MillerCoors Targets Millennials' Spirits

Chicago — Sometimes consumers want more alcohol content than traditional beer delivers, and sometimes they want innovation. Those were two of the insights that led MillerCoors to launch its Miller Fortune brand in February. “Like with anything else we do, when we look into introducing a new product, we start with the consumer,” says Benjamin Feeney, Miller Fortune brand manager. “Separately, we really admire what spirits have done over the years. We kind of combined those two ideas and said to ourselves, ‘It would be interesting if we created the beer for spirit occasions.’”Targeted toward Millennials who are increasingly opting for liquor instead of beer, Miller Fortune has a hefty 6.9% alcohol content and a maltier flavor that suggests bourbon. The sleek, black packaging and in-store pieces depicting the beer in rocks glasses give the brand a higher-end look and feel, says Cheryl Withrow, manager of channel marketing for Miller Fortune. “We used great printing techniques to cue the attitude we want the brand to have – the ‘premium-ness’ that hasn’t been seen in a beer bottle like this.”The in-store materials revolve around one or two key elements per channel, with variations for grocery, convenience store, liquor store and on-premise, says Withrow. “We asked ourselves, ‘What are the one or two pieces that show off the brand in a way we want it to be seen?’ So we minimized ‘block and tackle’ pieces that are sometimes strewn around.”The packaging and point-of-sale feature the Miller Fortune ace of spades iconography reinforced throughout, Withrow adds, along with “playful elements” like a “heads-and-tails” bottle cap that “brings a little gamification to the package.” The campaign leads customers to the store through traditional TV, radio and print ads that launched on March 3, as well as with digital, mobile and social media marketing efforts. The MillerFortune.com website features a product locator that ensures consumers know where to find it, and the campaign is also “driving discussion of Miller Fortune in earned media channels like Twitter and Facebook,” says Feeney.MillerCoors has been pleased with the retailer response thus far, says Withrow. “We had many, many retailers lead with features and front-of-store displays to align with our TV kickoff. Walmart even made its own Miller Fortune rocks glasses, which is our preferred way of serving it,” she adds, noting their likeness to liquor tumblers.The bottom-line measurement for the campaign’s success will be the amount sold by the end of the year, and in 2015, 2016 and beyond, Feeney says. But the brand also will be tracking consumer engagement and perception through social media activity, attendance at sampling events and anecdotal interactions with consumers. “This is a national launch,” he says. “We plan to have a full rollout and maintain it.”Adds Withrow: “We plan to have support throughout the year, and we’re already working on next year. We absolutely plan to have this be a big brand for this company.”Feeney declined to specify a budget, or how the budget has compared with other campaigns, except to say, “We have significant investment behind this brand.”MillerCoors worked with Saatchi and Saatchi, New York, for advertising; Digitas, Boston, for social and mobile; and both Common Ground, St. Louis, and Olson, Minneapolis, for public relations.

MillerCoors Targets Millennials' Spirits

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