15446: Trouble Brewing With Coors And Cars…?

 

Coors is giving away a sports car and free beer for a year. Hey, let’s see how the promotion impacts Colorado DUI figures. And who had the brilliant idea to depict the car in the middle of the road, crossing the median line?

15419: Welcome To Miller Bad Timing…

 

Perfect timing, Miller Genuine Draft!

 

13755: Omnicom “Wins” MillerCoors Work.

Adweek reported MillerCoors pulled a PepsiCo play, shifting beer business from one bunch of Omnicom-owned White advertising agencies to another. What’s more, the client revealed creatives from the former AORs will move to a special team in the new AORs. Welcome to Miller Time—and Corporate Cultural Collusion. Whassup?

MillerCoors Consolidates Global Creative Duties on the Miller Brand Within Omnicom’s DDB Network

Adam&EveDDB wins Miller Genuine Draft and DDB Chicago lands Miller Lite

By Patrick Coffee

Beverage giant MillerCoors has shuffled the creative agency roster for its Miller brand for the fifth time in less than six years, assigning global duties on Miller Lite and Miller Genuine Draft to DDB Chicago and London-based Adam&EveDDB, respectively.

The change occurred after a formal review.

Chief marketing officer David Kroll, who recently returned from medical leave, confirmed the decision in an internal memo sent to MillerCoors’ agency partners this morning.

“Starting this week, we are consolidating the Miller Lite creative responsibilities at DDB Chicago. This transition will be seamless as we are keeping the business within the Omnicom family,” Kroll wrote after noting that the brand recently celebrated 10 consecutive quarters of share growth.

As mentioned, this announcement keeps the business within the Omnicom family while ending Miller’s relationships with now-former creative agency of record 180LA and Juniper Park, a Toronto-based shop that is part of the TBWA network.

The news also follows this spring’s decision to shift the digital portion of the Miller Lite account from DigitasLBi Chicago to DDB, again without a review. Moving forward, Miller Coors will consolidate some of the cross-agency talent working on that account in North America.

“We are moving some of the best creative talent from our previous agencies 180LA and Juniper Park, into a new team at DDB in order to have a best-in-class creative and planning team,” Kroll’s note continued. “DDB has made great strides on the digital side of the Miller Lite business over the last month, and we feel confident that this expanded team will keep the brand on its positive trajectory.”

Last April, MillerCoors moved responsibility for Miller Lite from TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles to sister shop 180LA weeks after reports indicated that the company had been talking to various agencies and “looking for ideas” on the brand. In that case, there did not appear to be a formal review.

A MillerCoors spokesperson referred back to Kroll’s memo. Representatives for DDB and 180LA declined to comment on the news.

According to the latest numbers from Kantar Media, MillerCoors spent approximately $130 million on measured media promoting the Miller Lite brand in the U.S. last year and $27 million in the first quarter of 2017.

12832: Call Cavalry Time Of Death.

Advertising Age published a perspective titled, “Cavalry CEO on Losing a Major Account: Don’t Cry in Your Beer—Just Move On.” Can’t help but think that Marty Stock, the Cavalry CEO who authored the piece, is the General Custer of our industry. He’s an insensitive idiot too. After all, a lot of Cavalry troops will “just move on” to the army of the unemployed. Cavalry was assembled by WPP in 2012 to exclusively service MillerCoors, and it appears to be an Enfatico rerun. Stock admitted, “While Cavalry has existed since 2012, our relationship with MillerCoors and, before that, the Coors Brewing Co., goes back decades, spanning five CEOs and seven CMOs.” Hey, you live by Corporate Cultural Collusion and you die by it. There’s no Silver Bullet for success—even for White advertising agencies. Stock ended by declaring his battered shop won’t give up “[b]ecause staying put is simply not an option.” Especially when you lose the overwhelming majority of your revenue.

Cavalry CEO on Losing a Major Account: Don’t Cry in Your Beer—Just Move On

Relationships Aren’t What They Used to Be, but the Need to Create Drives Us

By Marty Stock

Three weeks ago, I received a call that agency folks know all too well. A regime change had resulted in the loss of a big account. MillerCoors was severing our relationship.

