Marketing in the News: Molson Coors Beer Run

Everyone has heard of Coors Light beer. Now, Molson Coors has come out with a new low-calorie organic beer and their marketing strategy is quite original. This article caught my attention because it was a marketing strategy that I haven’t seen before. I also hadn’t heard of low-calorie organic beer. 

Molson Coors hosted a literal beer run to debut their new product. It was hosted in Central Park in New York and the runners had QR codes on them that spectators could scan. If they were close enough to scan it, they received a rebate for a 12-pack of the new Coors Pure. 

For everyone who wasn’t there or doesn’t live in New York City, they are giving out rewards for completing a run that is tracked on any fitness/running app that is shaped like a beer can. A screenshot from the fitness app can be emailed to beerrun@coorspure.com. If you choose this option, you will receive the rebate in the form of a $15 prepaid Mastercard. 

This beer is the first USDA-certified organic beer for Molson Coors. They are campaigning it towards runners and claiming that it is better for you because of the low calories. They have quite the competition with Michelob Ultra, which is one of AB InBev's top-selling beers.

The value proposition Molson Coors offers in this article is that they are trying to put out healthier alcohol options. This is shown with this new low-calorie and organic product, as well as the hard seltzer they came out with last fall. They also show that they are really trying to engage with potential customers. 

I think the biggest challenge Molson Coors is facing with the new Coors Pure is the competition. They didn’t beat everyone else to the punch with the low-calorie beer. For example, Michelob Ultra, which has already been out for some time and is very popular and a top-selling beer. I think they are approaching this challenge by using interesting marketing tactics such as the beer run. Molson Coors put out ads on television, podcasts, and other digital channels. They are also using many social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. 

I think their marketing strategy is pretty unique and quite genius if you ask me. It is definitely a way to get people to try their product. I remember one time when I was in Bend, they had a RedBull event and were handing out their new flavors. If it weren’t for their event, I may have never tried them and because of that event, I am a regular consumer of their products. The QR codes that Molson Coors are using are definitely something new to me. I think it was smart because not only did they get more spectators at the race, everyone who scanned a code got a voucher for their product. This increases awareness of their product and will get them many customers if people enjoy it. 

If I was the Coors Pure manager for Molson Coors, I would have done the same thing but with more advertising. This event happened a few days ago and I still haven’t seen any ads or even heard about this. Increasing awareness of this event would have gotten them more participants and customers. 

From this article, I definitely learned about some new marketing strategies and this assignment really made me think. If I wouldn’t have had to do this assignment and just read the article, I probably wouldn’t have thought much of it.