Dive Brief:
- Miller Lite is tapping into excitement ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup with a social-driven campaign featuring a novelty match ball, according to information shared with Marketing Dive.
- Created in partnership with Mischief, “Miller Time is on U.S.” is a social-forward extension of its “Legendary Moments Start With a Lite” brand platform. The effort includes influencer partnerships, consumer promotions and the limited-edition Miller Time MVP Matchball, a ball approximately 1.5 times larger than a regulation match ball that holds 12 cans of beer.
- The campaign from the Molson Coors brand comes just weeks before the tournament’s June 11 kickoff. It is set to run across both organic and paid social channels and will showcase the MVPs in fans’ lives.
Dive Insight:
Miller Lite’s latest campaign combines the brand’s use of novelty product promotions with the excitement for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, the first to be hosted in the U.S. since the Women’s World Cup in 2003. “Miller Time is on U.S.” taps into the history and significance of actual World Cup balls, which are collectible items, with the brand taking a novelty spin on one.
Retailing for $19.75, an homage to Miller Lite’s founding year, the ball will be made available for purchase starting May 20. Additionally, fans can nominate personal MVPs in their life on social media for a chance to win one. The novelty ball is significantly cheaper than the official ball used in matches, Adidas’s Trionda Pro, which retails for $170.
Marketing creative includes two seven-second and one 15-second spot. The longer spot, “Seat Saver,” shows a man using a can of Miller Lite to save a seat for someone at a bar. Upon realizing he needs a way to save another seat, he removes his own pants to accomplish this task and is rewarded by his friends with a Miller Time MVP Matchball. “Celebrate” and “What We’re Made Of” are made up of still images of a group of friends enjoying beers from the novelty ball with a voiceover throughout.
The campaign is part of the “Legendary Moments Start With a Light” brand platform, which launched in January. The platform puts a focus on living in the moment and spending time with friends and family, a departure from the brand’s previous, nostalgia-driven “Legendary Stories Stories Start With a Lite.”
The FIFA World Cup has attracted marketers from across categories, with campaigns rolling out from official sponsors and those just looking to take advantage of increased attention. Miller Lite’s sister brand, Coors Light, launched its World Cup effort in April, which also promotes the brand’s first-ever nonalcoholic beer.
Molson Coors’ Q1 revenue totaled $2.35 billion, a 2% year-over-year increase, per a recent earnings report. The company spends most of its marketing dollars in the summer, with executives calling out efforts behind the World Cup and the upcoming 250th anniversary of America as major areas of focus on a recent earnings call.