My first thought went to the newest clients we’ve added: PepsiCo, Tyson Foods and the American Freedom Foundation, a group helping military veterans and their families. The success of these clients will define our agency.

While Cavalry has existed since 2012, our relationship with MillerCoors and, before that, the Coors Brewing Co., goes back decades, spanning five CEOs and seven CMOs. The best agencies have always internalized the ups and downs of their clients’ brands and made a personal investment of sweat equity to ensure their clients’ success. Creating content is part of what an agency does, but an agency’s job is helping to grow a client’s business.

When Coors Light was introduced, it wasn’t in the top 20. Today it’s the No. 2 beer in America despite being outspent four to one. There are hundreds of talented people who made that happen over a lot of years. The right CMO paired with the right agency partner can transform a business. Toss in luck and several well-timed competitive mistakes, and the window for growth opens, provided you’re poised to take advantage.

Lots has been written about the demise of the Big Beer brands. It’s certainly been a tough period, but we see opportunities for growth given certain patterns evident in the business. The recent trend of agency switching by the major brewers is a clear sign of unrest and dissatisfaction with brand performance, but there’s more to it.

Both agencies and clients used to feel it was a privilege to work on the brands. It was an honor because so much had gone into building those businesses, someone’s name was on the bottle, and frequently there was a legacy of famous creative work to live up to. Now, many relationships don’t make it to three years, in part because the honor of being entrusted with the health of a brand is disappearing and with it the bond forged, because both sides knew they needed each other to succeed.

Scratch the surface of any long-term agency/client relationship and you’ll find trust. Trust in people and their integrity. Trust that the ideas are great. Trust that financials are handled fairly.

Only a couple of days after our relationship with MillerCoors suddenly came crashing down, the itch to create stuff took over and the next phase began. We may be bloodied, but we have a fierce competitive streak and a desire to prove ourselves all over again.

My final thought as all of this was unfolding was about my dad. He was in the 101st Airborne Division and the first airplane ride of his life occurred during basic training. Forty minutes after takeoff they opened the door and everybody jumped out. You couldn’t pause at the door, you went for it because staying put simply wasn’t an option.

MillerCoors is headed off in one direction and Cavalry is headed in another and we can’t wait to see what’s ahead.

Because staying put is simply not an option.

12806: Cutting Caucasian Cavalry.

Advertising Age reported MillerCoors Cut Cavalry, the White advertising agency hatched exclusively for the client by WPP in 2012. That’s a pretty short tour of duty. But it’s hardly surprising in light of the recent appointment of a new Chief Marketing Officer for the beer maker. An exclusive pitch features three secret agencies, although it’s safe to guess the shops are White. New CMO David Kroll declared, “It’s frankly just time for a change.” A new White man will pick a new White advertising agency to create a new white-bread campaign. Yep, that’s definitely a change.

12768: Weekend White Man Wrap-Up.

Energy BBDO Chief Creative Officer Mark Taylor resigned for personal reasons (are there really any other reasons to resign?), and the White advertising agency has no plans to replace him. Such a wasted opportunity to promote diversity by doing something groundbreaking and hiring a White woman for the role.

New MillerCoors Chief Marketing Officer David Kroll said the following about his company’s campaigns: “I think we have been just a bit too scattered across our messaging over the past several years. In any given year we have shifted campaigns three, four, five times. And I think over time that really starts eroding the meaning of our brands. And you will see me very focused on bringing that consistency back.” If he’s like most new CMOs, Kroll will accomplish his goal by replacing all of his shitty White advertising agencies with fresh White advertising agencies. And then resuscitate the Miller Lite Catfight girls.

Hershey Company opted for White chocolate when hiring Peter Horst as its new Chief Marketing Officer. Look forward to Horst planting Hershey’s Kisses on new White advertising agencies.

Former Havas CEO David Jones believes the traditional White advertising agency network could be dead in 10 years. Um, it’s been flatlining for over a decade already—and Jones had a bird’s eye view of the death spiral as a leader of the perpetually impotent Havas.

