Hi tbernthal--
Brian Sternthal, Kraft Professor of Marketing
Kellog Graduate School of Management has this case study posted on his
web site.
Competition-Based Positioning: Miller Lite vs. Bud Light
http://www.kellogg.nwu.edu/faculty/sterntha/htm/module3/3.html
It describes the emergence of the Bud Light brand to illustrate the
steps in developing a competition-based position.
Here are exerpts from the first two paragraphs:
"In the mid-1970s, Miller Brewing Company introduced a brand that was
called Lite beer from Miller. This was not the first attempt to
introduce a light beer. Gablinger had marketed such a product in the
late 1960s.
"In contrast, Lite beer from Miller was positioned as the beer that
tasted great, but had fewer calories than regular beer. The advantage
of this product was that users could drink more without getting filled
up. The campaign, which was developed by Backer Spielvogel, targeted
18-34 year old males with blue-collar occupations, who were the heavy
users of the beer category. The campaign was supported by the
endorsement of ex-athletes and other beer-drinking personalities and
aired on television during sports programming."
http://www.allaboutbeer.com/features/226beerandtv.html
Beer and Television:
Perfectly Tuned In
by Carl H. Miller
is an interesting review of beer advertising on television on the All
About Beer web site. It devotes several paragraphs to the introduction
of Lite beer.
Royal Bank notes on the web page on "Defining Your Market Strategy"
http://www.royalbank.com/sme/guides/marketing/strategy.html
"...when brewers first developed a drink that was less fattening, they
found sales of "Diet Beer" went nowhere. The largely-male marketplace
saw the product as something for "sissies" and not what "real men"
drank. Later, that changed when "Lite Beer" hit the market and ad
strategists used sports stars to promote the product's benefits over
regular beer."
http://www.worldcom.com/us/resources/digitalsource/2001Q2/trends.xml
"Miller Brewing originally introduced Lite beer, without the Miller
brand attached. When competition increased, customers asking for a
light beer had to clarify whether they wanted a Lite or another
brand's light beer. Lite quickly became Miller Lite to alleviate
confusion."
http://www.sabmiller.com/acquisition/millerinfo.asp
Provides corporate information on Miller Brewing Company:
"Rank – Miller Brewing Company is the second-largest brewer in the
United States and the world's sixth-largest brewer.
United States
Market share – Miller Brewing Company holds a 20 percent share of the
US beer market.
Miller Lite – Miller Lite, the beer that created the low calorie
category in the US, is the company's largest brand and the country's
third best-selling brand overall."
http://www.americanheritage.com/AMHER/2002/03/beer.shtml
An Article from American Heritage "Beer and America" by Max Rudin
traces the history of beer in America including the introduction of
lite beers.
You'll find more beer history at http://www.beerhistory.com/
The book "Beer Blast: The Inside Story of the Brewing Industry's
Bizarre Battles for Your Money"
by Philip Van Munching, Philip Van Munching also adresses the lite
wars.
Described by Booklist:
Recent beer books are mostly about beer connoisseurship, home brewing,
or beer tourism; they are usually pretty enjoyable. Van Munching
instead tells the tale of the U.S. beer business since the 1970s--and
produces a very enjoyable book. After breezily sketching beer in
America from the Mayflower to Philip Morris' 1969 acquisition of
Miller Brewing, he expands upon America's brewing behemoths' battle
for first-place market share; Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser) kept its lock
on the top but breathed hard, anyhow, while Schlitz, Coors, Pabst,
Heileman, and most successfully, Miller challenged.
Search strategy: marketing "lite beer"
From personal experience in marketing research in the 1970s but for
another major brand, I can tell you that much of the research was
conducted using what was then a fairly new technique, the focus group.
Approximately ten people would be gathered in a special facility
equipped with a one-way mirror and asked to talk about beer, their
likes, dislikes, when they drank it, whom they drank it with, etc,
etc. The concentration was on men, because that's who drank beer. It
was still considered "unseemly" for a woman to drink beer.
A series of these interviews would be conducted by a very skilled
moderator at locations across the country. I remember one major
proposed ad campaign featuring what today would be called an "action
figure" being discarded after such a series of interviews because
respondents felt he was a "sissy" for wearing tights and a cape.
As I recall, from a competitor's viewpoint, nobody thought the light
beer phenomena would be as big as it became. The beer was assumed to
be "weak" or "watery" not a "real beer." It was impossible to convey
how the beer would taste to survey respondents, so survey results
couldn't quite predict the market.
With huge ad campaigns that emphasized "less filling" and fewer
calories, light beers did begin to draw more women into the market.
I hope this information meets your needs.
Skol!
Nellie Bly |
