I know, this old horse is taking a beating well into the afterlife, but there is yet again news of industrial craft beer on the horizon. This time, Miller Lite is actually coming from out of left field with their own "craft beer" line, instead of letting others like Blue Moon operate at arm's length, which, in a way, seems almost bold.
Their slogan? "Craft Beer. Done Lite."
I'll allow that to sink in for a moment...
Moment over.
The article at BrewBlog cites three trends that these guys have been eyeing. One is the established market share of light beer brands amongst the public. But the second and third are rather interestingly intertwined: "the growing popularity of craft beer; and consumers’ growing willingness to pay more for products that deliver a unique or better experience."
So by putting out a light wheat beer, we're automatically supposed to shell out more for it, when it would seem that a brand like Miller Lite could make it competitively priced. They may do so, who knows, but the concept of "trading up" is being applied within the same brand name. Still, expansion into this market seems part and parcel of the consolidation wars going on. I'm not going to call it what I already called it in a previous post (and it's a clever little double entendre if I do say so myself), but you know what I'm talking about.
Straight from the horse's mouth: "...American beer drinkers now can have great craft beer taste and the refreshment and drinkability they prefer.”
And, come February, if this turns out to be the most amazing beer with fewer carbs and all that fancy nonsense, I'll eat my hat and leave via the horse I rode in on.
Friday, December 14, 2007
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7 comments:
I am curious if pricing higher will work for them. It is the same thing Rolling Rock did back in the late 90's. They raised their prices to give the public the perception that for a higher price you were getting higher quality.
They are going about it the wrong way though with pricing being the factor and forgetting about the beer. Beer geeks gladly pay more for good beer, but will it be good beer? Hard telling. Can you imagine what would happen though if they started making DIPA's or Russian Imperial stouts? What would happen to rest of the craft beer market? They would be eating up a great deal of product and further driving up ingredient prices.
I don't see how style is relevant here, Matt. People who want decent pilsner won't drink Miller Lite; people who want decent DIPA or imperial stout won't drink Miller's version of them unless they're as good as what they're used to.
If Miller DIPA and Miller Imperial are top quality at industrial prices, then happy days for overall beer quality, and it's time the craft movement went in search of its next victory. However, if they end up bearing the same resemblance to craft beers as Miller Lite does to craft pilsner, then it's business as usual, and you'll find the Miller Imperial next to the malt liquor for as long as it continues to exist.
Mmmm... hypothetical...
Pricing higher didn't work for Stella Artois in the UK; despite the arty black and white adverts and the "reassuringly expensive" slogan, it still ended up with the amusing nickname of "wifebeater".
The slogan is rather patronising - suggesting that existing craft beer is not drinkable is not going to go down well with the craft beer market, and as such I can only assume that it is targeted at the existing Miller audience, rather than the craft beer types.
Or does craft beer in the US have some kind of cool connotation beyond the beer geek crowd? Something that makes Joe Sixpack think "well, I can't stand the stuff, but those craft beer fans are just so cool". I can't imagine it in the UK...
Beer Nut you are correct. You've said much better than I have said it though.
The style isn't really relevant, but I was just looking at the amount of product Miller would have to purchase make items like this on a mass scale.
I am not really worried about that though because craft brewers have a great way of adapting and creating something new and pushing style guidelines and creating new things.
If it tastes good people will drink it. There are certain people that won't because it's from Miller, but I am of the mindset I will try everything under the sun at least once and won't go to that level of beer snobbery as to not try it. If they make a winner I will purchase, but if its a stinker I won't ever buy it again.
To address the pricing issue, I have a feeling that they may charge more for this new "craft beer" than a six-pack of Lite, but still less than a six-pack from a microbrewery to attract consumers. That remains to be seen, but that would be a strong strategy (which is why they should pay me for such insight! ha!).
This new line exudes that "premium" image, while at the same time luring light beer lovers into the world of craft beer... kill two birds with one stone, and also see if combining both segments of the population will give them an edge over competitors using similar "craft beer" approaches with their advertising. Some seem to be willing to pay more for this image, and the beer would take a backseat to that. Therefore, people feel they're "trading up," whether it's a seemingly different operation, such as Blue Moon, or overtly part of the Miller Lite line, it's a potential win-win.
Beer Nut - I think you're onto something, because if it doesn't get the support of the general public, the market they're aiming at, then it may die out as part of a trend like others have in the past. It'll have to be just as good if not better in order to get any traction with people who enjoy better beer. And, it seems they're stepping lightly in terms of style territory, with the Wheat, Amber, and Blonde in order to woo drinkers of macro lager.
Boak - This marketing strategy may be directed toward Joe Sixpack's parents instead. I do feel that many young adults in the States feel the need to drink Stella or Amstel Light to keep up appearances and distinguish themselves from the crowd. Like I said in a comment on your blog, there's a good portion of Americans that eat that "imported" label up.
Unfortunately, it doesn't look like we're getting any cooler.
By the way, there's a follow-up at BrewBlog:
http://www.brewblog.com/brew/2007/12/can-miller-lite.html
This response gives me the impression that they're answering their own question to reassure their shareholders, rather than convincing beer geeks to take the bait.
Matt, I'd say it would take a while, and a lot of publicised success, before they'd start producing in such quantities as to affect availability of raw materials for everyone else. Besides which, industrial brewing is all about reducing the amount of expensisive ingredients you actually need.
And I absolutely agree with you on the try-then-judge principle. However, for every person who won't drink it because it's Miller there are a hundred who will for the very same reason. Craft Beer From A Brand I Trust? That's marketing gold, especially, as Eric says, if you can undercut the genuine craft producers. If it's any comfort, Diageo Ireland have played this game and lost several times now. Wooing macro-swill drinkers off their preferred swill onto a premium swill is really hard, and gives shareholders the shakes.
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