Americans love beer. No doubt about it. And, for decades, Americans have also had a love affair with light beer. Miller, Coors, Bud, and Keystone all enjoyed massive success with their light (lite) beer selections, but now there may be some signs that the golden years for the lighter golden brews is coming to an end. Ronn Torossian explains what is happening and how brands could respond with targeted consumer Beverage PR.
According to prognosticators, domestic sales of light beer in the United States will hit a ten-year low in 2015. And, while this is just a prediction, it is based on solid trends and a changing market. In fact, experts are saying light beer sales will finish 2014 down nearly 5 million barrels.
To top it off, the market’s big boys are also the biggest losers in this trend. Bud Light sales have fallen for five straight years, and both Coors and Miller saw their light and lite selections lose market share.
Of course, the folks at AB InBev, Coors, and Miller say they’re not worried. After all, they have weathered market shifts before, and they are already working on solutions to these trends. One solution, of course, is to introduce a line of new or slightly different products. If the companies can engage bored customers with new offerings, they can offset losses with gains in new markets.
In addition, all three companies are expected to make strong marketing pushes later this year. That means new creative campaigns, PR barrages, and new ideas coming from industry leaders. That could lead to an entirely different sort of marketplace shakeup. If the trend “victims” can successfully flip the script and become the trend setters, the upstart smaller breweries and microbreweries that have been cutting into their market share could once-again find themselves playing catch up with the big boys.
