With the summer selling season fast approaching, MillerCoors is clear on its top job for 2019: improving the trajectory of Coors Light.
After years of declining sales, Coors Light late last year refocused on what made the brand a powerhouse in the first place: Its position as the World’s Most Refreshing Beer.
New creative, including TV spots and digital advertising, have zeroed in on Coors Light’s cold credentials and how it brings “transformative refreshment” to parched drinkers.
Now the brand plans to hammer that message.
“It’ll be hard, it’ll be a big undertaking, but with the right focus and understanding, we can restore Coors Light,” says Ryan Reis, VP Coors family of brands.
Moving fast is critical, Reis says. That’s why Coors Light changed campaigns in late 2018 when it became clear the previous effort wasn’t delivering results.
With a heightened focus on transformative refreshment and a goal of better connecting with younger legal-drinking-age consumers, Coors Light for the first time in more than three years is opening up its roster of agencies.
“Our current mix of agencies has done some incredible work, but as we bring Coors Light back to what made it so successful to begin with, we’re seeing some exciting ideas from new places about how that concept can come to life,” says Reis. “As we look to identify new and disruptive ways for the brand to come to life, we are starting to explore some of these new partnerships.”
One week out from the MillerCoors annual sales meeting with its distributors, Reis laid out some details on what to expect from Coors Light.
Getting back to what made Coors Light special
“Last fall we committed to reestablishing our cold credentials. Our beer is cold-lagered, cold-filtered and cold-packaged for peak refreshment. The mountains on Coors Light turn blue when it’s at the perfect temperature. That’s not a gimmick, it’s actually something that matters to consumers. When we found a lot of drinkers didn’t know that, we knew we needed to fix that. That’s why we started telling them again late last year, and that’s why we’re going to keep telling them in new, fun, meaningful and creative ways.”
Recruiting 21- to 34-year-old drinkers
“We are positioning Coors Light for sustained growth by aggressively targeting and recruiting 21- to 34-year-olds. That means spending more than ever on impactful digital and social channels. Overall, we’re planning to significantly increase our digital and our social spend.”
Resonating with Latino consumers
“We’ve found our messaging and imagery about cold especially resonates with Latino consumers. We will lean hard into cold with retail tools, sampling and cross-merchandising solutions. And for the first time in several years, we will have Latino-specific TV spots.
Reis is under no illusions that things will turn around overnight. But he says he is encouraged by some recent sales indicators.
Staying focused on what made Coors Light the second-biggest beer brand in the country – cold refreshment – should help get the brand back on track, he says. “There is not a doubt in my mind we can get Coors Light on a growth trajectory.”
The MillerCoors Behind the Beer news blog is typically published three days a week. Subscribe here. Do you have story ideas? Questions? Comments? Email Peter Frost at peter.frost@millercoors.com.