According to Advertising Age, Coors Light is close to bumping Budweiser out of the way as the nation’s best-selling brew behind Bud Light.
“Budweiser is going down, baby,” said MillerCoors Chief Marketing Officer Andy England at the brewer’s convention in San Antonio. He also predicted that not only will Coors Light surpass Anehuser-Busch’s Budweiser this year, but that Miller Lite will leave Bud in the dust in 2012. “With brand Bud in decline and Coors Light heading for its seventh consecutive year of domestic volume and share growth, that would be like, well, trying to stop a train.”
These words were meant to stoke some competitive fire at the spring pep-rally-like convention for distributors heading into the all-important summer beer-selling months. The event, attended by some 4,000 people, included guest appearances by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Nascar driver Brad Keseloski, and hip-hop artist Ice Cube, who will appear in ads for Coors Light this year.
While Coors Light is close to edging out its competition, it will be losing one asset that has helped its ascent—its deal with the NFL as the official beer sponsor. The pact terminated at the end of this season and now belongs to Anheuser-Busch, thanks to a six-year deal worth an estimated $50 million a year for Bud Light.
Miller Lite will still be continuing its “Man Up” campaign, and at retail consumers who buy Miller Lite products can earn “taste points” on a website, redeemable for prizes.
