Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Miller Chill v. Bud Light Lime

Last year Miller Brewing Company launched Miller Chill. This summer saw the launch of Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light Lime. The question is why is Miller Chill floundering and Bud Light Lime is succeeding (relatively speaking)?

Miller Lite championed “Man Law” in a campaign not so long ago. One of the man laws was, “no fruit in beer.” Although the “Man Law” campaign is fairly old in advertising terms, Miller Lite still has a specific portion of the market that they target. This is the same market that believes the man laws made by Burt Reynolds and his cohorts and that market was not receptive to beer with a fruity, salty twist.

Bud Light has a slightly more diverse marketing plan. They are currently capitalizing on “drinkability,” which is that certain je ne sais quoi, that makes bud light a more drinkable beer according to the ads. Drinkability is a braod term that speaks to both male and female beer drinkers, connoisseurs and guzzlers alike. They launched Bud Light Lime with a $35 million campaign. In order to continue the success of Bud Light Lime into the fall and winter season Anheuser-Busch has launched a campaign with the slogan “Seasons change, tastes don’t.”

http://www.beverageworld.com/content/view/35359/

1 comment:

Scott Sherman said...

Your question is a good one (why is Miller Chill floundering and Bud Light Lime is succeeding?). Could it be that Miller dropped "Lite" from the Chill name and Bud keeps it? Miller Lite is a much stronger brand than Miller. Miller Chill has the same calories as Bud Light Lime (110), but Miller doesn't use the "Lite" name. Lime-flavored lite beer would appeal more to females than to typical macho men, so it doesn't make sense not to keep "Lite" in the name.