Miller Lite made taste pay off in a year of strong results

Miller Lite devoted every marketing dollar it spent last year to a simple message: It’s a great-tasting light beer. In the process, it drove growth for Miller Lite and the entire beer category for the first time in five years. And it did so while being outspent by millions by some rivals. See all of Ad Age's 2023 Creativity Award winners here With its set of 2022 creative spots, Miller jabbed at so-called “tasteless competitors”—Michelob Ultra for one—in a campaign that spoofed fitness positioning. The creative led to an 11.9% sales lift and an ad spend return of 62.1%. Consideration grew by 1.3 points and positive sentiment by 2.3 points. When National Beer Day came around in April, Miller Lite promoted “Beer Drops,” meant to be added to other beers to make them taste better. The stunt coincided with the brand’s biggest one-week share growth in the last three years and “dominated more than half the National Beer Day conversation,” the brand said. During the holidays at the end of 2021, Miller Lite fended off competition from wine and spirits by introducing “Beernaments,” or Christmas decorations that double as beer can holders. Beernaments helped to grow draft sales by 1.5 points, the highest levels since 2018, while Lite volume increased 3.4%, making it the brand’s strongest December in the past five years. Consideration grew 2.7 points, marking the highest Q4 consideration levels since 2016. Beernaments came to retail in 2022, and adding to the festive array at the end of the year was a Christmas Tree Keg Stand—a box stand with room underneath for an ice bucket and a quarter keg. The stunt drove 3.7 billion press impressions and attracted the attention of Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and Seth Meyers. See all the 2023 Ad Age Creativity Awards winners.

Miller Lite made taste pay off in a year of strong results

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