Blue Moon by MillerCoors ramps up marketing dollars

MillerCoors’ Blue Moon wants more sales from their
 specialty brand

Blue Moon by MillerCoors is considered by many beer drinkers as a craft beer made by a small brewery.  In actuality it’s a big brewer’s specialty brand that has enjoyed successful sales across the United States. 

Beer Business Daily reported from the MillerCoors’ National Distributor Conference in Las Vegas that MillerCoors Blue Moon executives were reporting that “90% of that growth was distribution gains, and ‘we know that can't go on forever.’”  This means that they have grown by convincing retail stores to offer their beer for sale or taking tap handles from other “craft beer,” other available beers or convincing bar owners to install new tap handles.  Now they recognize they need to focus on repeat beer drinker business.  Like any brewer, filling the pipeline is easier than continuing the flow of beer through that pipeline.

How will Blue Moon by MillerCoors do that.  Beer Business Daily reports they’ll test market new television advertising – something which Coors never ever did with Blue Moon when it was exclusively their beer.   They also plan an introduction of limited release 9% abv [Blue Moon by Miller Coors] Grand Cru, 24-pack loose bottle packages and 6 gallon draft kegs.  

In Las Vegas there must have been admiration for taking pages out of America’s small and independent brewers success stories.  Are America’s small and independent brewers nervous?  The facts are simple; small and independents don’t have the multimillion dollar budget or in-place national distribution networks that prioritize their brands.  Money talks. 

So MillerCoors is heading down the road to promote and advertise MillerCoors Blue Moon in order to persuade beer drinkers to drink up.  They’ve never done that before with Blue Moon.  It will be interesting to watch whether MillerCoors Blue Moon can convince craft beer drinkers to switch from their local beers to theirs.  Can advertising and marketing engage craft beer drinkers? 

In a matter of speaking, the jury is still drinking testimony.