12745: MillerCoors Musical Chairs.

The beer industry has made lots of dramatic moves in recent days. Now Advertising Age reported MillerCoors is playing musical chairs with White CMOs, which will likely lead to dumping White advertising agencies. Give MillerCoors credit for cleaning its own mess first before blaming White shops for poor sales. But not too much credit, as the brewer has consistently produced awful advertising for at least a decade—and produced awful beer for even longer.

CMO Andy England Leaving MillerCoors

David Kroll Named CMO, Kevin Doyle Named President-Sales and Distributor Operations

By Courtney Fishman

Today MillerCoors announced that CMO Andy England will be replaced by David Kroll, effective immediately. As a part of restructuring at the company, Ed McBrien, president-sales and distributor operations, is also leaving after 21 years with the company. His successor is Kevin Doyle.

Messrs. Kroll and Doyle will report directly to Gavin Hattersley, interim CEO, who expressed confidence about the brewer’s restructuring efforts.

“We’re not satisfied with our volume performance, so we need to take action to change that dynamic,” Mr. Hattersley said.

Mr. Kroll joined MillerCoors in 2012 as VP-innovation. He previously held positions in marketing at Procter & Gamble and served as VP-innovation at Dyson.

“David Kroll has played a critical role in introducing Redd’s and Smith & Forge,” said Mr. Hattersley in a statement. “He is a bold and decisive leader with marketing experience beyond beer, and I am excited to see what he can do to shape our marketing efforts in the digital age.”

Mr. Doyle has climbed the ranks since joining MillerCoors in 1983. He most recently served as chief commercial solutions officer.

“Kevin Doyle has a long track record of success and a healthy level of impatience and commitment to sales execution. Kevin is an inspiring leader with a deep understanding of the beer business, the current state of retail and the opportunities for our portfolio,” Mr. Hattersley said.

12574: Windell Middlebrooks (1979-2015).

From USA TODAY…

Actor Windell Middlebrooks dies at 36

By Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY

Windell Middlebrooks, who appeared on TV shows including Body of Proof and Cougar Town, along with Miller High Life beer commercials, has died. He was 36.

Middlebrooks died Monday in the Los Angeles area, his manager and friend, Steve Ivey, told AP.

No cause of death has been released. TMZ reports that he was found unconscious at home in the San Fernando Valley on Monday.

In a statement, Middlebrooks’ family members said that “with sorrowed hearts” they were announcing “the passing of a young, black star” who had exited the stage with “great joy.”

“It was Windell’s biggest wish that his final scene not be lived on social media,” his family said, asking for privacy.

The Fort Worth-born Middlebrooks has a part in the new Adam Carolla film Road Hard.

“In all my years, I’ve never known a kinder soul, and he will be dearly missed by all of us who knew him,” Ivey said.

Matthew Gross, who executive produced Body of Proof told Deadline.com that Middlebrooks was “an incredible human being. Most people know him as the “Miller Delivery Guy,” but for those who had the privilege of truly knowing him, knew Windell Middlebrooks was an inspirational humanitarian, a family man, artist, dancer, entertainer and one of the funniest people on this planet.”

He added, “Have you laughed until it hurt? That was Windell. He was kind, sweet and infectious; he lit up a room upon entering it and charmed and endeared everyone in it.”

12476: Drinking On The Job.

This campaign for Third Shift Amber Lager from MillerCoors was created by Cavalry and The Heads of State. Not too sure about the concept, as it appears to be advocating that late-night workers should drink the brew—perhaps instead of energy drinks? Talk about an industrial accident waiting to happen.

12069: Miller Lite Settles For TBWA.

Advertising Age reported TBWA was deemed the least awful agency to take over the Miller Lite account, beating Leo Burnett and WPP’s Royal Order in a shootout. Although shitout might be a better descriptor for the competition. Royal Order was fabricated for the pitch, led by the Chicago office of Ogilvy. WPP Overlord Martin Sorrell can now give the royal order to dismantle the temporary enterprise. Meanwhile, Omnicom is a big winner, as TBWA now covers Miller Lite while BBDO services Bud Light. And if anyone has a problem with conflicts, Omnicom will just shift the business to Fathom Communications.

