New ideas are often sourced from previous approaches. Miller Lite has returned to the old ‘It’s Miller Time’ tagline (now it has a new meaning) to encourage Americans to spend more time with their friends—not only for a beer. While in the previous campaigns under this slogan, which was used by Miller High Life in 1970’s and then returned for Miller Lite from 1997 to 2002, beer was positioned as a reward after hard work, now the focus got shifted to sociability. The new U.S. campaign, which is set to roll across multiple platforms including TV, social media and print, is to help the Miller Lite beer, which is the fourth biggest-selling beer brands in the USA, revive since its overall shipments dropped by 4.3 percent last year, CNBC reports.

«Miller Lite really is about real beer and real friends, and we believe that Miller Time captures that whole idea of real friends coming together over real beer,» MillerCoors Exec VP-Chief Marketing Officer Andy England commented to AdAge. The first series of ads, developed by Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, are focusing on male friendship and are revolving around the idea that “Miller Lite isn’t so much about where, as it is about who.” The new marketing effort if greatly different from the previous brand’s ‘Man Up’ promotion, which was elaborated by DraftFCB and poked fun at male drinkers who choose other light beer brands. But the brand didn’t say ‘good-bye’ to the second agency as well—the humorous ‘Nicknames’ spots, which explore various friend types and follow Saatchi & Saatchi’s commercials,  are developed by Draft’s creative talents.

It still remains unclear if the brand is going to keep to this two-agency model scheme for a long time. “It’s certainly not something we’ve come to any decisions on. Both agencies have done a terrific job … on this new work and that makes my job both delightful and difficult… What’s a sustainable model? We’ll work that out over time,» added Andy England. Apparently, Miller Lite will continue to collaborate with the agencies for as long as it benefits the brand’s promotional activities. Since the brand’s plans are big, they really need a powerful force. “MillerCoors intends to boost Miller Lite’s media budget by 50% between May and August” to support the campaign, commented England to Dow Jones Newswires, but he doesn’t say the amount of dollars they are going to spend on this advertising effort.