Molson Coors’ value portfolio is a key pillar of the company’s Horizon 2030 strategy, and it builds from a place of strength. The portfolio is already very large – if it was its own beer company, it would be the nation’s fifth-largest brewery. Whether it’s the launch of Keystone Light Apple – the most American light apple beer in America – or Miller High Life’s one-of-a-kind JukeKeg, the company is getting creative to keep these longstanding, trusted brands at the forefront.
With so much energy behind our value brands, we sat down with Senior Marketing Director for Value Brands Chris Steele to catch up on the latest from his side of the business.
Q: Invigorating our Value portfolio is a key piece of our Horizon 2030 strategy. How do you see that taking shape?
A: We’re very fortunate to have two big brands that a lot of people already love – Miller High Life and Keystone Light. They also offer two very different opportunities.
High Life embodies everyday celebrations – it’s the champagne of beers, after all. It lives in your corner dive bar and has a cool factor that can play anywhere, and it’s been around for over 120 years. Keystone Light is a great and refreshing everyday brew that authentically connects to people’s passions such as hunting, fishing and the great outdoors. The two brands really couldn’t be more different at face value, but both serve as a well-earned reward – quality beers at affordable prices.
Q: What’s working for the Value portfolio and where is the opportunity?
A: The heritage and existing consumer connections are the strength of both High Life and Keystone Light. They both have been connecting with consumers for years and have compelling stories to tell.
We also think flavor can play a meaningful role in Value, especially with younger 21+ beer drinkers – Keystone Light Apple, which came out a few weeks ago, is off to a roaring start for us there. And Miller High Life Light, an extension of High Life that came back regionally about two years ago by popular demand, is now expanded to 23 states.
As we continue seeing success on-premise as a company, with Molson Coors up 0.3 points in dollar share year-to-date through Apr. 18 according to Nielson, we see opportunities for High Life and Keystone Light to keep up the growth. High Life is up 0.05 dollar share points in the same span, and Keystone is deploying new partnerships such as a collaboration with Big Buck Hunter to build momentum on-premise.
Q: What role do you see the Value portfolio playing in the current cultural and economic climate?
A: People are always looking for value, and we’re proud to provide that – familiar and trusted brands and quality beer at affordable prices. We see High Life, Keystone Light and the rest of our Value brands as great beer at great prices, and you can never go wrong with great beer at a great price.
Q: Keystone Light Apple – aka Kapple – has been one of the company’s biggest innovations of the year. What has been the reaction to Kapple so far? What’s next for the brand?
A: The feedback has been tremendous on Kapple. We came out with some very fun messaging around it and it really resonated. It’s the perfect example of how we’re bringing fun back to the Value segment, and Kapple is a big part of that. We’re already seeing results, with Keystone family volume sales flipped from down mid-single digits YTD vs YA to up ~3% in the latest 4 weeks through June 7 according to Circana.
Kapple proved so successful that we’re doing a second run of it this fall, and we can’t wait to get more Kapple cans in more hands.
Q: Why bring back brands such as Keystone Ice and High Life Light?
A: Keystone Ice went away in 2021 and will return later this summer. There’s a group of ice beer loyalists and we want to address their preferences.
We’re being thoughtful about how we expand High Life Light. Beer is a local business and we’ve worked to build the buzz locally as its footprint has grown and we’ve been successful there. It brings a human touch to the expansion. We’re very happy we brought it back and so are consumers.
Q: Does the phrase “cheap beer” bother you?
A: Everyone loves something that they can enjoy at a price point they want. It’s a good value – which is why we renamed this part of our portfolio to just that. There’s nothing better than good beer at a good price. Prove me wrong!