Moving the account to the West Coast is a blow to the Chicago advertising community. MillerCoors Chief Marketing Officer Andy England delivered another bash by gushing, “…I think the sensibility that a California agency brought to the brief was critical. [Los Angeles] at this point is at the intersection of all great things: creativity, design, technology, entertainment, music—it’s all happening in L.A. right now.” Sounds like England is looking forward to more trips to sunny California, especially with Chicago winter weather approaching. One thing is certain: regardless of its state of origin, the next Miller Lite campaign will suck.

TBWA Wins Miller Lite After Agency Shootout

The Omnicom Shop Beats Leo Burnett and WPP

By E.J. Schultz

MillerCoors is looking to the West Coast for creative inspiration, tapping TBWA Worldwide’s Los Angeles office as Miller Lite’s agency of record. The Omnicom shop beat out Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett and WPP’s Royal Order, which both pitched the account from their Chicago offices during a review for the nation’s fourth-largest beer brand that began last month.

Omnicom will also pick up Hispanic advertising for the brand via Dallas-based Dieste, which will take over from Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Casanova Pendrill.

The move to TBWA signals a significant geographic shift for the brand, which had in recent years been run by agencies in Chicago and New York. It also means that Omnicom Group will control major creative accounts for MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch InBev, the nation’s two largest brewers. Omnicom Group’s BBDO has Bud Light.

MIllerCoors did not make a “deliberate choice to work with a California agency,” Chief Marketing Officer Andy England said in an interview. “But I will say that I think the sensibility that a California agency brought to the brief was critical.” He added that Los Angeles “at this point is at the intersection of all great things: creativity, design, technology, entertainment, music—it’s all happening in L.A. right now.”

Asked if he had any concerns about Bud Light’s presence at Omnicom, Mr. England said, “It’s about the best agency” and TBWA was “the best agency for the job,” adding that “they really understand our brand and our consumer.”

WPP had been working on the account on a project basis since April, after the brand cut ties with Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, which had split the account with WPP beginning in February. WPP had been using talent from Ogilvy and Johannes Leonardo. Royal Order was formed specifically for the MillerCoors business and was led by Ogilvy, Chicago.

All of the agencies invited to pitch Lite had existing links to MillerCoors. TBWA Worldwide’s Integer Group works on Blue Moon, while Leo Burnett has creative for Miller High Life. WPP’s Cavalry has Coors brands.

MillerCoors spent $160 million on measured media on Lite in 2013, according to Kantar Media. This year, the brewer continues to pour more marketing behind its retro packaging that first started rolling out late last year and harkens back to Lite’s creation in the 1970s as the nation’s first mainstream light beer. In August, MillerCoors told distributors in a memo that it was doubling its originally planned media buy for September, and plans to “make an even bigger splash with the new visual identity in October.”

Cans have been sold with the retro look all year and now the brand is converting bottles to the white packaging. The vintage look has given the long-struggling brand a boost, but Lite still hasn’t broken into positive territory. Sales-to-retailers declined by low single digits in the second quarter, the brewer reported. Volume sales at stores declined by 1.3% in the 52 weeks ending July 13, while dollar sales remained flat at nearly $1.9 billion, according to IRI.

Mr. England said Miller Lite’s heritage play is a “wonderful example” of “millennials caring about authenticity.” The brand, he said, “has spent a very long time, including on my watch, trying to be more interesting and trying to be more sexy.” But “what we discovered is that when we went back to our roots ... it was embraced by young and old.”

The resulting strategy, which will be undertaken by TBWA, is “coming back to the fact that Miller Lite is a great-tasting beer,” Mr. England said. “I think light beer has wandered” as a category, and Miller Lite “has come back to really talking about beer.”

TBWA’s debut campaign is expected by early next year.

11983: New Miller Lite Catfight.

