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Bar Moments
Coors Gets Personal to Drive Sales On-Premise
Out of the stew of sameness in which America’s top brewers simmered
over the course of some years, thanks to a time-worn recipe trading on
image over product, some good ideas finally are rising to the top.
As spirits have beat a path to consumers palates, the domestic beer
powers have scrambled for identity and visibility all over again.
Coors Light, as bar owners have known for a while now, lit out to
position itself as the coldest and most refreshing choice. So far, it’s
worked, but it’s more calculated and clever than being a mere matter of
temperature.
Market trends including a vibrant cocktail culture and the
visibility of craft beer have pushed domestic beers into a corner, but
Coors has used its distinct message to equate “Cold” with refreshment
and get Coors Light back onto the beverage dance floor, so to speak.
“In an effort to bring excitement back to the beer category, this
nails it,” says Royce Wills, Coors Brewing’s director of on-premise
marketing. “We acknowledge the strength of the imports and the craft
category, but there are still a ton of domestic premium beer drinkers
out there, and we want to capture a greater share of those drinkers
— and bring some theater into the on-premise world. Not only can bar
owners talk about having the coldest beer in town, now they’ve got this
theater that sits on the bar and draws consumers in. I’m positive about
what it can do for the beer category in general, and that’s going to
benefit everybody.”
Bar Theater
Wills speaks in terms of “bar theater” — such as the Coors Super
Cold Draft mountains — and creating “bar moments” for consumers to
remember, which are aimed to bring them back to an establishment for —
what else — more Coors Light.
“Our Cold-activated bottle, the fact that the label goes from white
to blue when it’s at the ideal drinking temperature — I’ve sat in
accounts and watched people play with the label, and it’s a signal to
waitstaff when it’s time for another beer, without having to interrupt
the consumer’s experience,” Wills says.
“These things are having the desired effect of creating interest in
the category and communicating ‘Cold’ and how Coors Light can deliver
that more than anyone else, and it’s giving retailers something to get
excited about.”
It’s all about interaction and what today’s bar guests expect,
Wills says, and for many of them, old marketing ploys are a nuisance.
“We’ve crafted a new vision that’s focused on the consumers and the
reasons that they go out and how we interact with them and make their
bar moments better with our brand,” he says. “What you’ll see us really
focusing on, going forward, is how we leverage technology to be much
more integrated into the consumer’s experience on-premise as opposed to
interrupting.
“Right now, there’s so much sameness, with promo girls walking in
and interrupting consumers in the middle of their evening,” Wills says.
“It’s really about ‘me the consumer,’ not ‘you the brand.’ So we’re
trying to marry the needs of a brand with the desires of a consumer.
While we’ll still have NFL and other initiatives, it’s how we use
point-of-sale and tools to really elevate the consumer’s experience and
make that moment better without beating them over the head.
“That’s a huge move for us, and we’re excited about the direction
that can take us and how it can make a connection. I call it an
evolution, not a revolution, because everyone is so habitual in how we
go to market on-premise.”
To the Moon
“Every brand has its own unique architecture and personality, so
when we talk about making bar moments better with Coors Light, that’s
going to look a lot different from how you make a bar moment better
with Blue Moon,” Wills says. “Blue Moon is all about discovery and
appealing to the senses with its great aroma. It’s stimulating
visually, you can spot it across the room, and it piques people’s
interest. Having pouring rituals around the craft category and the
brand we have, creating bar theater with those brands is something
we’re really excited about rolling out in 2008.”
While allowing the consumer to discover Blue Moon on their own is
important in the craft category, Wills believes that “bar theater”
helps.
“For the seasonals, (ask) ‘What does that theater look like? What does that visual stimulus look like?’”
More Moments
The next step for Coors is to “live beyond that bar moment,” Wills
says, as the company looks for ways to nurture its connection with the
consumer. And while the profit motive of selling more Coors products
clearly is there, Will says that operators benefit from the bar moments
those products help create. “It translates into a better experience in
your bar. They’re going to come back.”
Wills says feedback affirms Coors is doing the right thing.
“Our research is coming back very positive, so we’re really
encouraged about what’s going on now and even more encouraged about our
plans for 2008,” he says.
Summer of 2007 brought the Coors Light Cold Front campaign to accounts,
delivering the tools for the “Cold” experience on-premise.
“Now we’re starting to evolve with our Silver Ticket NFL program,”
Wills says. “We tie all this back in with all our innovations that are
out there.”
Ticket to Ride
On-premise consumers can tap into the Silver Ticket program via text messaging.
“You can walk into just about any bar and somebody’s in there texting
somebody,” Wills observes. “We’ve figured out a way to give consumers a
chance to text in for their chance to win a Silver Ticket and a chance
to go to the Super Bowl.”
The Silver Ticket text-messaging
element is but one piece of a stair-step plan to elevate consumer
experience, Will says. Silver Ticket parties throughout the country
allow Coors Light drinkers to come to a game, win a chance to go to the
Super Bowl and interact with former coaches and players.
“I
think there’s a statistic out there that 95 percent of NFL fans have
never been to a game. So by taking this tour on the road, we’re trying
to give consumers as many opportunities to get to a local game or to
the Super Bowl.” NCB |
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