Coors Light going big on TV during December

Coors Light is taking two of its newest video spots to TV for December, aiming to showcase the brand’s promise of cold refreshment during the holiday season.

The two spots, "Party Cooler" and "Snow," debuted in September on digital channels and resonated “strongly with our 21- to 34-year-old consumers, delivering higher awareness, branding and persuasion than campaigns of recent past,” said Ryan Reis, vice president of the Coors family of brands, in a note to employees and distributors.

Both ads feature Coors Light’s cold-activated cans and were developed as the brand refocused and sharpened its messaging on its title as the “World’s Most Refreshing Beer.”

They’ll air in heavy rotation every week in December, including in live in-game features during professional and college football games on networks including FOX, CBS and ESPN. Spots also will air on DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket, NBA, NHL and during the top-rated pregame show, College Gameday, Reis said.

The No. 2-selling beer in the United States “is at its best when it lays claim to ultimate refreshment,” MillerCoors CEO Gavin Hattersley said in September. “And we believe the best way to break through in this increasingly fragmented landscape is to simplify and focus our message, so we’re delivering with consistency the story of what makes us special.”

Coors Light, which has slogged through a difficult 2018, in line with broader industry trends, is seeking to stabilize and prep for growth. Hattersley has said the brand’s biggest opportunity is in recruiting the next generation of legal-age drinkers — those aged 21 to 34 — who are most concerned with what a brand or product can deliver to them.

To better reach them, the brand is modernizing its look, shifting more aggressively into digital marketing to more overtly target its drinker base and updating its video spots to feature a more “cold-activated” thematic. The new spots focus on the brand’s can and bottle labels, which turn blue when the beer reaches ideal drinking temperature.

“To regain traction on Coors Light, our first step is to re-establish ownership of our cold credentials,” Reis said. “These spots are just the first step in our larger brand plans to educate new and loyal fans about what makes Coors Light the World’s Most Refreshing Beer.”