food occasions where the brand shines.
In above premium flavor, Simply Spiked intends to continue to release new offerings, including a new summer-focused flavor, while also leaning into lemonade. And while it’s still the “early days,” St. Jacques was thrilled with the response to Happy Thursday, the bubble-free spiked refresher launched earlier this year, which the company will continue to consider its top innovation priority in the U.S. next year.
Molson Coors also has a lot of plans in the non-alcoholic space, including a bigger push for Zoa and the launch of Naked Life, a line of non-alc cocktails.
“We are 100% in on the non-alc space,” said St. Jacques. “And next year, we will have a bigger portfolio, more sales muscle to help drive execution in market, and more investment in non-alc marketing than we ever have before.”
3. Attracting Gen Z consumers, Latino consumers and convenience-store shoppers
Colucci also detailed how the company wasn’t merely talking about appealing to the growing Latino market but driving greater consistency and substantially more investment with these drinkers to get results.
“We are committing with new properties and passion points,” she said. “And we are launching new platforms across all of our priority brands to deeply connect with Latino consumers at a local level and bringing in even more Latino talent to our major platforms like Miller Lite’s ‘Great Taste, Less Filling’ and Coors Light’s ‘Chill Amplified.’”
To better compete in convenience stores, Molson Coors also created an innovation pipeline aimed specifically for that channel. As part of its plans, the company is line-extending several of its above premium brands with new single-serve takes on Blue Moon and Simply Spiked.
After the past two years, St. Jacques pointed out that the industry has changed, and that she believes Molson Coors' is ready for its next chapter in 2025.
“Change is inevitable, but transformation is a choice,” she said. “Let’s choose a future where we are all stronger because of the choices we made today. Let’s choose a future where our businesses are bigger because of the chances we took. And let’s choose a future where our brands are even stronger because of the commitment we gave.”
This article contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws – please click here for the full Molson Coors’ forward-looking statement disclaimer.