It's An Odd Strategy, But At Least It's A Strategy

At the risk of boring some readers to sleep, I have decided to do another business-related post after sharing my thoughts on the legacy airline companies.  If you found my last post to be somewhere slightly lower than watching "Groomer Has It" (seriously, who thought it would be a good idea to make a reality show about grooming animals?) on the interesting scale then my only hope is to mention that this post will also revolve around beer.

I'd like to take a share my very broad view on the marketing strategies of the top three domestic breweries in the United States.  In order these are:  Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing, and Coors Brewing (Rankings based on sales volume for 2007 as found here).

(Note: upon further thought, these strategies only apply to the light versions of each brands most popular beer... Bud Light, Miller Lite, Coors Light.  Budweiser, Miller Genuine Draft, Coors Original, and secondary brands at each brewery are exempt).

1.  Anheuser-Busch (Bud Light)-- 

Strategy:  Mention the beer as little as possible.  Design (occasionally) funny and/or sexy ads (e.g. Real Men of Genius, the "Dude" commercials, Carlos Mencia Ads, etc) which are completely unrelated to beer but feature the Bud logo at the end of each spot.  

Assumed goal:  Generating a variant of this conversation between men - "Dude, did you see that new Bud Light commercial?  It was hilarious!"

Honorable mention:  To the marketing team behind Michelob Ultra for their valiant attempt at branding their product as some sort of pseudo sports drink.

2.  Miller (Miller Lite)--  

Strategy:  Continually stress that their beer is better than the competition.  Design (occasionally) funny and/or sexy ads which normally conclude with some mention of how their beer tastes better, is more refreshing, has fewer carbs, is less filling, etc.  

Assumed goal:  Make people believe that if they value quality they should choose Miller Lite. Authors note: I can verify with nearly 100% certainty that this campaign is effective on 27 year olds who write blogs and are named Sean Maconachy as Miller Lite is my favorite out of the three options presented here.

Honorable mention: To the High Life team for having the audacity to still refer to a barely mediocre product as "the champagne of beers".  All is forgiven, however, for having the best current commercials with the High Life delivery man repossessing beer from establishments that are not worthy.

3.  Coors (Coors Light)--  

Strategy:  Generally ignore actual product.  Design (rarely) funny and/or sexy ads based around packaging gimmicks including: frost brew liners; cold activated, color changing labels on bottles; and specially ventilated cans for a smoother pour.

Assumed goal:  I have absolutely no idea.  I really don't think people put a lot of thought into their beer delivery method.  I also struggle to see how blue mountains on a bottle can be viable competition against the number one selling beer in the country and a brand that focuses on having the highest quality product.  My best guess is that one of the top marketing execs at Coors had his first great idea with hypercolor, has had a major brain cramp for the last 18 years or so, and has just been recycling that idea over and over whenever he/she gets into a bind.  I can even picture the strategy session in my head...

Frank/Suzie: "People, we're in trouble.  Bud and Miller are kicking us to the curb and we need a fresh new idea to keep this brand relevant.  I've been up for 4 nights straight trying to think of the next great idea and I have it... We make the bottle change colors!!!"

Rest of Room:  "Umm, yeah,  haven't you had that same idea for every product you've worked with in your entire career?"

Frank/Suzie: "Well, sort of.  But what works for t-shirts, toy cars and nail polish should definitely work with beer, right?"

Honorable Mention:  To the Coors Original team for sticking with the "Banquet Beer" thing for all this time.  Not only have I not heard of anyone attending a banquet in at least 10 years, but what does it even mean to be a Banquet Beer in the first place?

The one saving grace in my opinion, is that unlike the fine people at the airlines, at least the people at Coors were smart enough to know that they needed to do something to differentiate their product, even if it did wind up being totally strange.  'Tis better to do something dumb than to be dumb enough to do nothing at all.

Authors Notes:  During my research for this post I noticed that as of today, July 1, Miller and Coors have merged and are now collectively known as MillerCoors.

As a big fan of beer, I would be remiss in not recommending some of my favorite breweries from the top 50 list:

Number 5:  Boston Beer.  Lots of great styles beyond just Sam Adams Boston Lager.

Number 8:  New Belgium Brewing Co.  Makers of Fat Tire and other quality beers.

Number 25:  Goose Island Beer Co.  A Chicago staple with over a dozen great varieties.

Number 34:  Rogue Ales/ Oregon Brewing.  Love their Dead Guy Ale.

Number 38:  Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.  If you like IPA's check them out.

Number 40:  Great Lakes Brewing Co.  Cleveland brewer.  Great (and potent) Christmas Ale.

Let me know what you think, or let me know of some great beers that I'm missing in my list... Leave a comment please!