Posted on 11/13/2006 5:34:40 AM PST by ShadowDancer
Miller Says It's OK To Drink Cheap Beer
Ad Campaign Targets Affluent 20-Somethings
POSTED: 8:08 am EST November 13, 2006
MILWAUKEE -- With affluent drinkers straying to imports and crafts, a new ad campaign by Miller Brewing Co. embraces Miller High Life's emphasis on value, saying it's OK to savor a lower priced brew.
Milwaukee-based Miller, the nation's second largest brewer, targeted affluent 20-somethings with an ongoing ad campaign that proclaims Miller Genuine Draft is a "grown up" beer for drinkers who want the better things in life.
But that campaign missed older drinkers, typically 35-year-olds with kids, who still want a low-priced brew, said Tom McLoughlin, marketing director for Miller High Life.
With sales of domestic beer dropping, the company can't afford to leave out prospective customers.
On Friday, Miller launched new television ads in 14 markets in the Midwest, including Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio. The ads feature a delivery man removing Miller High Life from a bistro, dance club and other highbrow establishments, saying the brew doesn't belong there.
People can't have the finer things in life all the time and have to balance their purchases, McLoughlin said.
"As much as people trade up to experience more luxury goods, they can't do that all the time," he said. "There are places where you have to trade down."
Miller is banking on Miller High Life to help it offset a decline in U.S. sales. Its parent company, London-based SABMiller PLC said Thursday that U.S. volume was down 2.6 percent overall in the first six months of the year.
But sales of light value-priced beer have been up the past few years, according to a new report by research firm Mintel. Sales of both Miller High Life Light and Busch Light were up about 4 percent from 2004 to this year, while sales of the full-calorie equivalents were down about 6 percent each, the report said.
With sales of imports and crafts up about 11 percent in the first half of this year, Miller's new campaign shows the company is trying to capitalize on any growth trend it finds, said Eric Shephard, executive editor of the trade publication Beer Marketer's Insights. In this case, it's value-priced beer.
"Any kind of little bit of apparent change, even if they're not real, tends to get people reacting," Shephard said. "These could be short trends, but people have looked at it."
The new spots for Miller High Life could be the first of many, McLoughlin said. All three spots feature a delivery man who becomes indignant at the cost of items in establishments selling the beer. In the bistro clip, he looks at a menu, sees that burgers cost $11.50 and then hauls away cases of the beer.
"This beer is about helping people live the high life," he says. "It's a good honest beer at a tasty price."
McLoughlin said Miller believes some consumers don't really want to pay for higher-priced brews. A six-pack of High Life sells for about $4.99 in the Midwest, while Miller Genuine Draft goes for about $1 more.
"We want to call people on that and show them there's a way they can live the high life and that we rail against pretentiousness," he said.
Christy Brinnehl, a beverage analyst with Mintel Customs Solutions, said people tend to stick to beers in one price range. The ads aren't likely to convince people to switch to Miller's economy brew, but they could help reinforce attitudes among existing customers, she said.
The image of the delivery driver ought to resonate with those drinkers, many of whom are working class - and that's a smart move, Brinnehl said.
"I think that sometimes when the manufacturers are always targeting those affluent, younger 20s people who just started drinking," she said, "they're kind of leaving out those older drinkers or baby boomers."
Hey gringo! Eet's pronounced Meeeeller!
Well as long as they say so, I guess it's okay.
I can drink all sorts of different beers, some I obviously enjoy more than others, but the entire Miller line is a grouping I cannot stomach.
And so, sales of Milwaukee's Beast skyrocket...
Great Hefeweizen, give it a try! I saw it fairly widely available on a recent trip to Florida, at ABC Liquors.
How about a whole 6 pack of Micky's Big Mouth for $.87. Maybe I'm dating myself.
I wonder how long it's going to take these macrobrewers to figure out that the homebrew revolution permanently changed America's beer purchasing habits. Except for the proverbial broke college student and the proudly unsophisticated Joe Sixpack, most people who drink beer don't mind paying a buck or two extra for a better-quality beer. A six of Miller High Life could go for a buck twenty five and I would still consider it a buck twenty five wasted.
DING DING DING. WE HAVE A WINNER!
That is what the commercials solve, buy this, buy that, be happy. For now. Because we'll just move the goal posts. You'll be unhappy then, and we'll make new stuff, we'll buy it and ......
"Micky's Big Mouth"?? How yum, yum that sounds.
(homer voice)...MMMMMMM, Iron City....
...or P.O.C. or Robin Hood Ale...
Life is too short to drink bad beer....
http://www.rollbackthebeertax.com/
(Barrel of beer = 31 gallons.)
Old Milldog and Schlitz provided a few benders
Yikes, beer's expensive in the midwest. I paid $10 for a case of High Life yesterday
Same thing here, now I like Pilsner Urquell and Foster's.
What's really sad, - Germans, despite all their faults, know how to make beer. Good beer - and it's cheap. I was buying it for 8 bucks a case when I was stationed over there. Maybe a dollar or so at a bar, with nary a fern in sight. Even in the bluest of blue collar bars, germans drink good beer. Here in the US, the "boutique" crowd has taken over, so the beer is just way over-priced. So it goes.
You call those good beers? They are just the foreign equivelents to Bud, Miller & Coors.
Try Dogfish Head, Stone Brewery's "Arrogant Bastard", or anything by Avery of Bolder Colorado, or Victory of PA or Bells of MI. These are true craft beers--as good or better than anything foreign, and 100% US made too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.