Image: Brandweek.com
I’ve heard before that everyone needs a gimmick. And in a sense, it’s true. A gimmick doesn’t necessarily have to be something normally thought of as “gimmicky,” i.e. a gimmick could be something genuinely useful or practical, but still something that differentiates a product from the rest of the crowd and creates interest and thereby sales.
But of course, with large multinational corporations, gimmicks usually are just what we think of as gimmicks – yes, they set their products apart from the crowd, but they do pretty much… well, nothing.
Take brewing giant MillerCoors. Coors Light already has its own gimmick, the “cold activated” cans on which the image of mountains turns blue when the beer inside is as “cold as the Rockies.” And now, thanks to a 1.7% sales drop, a new product differentiation campaign is going to be hitting markets this month – well, several, actually.
Perhaps the most interesting—and arguably the most inane—is the new Vortex Bottle being introduced for Miller Lite. According to a report from Brandweek, the MillerCoors rep told distributors that the bottle has specially designed grooves inside the neck that “create a vortex as you’re pouring the beer,” and said that the brand’s goal is to “create buzz and excitement and give consumers another reason to choose Miller.” No explanation of how the “vortex” created by the grooves improves the beer in any way; I’d postulate that the grooves serve to stir up turbulence as the beer is poured, but I see no way that such action would improve an already overly-fizzy beer. According to some user comments on the report at Chicago Breaking Business, the bottle should make it easier to chug the beer, though it’s doubtful that was MillerCoors’ goal – unless their target market has moved to college-age consumers, which could very well be the reason. User Madchicagoan says,
The trick to winning beer chugging contests is to swirl the bottle. When in college, we thought we could become rich if we invented a bottle like Miller just did, but we thought no company in their right minds would buy a product that would allow someone to chug beer faster. Market it as a faster way to POUR beer? Brilliant.
In addition to the Miller Lite Vortex Bottle, the company is also debuting a product similar to the beer ball called Miller Home Draft, as well as 16-ounce aluminum bottles and a Cold Activated Window 12-pack for Coors Light.
They will also be implementing a taste test similar to the Pepsi Challenge called “Bet on Taste,” allowing consumers to compare Miller Lite to other beers. Likely candidates for those “other beers” would be opponents from Anheuser-Busch InBev, such as Bud Light. Therein lies a problem that craft beer drinkers, particularly those who have seen Anat Baron’s film Beer Wars, know quite well – establishing differentiation between the flavors of the American-style Light Lagers (Bud Light, Coors Light, Miller Lite, etc.) is virtually impossible in a blind tasting.
Hence, the new marketing campaigns the company is launching, as well as the aforementioned product packaging. Despite efforts such as the “Bet on Taste,” these corporations know that their products are so similar that pouring millions into advertising and gimmicks and lowering prices is the only way to market to consumers, and that establishing consumer loyalty is paramount.
Luckily, craft beer continues to gain a larger presence in the market, and even giants like MillerCoors, with their “Crafting a Better Beer” campaign for Blue Moon Belgian White Ale, are starting to take notice by realizing that consumer tastes are changing and that putting quality over advertising actually can sell. Craft beer continues to expand in the marketplace, even though the vast majority of small brewers in America have little or even no advertising capital. The beer really does tend to sell itself.
Gimmicks are used in the craft beer world, of course, but usually they take one of several understated forms – a slogan, a nice label, or, in so many cases, the use of quality ingredients and practices. These are the things that differentiate craft beer from its competitors.
True differentiation should lie in the product, not thermochromatic ink.
Comments
I'd like to see a pouring contest in which they pour a vortex bottle and a non-vortex bottle to see which one chugs out faster!
i drink a lot,,,,, and the MILEER LIGHT VORTEX bottle makes its harder to drink because the beer is swirling around right before your mouth. What morron what up that? What morron approved that?!
69 beer bottle comes with a shotgun tab on the bottom. www.69beers.com
Marika - just head down to the local grocery and make it so!
What Morron can't spell "moron"?
User Madchicagoan mentioned that he didn't think that any bottler would purposefully design a bottle to make it easier to chug beer... he has never had a Mickey's Big Mouth Beer. Those pop tops were made for the quick chug.
Dear Lonnie Best,
I must say that your very brazen comments about the lack of differentiation between American lagers (paragraph 7) show an incredible deficit of experiential knowledge of the taste of the mentioned beers. I love Miller Lite and it is always my first choice. I drank so much Bud light in college that the taste of it makes me sick. I can immediately tell the difference between the two and I don't care how many studies you report that determine there is no difference. There is, and obviously you haven't done the necessary "research" to qualify you to speak on the subject. I suggest you go to your nearest gas station, buy a 6-pack of both bud light and miller lite, and then form your own opinion before turning in your 700 words to your editor.
While I agree that BMC lights are distinguishable, the difference is mute. At the end of the day (literally), they all taste the same. Just because YOU drank so much bud light in college that it makes you sick doesn't mean that in some parallel universe, somebody feels the exact same way about miller lite. Don't be rude to someone who wrote an interesting and informative article that is, for the most part, completely true. Truth hurts. PS: Miller & Coors light taste the exact same, save that miller probably uses some 'corn flavor' to give it the "tripple hops brewed taste". There's not one damn hop in the whole vat I'll bet. Modern science has made macro breweries able to sell you soda water + ethanol + synthetic flavors at a 2000% markup.