Advertising Age reported MillerCoors has placed the Miller Lite account into review, inviting shops from three different holding companies to compete. Actually, WPP fabricated an agency—dubbed Royal Order—for the shootout. Sounds like royal bullshit. As always, a newly invented White agency will trump established minority shops in such battles for beer billings. Hell, Steve Stoute’s Translation clearly proved minority shops are just as capable of producing bad beer advertising as White shops—and Miller Lite is definitely seeking to continue generating shitty advertising.

MillerCoors Launches Creative Review on Miller Lite

Brewer Invites Three Agencies to Pitch Ideas

By E.J. Schultz

The Miller Lite creative account is up for grabs again. MillerCoors has launched a formal review for the nation’s fourth-largest beer brand, inviting agencies from three holding companies to pitch ideas.

The brewer has sent request-for-proposals to Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett, Chicago, Omnicom Group’s TBWA, Los Angeles and a new entity within WPP led by Ogilvy, Chicago called Royal Order.

The shops will present ideas for ads that MillerCoors plans to debut in March, and the winning agency will become the brand’s new agency of record, Chief Marketing Officer Andy England said in an interview. MillerCoors spent $160 million on measured media on Lite in 2013, according to Kantar Media.

The account has been in flux since since the brewer cut ties with Interpublic’s FCB in early 2012, after the brand failed to emerge from a years-long slump. Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi, New York assumed control from FCB but then lost the account in April of this year when MillerCoors shifted duties on a project basis to a collection of WPP shops. The WPP shops, which include Ogilvy and Johannes Leonardo, began splitting the account with Saatchi in February.

Since leaving Saatchi, “it was always our intention to do a review of the Miller Lite situation … but we wanted to take the time to think about what we did next,” Mr. England said. “We needed to make a very … thoughtful decision about what to do.”

Mr. England said Miller Lite will keep digital duties with Publicis Groupe’s DigitasLBi.

All of the agencies invited to pitch Lite have existing relationships with MillerCoors. TBWA Worldwide’s Integer Group works on Blue Moon, Leo Burnett has creative for Miller High Life, while Royal Order is essentially the same team that has been handling Lite since it departed Saatchi. In addition to Ogilvy, WPP has used talent from Johannes Leonardo, New York.

Chicago-based MillerCoors’ deepest relationship with Leo Burnett is through its promotional agency division, called Arc, which has long worked with the brewer. “We know those folks very well on the promotion side, and we know them somewhat well on the advertising side,” Mr England said. “And we are excited to get to know what one of our hometown agencies can do to really accelerate the trends we have on Miller Lite.”

But WPP could be in a good position to defend, considering the recent upswing in Lite trends. Sales began improving this year after the brewer late last year began rolling out retro packaging that harkens back to Lite’s creation in the 1970s as the nation’s first mainstream light beer. But the brand still hasn’t broken into positive territory. Sales to retailers declined by low single digits in the second quarter, the brewer recently reported.

WPP’s ads have used the retro packaging cues to make intentionally over-the-top claims related to Lite’s heritage. One spot airing now links Lite’s lower-calorie appeal to “fewer guys with beer bellies,” suggesting that has led to more dates with women, wedding bells and ultimately childbirths, or as the spot suggests, Miller Lite “invented light beer … and you.”

Mr. England declined to reveal what he wants in next year’s advertising. But he said, “I think the Original [retro] can and our learnings about why that has resonated so well have clearly informed our strategy.”

The Lite review comes as the brewer also confronts declining sales trends on its largest brand, Coors Light, which is handled by WPP’s Cavalry. Mr. England said there are no plans to change agencies on the brand, which will debut new ads this fall.

“We think we understand what ails Coors, and we have a tight understanding with the team at Cavalry and they are working hard to address the challenges,” Mr. England said.

11520: MillerCoors 360 Lighter.

Advertising Age reported MillerCoors is cutting 360 employees in response to lousy sales. Gee, looks like calling in the Cavalry didn’t work out.

