Dive Brief:
- More than 25 years later, the shorter-neck steinie bottle returns for Miller Lite. The light beer will be packaged in the bottle it came in from its debut in 1975 to 1989, when long-neck bottles came into fashion.
- Starting this fall, consumers can find Miller Lite in the steinie bottle for a limited run that is expected to end by the end of the year, though MillerCoors did not confirm an end date or a price for the promotion.
- This brief packaging change is meant to be a "sales jolt" for the brand, particularly among the targeted millennial group, Fortune reported.
Dive Insight:
Millennials helped to drive the brand's last sales bump in 2014 when Miller Lite made a different packaging change, going from blue cans that resembled soda to the white label, which was deemed more authentic. That move helped Miller Lite regain market share for the first time in several years.
While Miller Lite's latest packaging development may seem like a throwback or way to invoke nostalgia from older drinkers, millennials are where sales and brand loyalty could be strongest, the company believes.
As craft beer continues to gain market share, at 11% as of 2014, light beer brands, particularly domestics, have watched their share dwindle. MillerCoors just announced the acquisition of its first craft beer brand, Saint Archer Brewing Co.
Meanwhile, Anheuser-Busch InBev is working to structure a $70 billion debt package to take over SABMiller, but the company is facing "a tricky balancing act in satisfying a range of shareholder camps with different needs," according to Reuters.