MillerCoors is also pouring more money behind its Saint Archer Gold brand that the brewer is positioning as a light craft beer. Saint Archer is a San Diego-based craft brewery that MillerCoors acquired in 2015. The beer is being sold in Austin, Texas, Indianapolis, Charlotte and Arizona, with MillerCoors eyeing a national launch as soon as 2020, according to its corporate blog.
A new campaign hitting the four initial markets plays off the light theme. “Finding your way is better with a light” states one ad, which shows a skateboarder, bicycle riders setting in for a night of drinking, guided to their destinations by natural and man-made lighting. Ads are by Preacher, which won the account late last year.
Craft brands have long been associated with hoppy, heavier beers, but there is rising interest in lighter offerings. Saint Archer has 4.2 percent alcohol-by-volume, with 95 calories per serving.
Paul Verdu, VP of sales and marketing for MillerCoors’ craft and import beer division, known as Tenth and Blake, says the goal of the new campaign is to educate drinkers who might not have heard of the brand. “If consumers are intrigued by the ads, they are one click away from realizing that Saint Archer is a real brewery, with really cool people, who run it out of San Diego,” he says. “There is a real story here. It’s not just something that is made up out of thin air.”