MillerCoors Eliminates 360 Jobs in Face of Weak Sales

Big Beer’s Woes Continue

By E.J. Schultz

MillerCoors is cutting 360 positions, which includes laying off 200 salaried employees, in response to the tough sales conditions facing the company and beer industry.

“To realize our ambition, we must have the financial flexibility required to seize opportunities and address challenges head-on,” CEO Tom Long and Ed McBrien, president of sales and distributor operations, said in a memo to distributors. “Given our current fixed-cost base, we can’t meet these long-term investment requirements. Simply put, our fixed-cost base is too high and our organizational structure is too complex.”

In a statement, the brewer confirmed that “approximately 200 salaried employees will be leaving the organization and another 160 open salaried positions will be eliminated.” The Chicago-based brewer employs about 8,800 people nationally. The cuts will be spread across “all functions of the company,” including sales and marketing, a spokesman told Ad Age. The cuts are meant to “help the company meet long-term investment requirements in its brands and breweries while at the same time achieve its operating margin and profitability goals.”

The distributor memo cited a “period of rapid and disruptive change” in the U.S. beer industry, including “consumer fragmentation, continued high unemployment and increased competition from wine and spirits.”

SABMiller, which holds a joint-ownership stake in MillerCoors along with Molson Coors, reported last week that MillerCoors sales to retailers fell 1.9% in the quarter ending Sept. 30, with Miller Lite dropping “mid-single digits” and Coors Light down “low-single digits.”

The brewer is hoping to spur sales next year with several new products, including Miller Fortune, a higher-alcohol line extension, as well as a citrus-flavored seasonal line extension of Coors Light, called Coors Light Summer Brew. The brewer is also expected to invest more marketing in its economy brands, including Miller High Life and Keystone Light.

11457: More Total Market Total Bullshit.

Almost missed this Advertising Week 2013 event scheduled for September 23 at the Hard Rock Café:

Total Market Strategy: Top Marketers’ Not-So-Secret Weapon

You’ve heard the term… and you’ve probably also heard different interpretations of its meaning. Amidst the rapidly shifting demographics of our nation, the concept of multicultural marketing is being phased out in favor of marketing to a truly multicultural nation. Top consumer marketers talk about what Total Market Strategy means to their business, and share examples of how they are using it to drive sales growth.

Hear their techniques on marketing to all consumers regardless of ethnicity or language by leveraging the similarities — rather than the differences — in consumer insights, creative development and go-to-market strategies.

Interestingly enough, the panelists include executives from MillerCoors and Colgate Palmolive. Um, both advertisers employ multicultural advertising agencies—and Colgate even saluted Uniworld Founder Byron Lewis for his ADCOLOR® honor. If these racist hypocrites really believe “the concept of multicultural marketing is being phased out,” let’s hope they notify their minority shops before pulling away the crumbs.

11398: Cavalry The New Keystone Kops.

Advertising Age reported WPP’s Cavalry added more MillerCoors billings by snagging Keystone Light from Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi. The move would never have happened if Publicis Omnicom Groupe had been fully approved, as Omnicom is masterful at shifting unhappy clients to other sister agencies within the network. The new assignment for Cavalry covers creative and digital duties—which also shows that the Human Digital Agency is a farce. Finally, it must be noted that on the beverage totem pole, Keystone Light is barely a level above urine.

Cavalry’s MillerCoors Roster Grows with Keystone Light

The Economy Brand Had Been at Saatchi & Saatchi

By E.J. Schultz

WPP’s Cavalry has picked up more work from MillerCoors, winning creative and digital advertising for Keystone Light. The brand had been at Publicis Groupe’s Saatchi & Saatchi, which remains the agency for Miller brands, including Miller Lite.

WPP formed Cavalry about a year ago to handle creative and digital for Coors Light and Coors Banquet, as well as new products such as Redd’s Apple Ale. Coors brands had been at Interpublic’s DraftFCB, which lost the entire MillerCoors account, including Miller Lite, in May of 2012.

Keystone Light, which is positioned as an economy beer, is considered part of the Coors family of brands, so the move from Saatchi to Cavalry was a consolidation move, according to MillerCoors.

