Miller takes care with Lite spinoffs
18.06.2008 02:00
Home
- Source: JS Online
Last year, Miller Brewing Co. President Tom Long — wowed by strong test market results for Miller Chill — decided to accelerate the new beer’s national rollout. The gamble paid off, with Chill drawing sales above what Miller had expected. This year, Long appeared ready to follow that same plan with three craft beer spinoffs of Miller Lite. But the company disclosed Tuesday that Long is postponing plans to sell the Miller Lite Brewers Collection nationwide by fall. Long, in a memo sent to Miller’s wholesale distributors, said recent test-market results “indicate a need for some additional and refined marketing elements with greater clarity about the brand’s promise of light beer refreshment combined with craft-style taste.” Miller said in April that because of strong sales during test marketing, the new craft versions of Miller Lite — a blonde ale, an amber beer and a wheat beer — would be rolled out in phases, with the three beers available nationally by the end of September. But Long, in the memo to distributors, said Miller instead will do additional test marketing of the Miller Lite Brewers Collection. “A slower, more deliberate test-market approach will give us the greatest opportunity to glean insights into the brand’s full potential and thus increase the likelihood of long-term success,” Long’s statement says. Long said Miller will continue the test marketing in Baltimore, Charlotte, N.C., and Minneapolis, and it will add test markets in Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee and out-state Wisconsin. He said the beers have “shown great potential, with strong repeat purchase measures among beer drinkers who try the brand.” Reduced-calorie craft beers are rare, and that’s why Miller decided to move more slowly, company spokesman Pete Marino said. “We’re trying to create a new category here,” Marino said. “And when you do that, you need just a little bit more time.” By doing additional test marketing, Miller executives can better determine the size of the market for the new beers, Marino said. “The worst thing we can do is go too far too fast,” Marino said. The April announcement, made at Miller’s annual conference with its wholesalers, was based on very limited test marketing information, he said. The three new craft versions of Miller Lite will target mainstream drinkers and seek to exploit trends that favor light beer, a greater variety of beer styles and a willingness to pay more for higher-quality beers. Only a few craft brewers have rolled out light beers. The most notable has been Sam Adams Light, which has boosted sales for its owner, Boston Beer Co.
| 
Add comment