E-Malt.com News article: 2846

USA, Chicago: Stepping up its ad fight with Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing Co., a unit of London-based SABMiller, is running TV spots touting taste-test results that claim a majority of Bud Light drinkers said Miller Lite had more taste, AdAge.com posted on June 28. The TV spots, handled by ad agency Ogilvy & Mather, New York, part of WPP Group, will be complemented by radio and print ads and in-store promotional materials, all with the tagline "Taste for yourself," the brewer said in a release.

"Anheuser-Busch has operated as America's premier marketing machine over the past three decades," Bob Mikulay, Miller's executive vice president of marketing, said in the release. "Their image is incredibly strong, and so our job is to ask people to look closely at the actual beers, and taste for themselves."

The work is a continuation of Miller's campaign that has been taking shots at the No. 1 brewer. Tom Pirko, president of the consultancy BevMark, says the tack makes sense for a challenger like No. 2 Miller. "They need to pound and pound" the message, says Mr. Pirko.

The blind taste and perception tests were conducted by the Institute for Perception, an independent research firm based in Richmond, Va. The tests pitted Miller Lite against Bud Light and consumers were asked which product had more "taste." Miller Lite prevailed a majority of the time. Miller apparently had the same good fortune when the subject of the taste test was "flavor," as its Genuine Draft brand trumped Budweiser.

Miller has been hammering away at Anheuser-Busch for months, including spots that point out Miller Lite has half the carbs of Bud Light. Miller also has been running a "President of Beers" campaign, from Wieden & Kennedy, Portland, Ore., in which a mock presidential candidate ridicules Anheuser-Busch icons, such as the Clydesdales. Budweiser bills itself as the "King of Beers."

Anheuser-Busch has responded with ads saying all light beers are low in carbs so consumers should choose on taste. Other spots have enlisted the animatronic lizards Frankie and Louie to make fun of the Wieden work. Omnicom Group's Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, San Francisco, created the Budweiser commercials. A spokesman for St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch declined to comment.


30 June, 2004