Super Bowl Still Means Big Q1 Beer Volumes, But Full Year Impact Lessens

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The first major beer drinking occasion of the year is less than a week away as nearly 100 million viewers are expected to tune into Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on February 7.

How big is the Super Bowl for the industry?

“It is still a big deal for Q1 volumes and is a big jump compared to other weeks in Q1,” National Beer Wholesalers Association chief economist Lester Jones told Brewbound.

That said, the week still “doesn’t measure up to all the other summer and early fall weeks,” Jones added.

In fact, Super Bowl week has been trending downward in terms of volume since 2016, Jones has found.

In 2016, Super Bowl week ranked 21st out of 52 for sales volume weeks for beer, but has consistently declined since then. Super Bowl week ranked 23rd in 2017 and 2018, then fell to 35th in 2019 and 39th in 2020, the latter being admittedly a difficult comparison given the shift in consumer purchasing to the off-premise from mid-March on throughout the pandemic.

Traditional beer sales during the 2020 Super Bowl (the Kansas City Chiefs defeating the San Francisco 49ers) were flat year-over-year, according to market research firm NielsenIQ. Nevertheless, that amounted to more than $1.2 billion in sales in off-premise retailers, and that doesn’t account for the $79 million in hard seltzer sales, an increase of 253.7% over the 2019 Super Bowl, or the $90 million in FMB sales (+7.7% over the 2019 game), the firm reported.

Beer sales far exceed all other beverage alcohol sales for the 2020 game, including whiskey ($226 million), vodka ($153 million), tequila ($53 million), rum ($43 million), gin ($18 million) and prepared cocktails ($12 million).

Although beer sales were flat last year, NielsenIQ suggested that “this year could be a great time for promotion, not only that exclusive craft beer for your premium consumers, but also examining the pricing elasticity for more affordable brands for those constrained consumers watching their wallets.”

And that’s why beer companies are still vying for consumers’ attention during the game. Anheuser-Busch InBev has already laid out most of its game plan, while Boston Beer has revealed its trick play for the Boston and New York markets.

A-B unveiled its regional ad for Stella Artois today, a 30-second spot called “Heartbeat Billionaire, featuring musician Lenny Kravitz and his song, “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over.” The “musical film” narrated by Karvitz features animation and color interpretation of “The Life Artois,” which will run in New York City, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Miami, Washington, D.C. and a few additional markets. The 360 marketing campaign will run through March on television, online, social and out of home.

Although A-B maintains beer category exclusivity over the national broadcast of the Super Bowl, other brewers can and will purchase regional advertising time during the game.

Molson Coors, Constellation Brands, Heineken USA and Diageo will join Boston Beer in looking to make an impression in regional markets. Here’s a look at some of the ads coming to select screens.

Molson Coors Taps into Dreams for Coors Light, Coors Seltzer Ad

Molson Coors is launching an 8-hour full-length stimulus soundscape and film on February 3 to promote both its Coors Light and Coors Seltzer brands. The company said it would use the science of guiding dreams to “trigger you to dream the ‘Coors Big Game ad.’”

In a note to the company’s wholesaler partners last week, Marcelo Pascoa, VP of marketing for the Coors Family of Brands, and Matt Escalante, senior director of above premium flavor, explained the “Big Game Dream campaign” and shared a behind-the-scenes video laying out the company’s plans.

Molson Coors has already begun broadcasting 6- and 15-second ads on national television, online and on social media. Pascoa and Escalante said the investment in the game is 2.5x the size of Coors Light’s February 2020 media budget.

“After just five months on the market, Coors Seltzer is already bringing new, younger drinkers into the Coors family of brands, and we’re confident that presenting these brands together on a national stage will encourage strong performance for both in 2021,” they wrote.

Molson Coors isn’t stopping there. For the second consecutive Super Bowl, the company is once again attempting to challenge A-B’s Michelob Ultra brand. Last year, Molson Coors invested in a regional Super Bowl ad campaign for the now discontinued Saint Archer Gold brand. This time, the company is leaning on Miller Lite to challenge Michelob Ultra, which is now the second best selling beer in U.S. off-premise retailers.

As part of that campaign, Molson Coors is zeroing in on the one calorie difference between the two beers (Miller Lite’s 96 calories versus Michelob Ultra’s 95). To highlight that differentiator, the company is buying full-page ads in the print editions of the New York Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The company will also share the URL in social, print advertising and on podcasts.

The company says consumers who type out the “ridiculously long” 836-character URL — which they claim is nearly impossible to cut and paste — will help consumers burn the one extra calorie and for their trouble, 5,000 consumers who type in the URL during the Michelob Ultra ad on Sunday will be rewarded with $8 via Venmo.

HUSA to Run Tecate Ad in Los Angeles

Heineken USA has invested in a 30-second Tecate ad, titled “Mexico is in Us,” that will be broadcast in the Los Angeles market heading into halftime. That spot is expected to reach 5.55 million viewers in Los Angeles, Tecate’s top priority market, a HUSA spokesperson shared.

Additional advertising on TV and digital is expected to give the Tecate brand more than 4 million exposures during premium programming in the market.

Constellation Seeks #RomoReplacement

With former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and Corona pitchman Tony Romo busy calling the Super Bowl, Constellation Brands is seeking a Romo Replacement for its Corona Hotline. The ads have begun running on television, digital and social in the build up to the game.

The ads are asking fans to submit audition videos to Instagram, Twitter and Facebook with the #RomoReplacement. Romo will pick a few that will be shared are Corona’s social channels. The campaign launched last week.

 

To drum up interest in the campaign, Constellation has enlisted Corona brand ambassadors such as Snoop Dogg and Inside the NBA analyst and former Houston Rocket Kenny “The Jet” Smith.

Constellation Brands to Run Funky Buddha Hard Seltzer Ad in Florida

Constellation Brands has also launched a 30-second commercial for Funky Buddha’s hard seltzer brand that will be broadcast in Florida. The ad, which was developed by creative agency The Community, will be broadcast during the third quarter of the Super Bowl, as well as running this week in the Sunshine State. Following February 7, the ad will continue on broadcast and primetime TV through February.

Diageo to Run Guinness Ad for First Time in a Decade

Diageo is investing in a regional ad buy for Guinness for the first time in a decade. The ad will feature former Chiefs and 49ers quarterback Joe Montana, with a pint of Guinness, discussing what it means to be the greatest. The ad will be released on February 4 and then play on game day.

Editor’s Note: E.J. Shultz, the assistant managing editor of marketing for Ad Age, will join the Brewbound Podcast to discuss the big game beer industry ads and their effectiveness on February 11.