Coors Covers the Holidays With Two Promotions

If attracting attention is the goal, what better way to do it than by using a life-size standee of John Wayne and snowflakes with flashing lights? Coors Brewing Co. is using both to promote its Coors and Coors Light brands through the end of the year."The Christmas holidays aren't our major selling season, but they definitely offer some opportunities that give us an extra sales bump," notes Dave Taylor, corporate communications manager for the Golden, Colo.-based brewer. In fact, Coors research shows that Thanksgiving ranks among the top sales occasions, nearly matching Labor Day sales and coming in higher than Halloween.Last year, retailers realized a 43-percent lift over the average fourth quarter when they used the available Thanksgiving P-O-P displays, a spokeswoman said. Similarly, last year's Christmas sales rose 39 percent for retailers promoting and displaying the brands more prominently.Marketers hope to achieve that kind of success this holiday season and commissioned The Integer Group, Lakewood, Colo., to provide P-O-P materials for both campaigns.The November program returned to last year's theme featuring John Wayne's image. The program was then enhanced with four commemorative cans. Using the slogan, "Pick It Up, Pilgrim," the program featured a variety of P-O-P materials that high-lighted the Duke and drew attention to the special cans.The program featured a 42-inch-wide by 72-inch-high standee depicting John Wayne in western gear standing beside cases of Coors and Coors Light. The merchandising materials also included an imprint banner measuring 5 feet wide by 3 feet high, a counter card, a price card, a cooler door decal and a mobile dangler.The cans featured illustrations of Wayne in four basic character types: Cavalryman, Rancher, Lawman and Cowboy. Each described some of the roles Wayne played as these archetypes and included a descriptive panel about the John Wayne Cancer Institute. The graphics from the P-O-P materials carried over to secondary packaging on the 12- and 24-can packages as well. At least two different can graphics were included in each 12-pack.The program kicked off November 1 and continued through the month, when it turned the aisles over to a "Light Up the Season" promotion. The central piece, which runs through December, is a pre-printed sticker shaped like a snowflake that features a battery-operated flashing light. The stickers also include "To" and "From" lines mimicking a gift tag.The stickers are a new concept for the company, Taylor says, and will be applied by each distributor. Most will show up on individual secondary packaging, including case cartons, but some can be attached to P-O-P materials or coolers, too. "It offers versatility so it can be used to attract attention however the retailer desires," he says.The overall theme features a red ribbon banner with the slogan reversed out. The P-O-P materials include an imprint banner with a snowy woods theme and the ribbon, plus a counter card depicting an arched window decorated with Christmas lights. Other pieces include a price card showing one big snowflake and a mobile dangler, complete with three dangling snowflakes beneath a main piece featuring two Coors cans and the red ribbon.The company is also promoting a variety of on-premise events to encourage tie-ins to the campaigns. For instance, the November program included opportunities for customers to have their picture taken with the Duke standee or win a competition for the best John Wayne impersonation. That promotion was supplemented by a TV commercial featuring both Wayne and characters from the "Bonanza" TV show interacting with customers in a bar.Special-event suggestions for the Christmas promotion include customers sharing their funniest holiday tale and Christmas caroling.

Coors Covers the Holidays With Two Promotions

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