It was not long ago that the nation’s largest brewers pledged to work together to fend off the liquor and wine industries, which have been stealing market share from the beer industry for years. But any illusion of unity was shattered on Super Bowl Sunday when Aneusher-Busch InBev used advertising’s biggest stage to launch a direct attack on MillerCoors.
The marketing assaultin which Bud Light used three expensive ads to criticize Coors Light and Miller Lite for using corn syrupopened a new front in the beer wars that is likely to resonate for months, if not years. It is also indicative of the depressed state of play for the nation’s largest beer brands.
Exactly how MillerCoors responds with its advertising will fall to Michelle St. Jacques, the brewer’s new chief marketing officer. The Kraft Heinz veteran’s first official day on the job is today, putting her squarely in the middle of the high-stakes marketing battle right from the start. She was unavailable for an interview on Monday. In a post to her LinkedIn page Sunday, she stated, “Monday is a big day – it is day zero. Let’s do this.”
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