I know that the "Vortex" works well with moving air - (look at a Vornado fan) - but beer? I'll have to try it to believe it... which means this strategy is already working! I am a pawn to the marketing game.
Molly, how do you know that the author hasn't done the appropriate research? I'm pretty sure that every craft beer drinker had to start somewhere and that was probably with the watery pee in a can that you so favor. There is no difference between Miller Lite and Bud Light. In FACT, they're recipes and production processes are almost identical. Perhaps, you should do your research and my just might leave that watery rice soda in the dust.
Molly, I agree with you. Un-flushed urinal water from town A most certainly tastes different than un-flushed urinal water from town B, probably due to the unique ecosystem in each town's network of pipes, small differences in the filtration system/quantities of filtration agents used, and the population/economic activity of the locale. Lonnie certainly cannot claim to be an expert on un-flushed urinal water, and I am disgusted to even think that he would try!
In my father's basement he keeps all kinds of neat bottles from the 1920's-1950's which feature all kinds of 'gimmicks' and I've always loved that collection. What I didn't understand is why there is so little STYLE in current bottled products, especially in the 90's.
Miller really is not claiming this 'vortex' does anything. So what you really have to ask is, 'Is this really hurting anything?'; I somehow doubt it is. They want to add a neat shape to their bottle then good for us. As a man who spends a lot of time looking at life though a bottle - now I have a slightly more interesting bottle to look through when relaxing in the sun.
Also - I love my premium beers, (I have $10 each bottles of Dogfish Head aging in my home) but there ARE times and places for Miller Lite's class of beers.
WhySoUptight: Don't get me wrong, stylistic innovation and "gimmickry" in packaging isn't always a bad thing, especially as, in your father's case, when it comes to looking back in time. I personally love that kind of stuff myself. The problem I have is the fact that the companies need to market their products through innovations in packaging rather than product differentiation. Sure, the products fit a particular demographic, but a truly excellent product should be able to sell itself rather than require quirky packaging aids or expensive ad campaigns. Being an advocate of craft beer and the smaller guys in the industry, the "pseudo-craft" segments of the big corporations irk me, but truly they are the really innovative areas of the breweries -- for the simple fact that they are creating something different. Heck, even Blue Moon wasn't heavily advertised until recently, and Coors is doing the same with Colorado Native Lager. Not craft per se, but more crafty for certain.
I do not like the new bottle. I bought a 18 pack of Bud Light for the first time in 30 years.
The last swig is a real let down. Bring back a regular bottle or give us a choice.
Drinking Miller Lite is more anti-American than donating to Al Qaeda
gimmick or not, the vortex bottle is amazing. the beer goes down smoother, faster, and it doesn't make you burp as much. i love it.
I did one of the Miller Lite vs. Bud Light tests a few years ago. The Miller Lite girls came around the pub in their referee shirts with concealed bottles. The Bud Light was warmer and tasted stale- probably an old bottle. The Miller Lite was ice cold and easily stood out. It was utterly ridiculous. But I got a free gift and a "Man Law" card...and everytime I present the Man Law card when I see those girls I get a free beer. Not a bad deal.
I bought a 12pack of Vortex Miller Lite,had to it's something different.I think it's cool,liked it. I also like the 16oz. Miller Lite aluminum bottle 9pack. No bees, no bugs not dust or whatever that could fly in when you in the yard party because you can close it back up.
Man this bottle Rocks.
I chugged it about 1.26 seconds faster then bud light
And I received no headaches
If your going to have a chug contest drink the damn Vortex and make the money.
This bottle sucks worse than the vented can. When will they just give us what we want? Give us the tab on the bottom already so we can have a vented shotgunnable beer bottle.
Miller Lite is complete rubbish. When it comes down to choosing Miller vs. Bud, I'll have a Coke.
I agree with Molly as well. There definitely a difference between the Macros. If you can't tell the different your taste buds haven't sprouted yet. I prefer Miller Lite among the big three. However, I would much prefer a real beer most of the time. There are times when a cheap cold beer is actually refreshing, especially when the wallet is a little thin.
Its all about personal preference. ...
I personally think Miller lite is disgusting
bring back lite ice, all hail the penguin!
Tastes Great!
haha, take a good look at the pic, the way the bottle "penetrates" the logo and text. A little phyallic eh?
I'd recommend an IPA, Stout or Ale.
Heh, Got to comment on "moved on drinker's" comment. I have only recently found the IPA, thanks to a magic hat mix 12 pack, and have been hitting them hard. My favorite beer is Guinness, and occasionally I get a SA pale ale. Even so, right now I am drinking a miller lite, as I just felt like buying it. Not that I am loyal to it, as this is only my 5th ever time buying it, as a friend recommended me to it recently. But when I am trying to pay less than a buck a beer, because I know I'm gonna be drinking more than my fair share, I drink "insert name brand here" lite. Oh, except for when I get yuengling. I have totally drank a lot of that!
The people that drink that mainstream domestic swill are typically too poor and inbred to have any amount of discerning taste. Let them have their silly grooved bottle, if only to male their trailers seem slightly less depressing for a few minutes.
The people that drink that mainstream domestic swill are typically too poor and inbred to have any amount of discerning taste. Let them have their silly grooved bottle, if only to male their trailers seem slightly less depressing for a few minutes.
Pfft taste test.... Coors and Bud whoops Millers ass.............
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!