Challenge​
Miller High Life has long called itself the Champagne of Beers. But in 2021, people had forgotten why, and sales were down vs. our nearest competitors, Budweiser & Busch. Whilst we had run years of successful "High Life Man" ads these alone weren't going to reach our younger demographic that were more interested in brand experiences, and consuming their content on social instead of TV. We needed to remind beer-drinkers of what makes us special and recruit more of them to our brand.​
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Being 2021, our marketing budgets had been cut in line with revenue decreases which meant we needed an idea that would earn media attention.​
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Insight & Strategy​
We weren’t just the Champagne of Beers, we were the champagne of real life, a quality beer for real people to toast everyday occasions. What if we combined the highfalutin world of Champagne with the everyday world that our consumers live in? The law says Champagne isn’t Champagne unless it comes from Champagne France – why should the Champagne of Beers be any different?​
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Idea & Solution​
We created the Champagne of Beers Region to designate our Milwaukee brewery grounds as an official region, meaning only beers created inside our borders could be called the Champagne of Beers. But the idea was not just some advertising conceit, we did it for real, successfully petitioning the Milwaukee Common Council to establish America’s first protected beer region. Fans could also apply to be the first ever Champagne of Beers Region ambassador, a title that came with perks like $20,000 for ambassadorial expenses and of course a year’s supply of Miller High Life​
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Impact​
+ 752,458,691 impressions​
+ 45% increase in marketing awareness​
+ 19.7pt increase in purchase consideration​
+ 3.7% sales lift​
Ambassador entries from all 50 states​