CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- My beer's healthier than yours.
That's more or less the tactic being employed by MGD 64 as it turns its guns on 95-calorie Michelob Ultra.
Ultra has worked for years to position itself as an "active lifestyle" beer for the athletically minded, going so far as to ink a high-profile endorsement deal with cycling legend Lance Armstrong and launching a Facebook app that locates running and cycling paths. In its new campaign from Publicis' Saatchi & Saatchi, MGD 64 takes a similar tack, launching a branded pedometer app that uploads users' total steps into Facebook group challenges such as "Walk Up Mount Everest 64 times." (And before you make any jokes about how the pedometer totals would be inflated by users not walking in a straight line and therefore getting a few extra steps, consider that MGD 64's alcohol by volume is a meager 2.8%, while Michelob Ultra's is a more typical 5%.)
The brand also boasts a "calorie counter" app that compares its calories to Bud Light, Michelob Ultra, white wine, margaritas and other beverages. There is one notable, and purposeful, exception: Budweiser Select 55.
Many beer-industry watchers assumed that Anheuser-Busch's 55-calorie brand would lead to the demise of MillerCoors' MGD 64. After all, the 64-calorie brand was introduced in late 2008 with a campaign from Omnicom Group's Momentum Worldwide, St. Louis with a single selling point -- "as light as it gets" -- and there was now a contender with nine fewer calories. Yet three months into Select 55's national rollout, MGD 64's retail sales were up 17% through March 26, according to SymphonyIRI.