Miller Brewing Takes Jabs at Competitor to Increase Market Share

Miller Lite has taken the brand into its own hands lately after removing duties from Crispin, Porter & Bogusky. The new Miller Lite advertisements are now focusing around taking stabs at competitors and are being created in-house.

You can read the full article here at Adage.com:http://adage.com/article?article_id=116229

Although sales apparently dropped during the "Man Laws" campaign which ran for over a year, I have to say I'm completely disappointed that the plug has been pulled on the campaign. I think the Man Laws campaign was absolutely brilliant. It may not have increased sales but it did get men talking about social rules while drinking beer.

The Man Laws campaign was focused around manly men sitting inside a glass cube at a boardroom table discussing the laws of being a man. It featured stars such as Oscar De La Hoya, Burt Reynolds, Wrestling Superstar Triple H, comedian Eddie Griffin, Jerome Bettis and professional bull rider Ty Murray just to name a few. The premise of the spots was focused around the men discussing these rules then voting upon them and then solidifying the law into a book.

Miller claims their sales dropped and their market share declined during this time period but I have to say the advertising campaign might not have been to blame. Was it just bad timing while this campaign ran? Sure the ads never mentioned Miller Lite. The only reason you knew Miller Lite was the brand was due to the :5 tag line at the end and the fact that each of the men were holding a bottle of Miller Lite. But does this really have to do with the failure in the advertisements?

I was in numerous locations where I would hear men discussing a man law. The day it was announced that Miller would pull the plug I heard a talk show host on the radio discuss a man law. This was one of those advertising campaigns that was designed with the intent on increasing sales, but the end result could have been so much bigger.

Unfortunately Miller Lite got impatient and decided it was time. So they pulled the plug and ended the brilliant (in my mind) campaign. Is it worth more in the end to continue an advertising campaign that will have your target audience talking about your brand in the bar and at parties? Apparently Miller Lite did not believe so.

The basis of this article though focuses around the fact that Miller Lite is currently producing their own advertisements. A tough task they have decided to take on. Their new creative focuses around the Lite brand again. The new spots are primarily facing them off against the competition's Lite or Light beeer.

I first heard the Miller Lite spots on the radio about two months ago and I was confused. The spot features a male talking about drinking beer that included the letters GHT. I had no idea what he was talking about and I continued to wait for the punch or tag line to find out if I could decypher the message myself. I had to hear the spot at least four more times before I figured it out. They were discussing the fact that Miller Lite is the better of the light beers against Bud Light. Using the GHT in the Light versus the ITE in the Lite.

I still do not believe it is a strong campaign but as Mr. Tom Long is quoted as saying these ads are "cheap" and "easy" to produce. This is where I have another problem. Why would the CEO of a multi-million dollar company proclaim that his advertisements are "cheap" and "easy" to produce? These words scream to me that Miller Lite needs to find themselves an agency and get the ship righted, right away.

Only time will tell about this campaign but I'm afraid that Mr. Long's cheap and easy advertisements will be just that. Easy for me to forget about.