When it comes to light beer, it seems everyone has their preference and that's that. And who could blame them? Light beers aren't exactly considered a delicacy. For most people, when they find a light beer they actually like, they tend to stick to it. When you look at sales for the past few years, it rarely changes. Based on personal experience, I completely believe it. I know people who drink Coors Light like it's some sort of responsibility. I hate Coors Light. The taste is terrible, the silver can is bland and boring and makes me think of the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz.
Personally, I've always been a Bud Light fan. The commercials look fun, the deep blue color scheme looks refreshing and welcoming, and the beer isn't half bad. They've had some great marketing campaigns over the year and always seem to be on top of social media. Each of these contributes to their consistency as the top seller. But then something unexpected happened. I heard about the new cans that Miller Lite had recently released thanks to Facebook and an ad campaign on YouTube, so I figured I would check it out. It was a drastic change in appearance, going from their shiny blue cans that featured modernized font and graphics to a simple and classic white and gold design that echoed the Miller Lite cans of old. I was pleasantly surprised with the can. The beer tasted pretty good. The next time I went to get light beer, I got Miller Lite. And the next. And the next. I had changed loyalties and didn't even realize it until long afterwards.
Curious if there was any sort of trend in the sales of Miller Lite, I did some research. What I found was that Miller Lite was cutting into the sales of almost every other major light beer distributor. Thanks to a major social media campaign marketing Miller Lite as the original of light beers and the new can as a symbol of tradition, the company was able to flip the loyalty of numerous customers like myself. It was so effective that the campaign, along with the "new" can, became permanent. Both were suppose to be discontinued in March. So much for that.
I thought the throwback can was a really interesting marketing technique as well. I feel like Miller Lite has done a lot of marketing focusing on their packaging which I sometimes thought was a little bit ridiculous like the vortex, but this seems to have definitely worked.
ReplyDeleteI did a project recently on Bud Light's new campaigns and wrote most of the paper about how they did a great job at marketing to our generation - the millennials. I think it's interesting how an image that wouldn't be relevant to us (the old can) can get our attention with use of social media.
Cool Post!
I honestly think I saw somewhere that originally Miller Lite was doing this throwback campaign for a limited time, probably because they had no idea where it was going to go. These cans, originally used years ago, are fun and cool. I can vouch for my entire group of friends when I say this retro, old-school style of products is extremely attractive and if Bud Light or Heineken did something similar, I'd buy it too. I hope they never get rid of these because while much of the world thinks futuristic, new things are ALWAYS better, I really don't think that's the case. Sometimes what worked in the past, the appeal of the simple white beer can, is all you need even if it's 20 years or so down the road.
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