Miller’s extra-light beer succeeds in local test marketing and goes national
13 August 2008
Miller Brewing Co.’s new, very light version of Miller Genuine Draft will go national this fall, with a marketing plan that will include tastings at spas and health clubs, the company said yesterday.
Known as MGD 64, the brand features just 64 calories in a 12-ounce serving.
By comparison, Genuine Draft has 143 calories, and the current Genuine Draft Light has 110 calories.
Miller began test marketing MGD 64 last summer in Madison. In March, it expanded the test marketing to other Midwest states, as well as Arizona, San Diego and Sacramento.
In May, Miller President Tom Long said MGD 64 was performing better than expected and could end up as a national brand.
Long, in a memo to Miller’s wholesale distributors, now says MGD 64 will replace Genuine Draft Light by mid-September.
Miller Brewing has advertised MGD 64 in test markets as a guilt-free beer, with the tag line, “As Light As It Gets” It has the fewest calories of any beer sold in the United States, the company says.
Along with fewer calories, MGD 64 also has less of a kick.
Its alcohol by volume is 3%, compared with 4.7% for both Genuine Draft and Genuine Draft Light.
The company has promoted the brand with tastings at spas and health clubs to emphasize its low calories and carbs.
Some of the marketing focus has been on women, a group of consumers often ignored by beer marketers.
MGD 64 has built “impressive momentum,” Long’s memo said. Miller executives hope that MGD 64 sales could also help revive the moribund Genuine Draft franchise.
The full-calorie Genuine Draft has seen declining sales for several years.
The marketing for MGD 64 will include a national TV campaign, with spots airing by Oct. 1. Increased advertising should help bring higher sales, Long’s memo said.
“With MGD 64, we have an exciting opportunity to gain an even greater share of the continued growth in mainstream lights while re-energizing the MGD franchise,” the memo said.
MillerCoors is using an unusual advertising medium — clothes hangers — to help market its upcoming national launch of MGD 64, the lowest-calorie beer in the U.S. market.
The hangers, which will be distributed through dry cleaners in Seattle and Portland, will target female drinkers with an attached message that advertises the beer’s 64 calories as “a perfect fit,” according to Hanger Network, the business that developed the hangers, which are made from recycled materials.
“We are excited to expand our launch and support of MGD 64 through this eco-friendly medium in the Seattle and Portland markets,” said Jeff Gardiner of MillerCoors, in a statement. “The very nature of the EcoHanger makes it an efficient marketing vehicle because it exclusively reaches our adult female consumers in the privacy of their homes.”
