Could Miller Lite be revolutionary again?
12/18/2013 Post
12/18/2013 Post
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In January, Miller Lite's limited-edition can (shown here) arrives to remind everyone that there was a time, about 35 years ago, when the brand turned the beer world upside down. The seventies were simpler days with a simpler beer market. Long before craft beers ever appeared, "full-flavor" premium beers--Budweiser, Miller High Life, and Coors Banquet--ruled unchallenged. But then came Miller Lite and its revolutionary positioning based on product distinctiveness: Less filling, low-calorie beer with no sacrifice in taste. This seeming conflict was resolved in brilliant advertising using ex-athletes to dramatize--in masculine fashion--that Miller Lite delivered taste without filling you up. These two commercials capture the joy of the legendary campaign. |
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Miller Lite launched itself on a trajectory unlike anything in the beer business up until that time.
Now we're seeing this same sort of tumult again.
The craft beer phenomenon--collectively, a combination of a revolutionary product strategy and a similarly ground-breaking grassroots marketing strategy--has rocked the beer business to about the same extent (the volume impact is roughly similar) as Miller Lite did. Store shelves are now jammed with very full-flavor beers from hundreds of new breweries.
Now we're seeing this same sort of tumult again.
The craft beer phenomenon--collectively, a combination of a revolutionary product strategy and a similarly ground-breaking grassroots marketing strategy--has rocked the beer business to about the same extent (the volume impact is roughly similar) as Miller Lite did. Store shelves are now jammed with very full-flavor beers from hundreds of new breweries.
When markets undergo revolutions, surprising opportunity can appear. Could it be knocking right now for Miller Lite?
Might not today's craft beers serve as a timely point of comparison, not unlike premium beers were in the seventies? A comparison that would favor the original light beer, just as it did back then. There wouldn't be much risk because Lite hasn't had a positioning for awhile, arguably since the one it launched with. And years of poor business trends now see the brand courting irrelevance and obscurity.
But it would take a revolutionary competitive idea. An idea the
market hasn't heard. An idea perhaps a bit controversial. Yet an idea Lite's remaining loyalists would readily embrace, even as it drew in new customers.
Maybe most of all, an idea only Miller Lite could employ...
Might not today's craft beers serve as a timely point of comparison, not unlike premium beers were in the seventies? A comparison that would favor the original light beer, just as it did back then. There wouldn't be much risk because Lite hasn't had a positioning for awhile, arguably since the one it launched with. And years of poor business trends now see the brand courting irrelevance and obscurity.
But it would take a revolutionary competitive idea. An idea the
market hasn't heard. An idea perhaps a bit controversial. Yet an idea Lite's remaining loyalists would readily embrace, even as it drew in new customers.
Maybe most of all, an idea only Miller Lite could employ...
Now, where to find some ex-jocks who aren't in their eighties?