In recent years Keystone Light campaigns had featured a laid-back, everyday-hero character dubbed “Keith Stone.” But the brewer ended that effort this year.

Keith “worked very well for our entry-level drinker,” MillerCoors Chief Marketing Officer Andy England said in an interview earlier this year. But “the challenge with Keith is that he was frankly more polarizing with our … 30-something regular guy.” To get closer to that demographic the brand has formed a partnership with tournament fishing organization FLW.

But Keystone Light has gotten relatively little measured media support lately. Spending fell from $8.5 million in 2011 to $309,100 in 2012 and less than $100,000 for the first six months of 2013, according to Kantar Media.

11182: Miller Lite Bottle Bullshit.

Sorry, but the creatives responsible for this Miller Lite commercial should have new bottles broken over their heads.

11168: No Quiero Coors.

From The New York Times…

Seen as Offensive, Beer Can Has a Shortened Shelf Life

By Winnie Hu

The special cans of Coors Light beer started popping up in New York City in recent weeks ahead of the coming parade. The vitriol followed soon after with elected officials and others saying that the cans were tasteless and sent the wrong message.

So now the commemorative cans are no longer being produced for the 2013 Puerto Rican Day Parade.

The cans were imprinted with a circular logo that depicted the Puerto Rican flag as an apple along with the words: “National Puerto Rican Day Parade, Inc.” It was produced by MillerCoors — based on a modified version of the parade’s official logo — and was reviewed and approved by the parade’s organizers.

“The flag is a symbol of a nation, of a culture, and slapping it on a can of beer is disrespectful and trivializes a community and its contributions,” said City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, who was born and raised in Puerto Rico. She added that the beer can was particularly inappropriate this year because the parade’s official theme was “Salud: Celebrate Your Health.”

MillerCoors, which brews Coors Light, issued an apology over the can hours before a protest outside a beer distribution center in the Bronx that was organized by Boricuas for a Positive Image, a group of Puerto Rican activists. The annual parade down Fifth Avenue, scheduled this year for June 9, is one of the nation’s largest parades and attracts more than 80,000 marchers and two million spectators, according to the parade’s organizer, the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. (This year’s grand marshal is Chita Rivera.)

“We apologize if the graphics on our promotional packaging inadvertently offended you or any other members of the Puerto Rican community,” Nehl Horton, a spokesman for MillerCoors, wrote in a letter to the Boricuas group.

Mr. Horton said that MillerCoors was no longer producing the packaging and would stop distributing it by Friday morning. He said that the company had “a strong history of supporting the U.S. Latino community” and that its intent in sponsoring the parade was “to highlight the cultural strength and vibrancy of the Puerto Rican community and to provide scholarship funds to deserving individuals who are seeking to improve their lives through higher education.”

The company declined to say how many cans had been sold or how much had been spent to produce them.

It was the second time that MillerCoors, which has been a sponsor of the parade for seven years, has faced criticism in the partnership. In 2011, the company canceled an advertisement displaying three beer bottles and the word “emboricuate,” which would translate as “make yourself Puerto Rican,” after people complained that it could also be interpreted as a play on the Spanish word “emborrachate” (get drunk).

Madelyn Lugo, chairwoman of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, said through a spokesman that the board had worked with the company to try to avoid potentially offensive promotional elements, and apologized for any misunderstandings caused by the final product.

Ms. Lugo added that the organization was taking steps to develop new guidelines for using and displaying the parade’s logo by third parties.

Ramon Jimenez, a lawyer for the Boricuas group, said that it was still considering whether to accept MillerCoors’s apology, and that the issue pointed to a larger problem with the parade’s organizer. His group has called for a change in leadership, and for more accountability in the marketing of the parade.

“They’ve commercialized the parade to the point where big floats for Budweiser and Coors dominate the parade while the cultural exhibitions and the various towns that march are minor players,” Mr. Jimenez said. “They’re overshadowed by the commercial interests.”

10891: Ridiculous Resolution.

“Start Your New Beers Resolution,” declares Miller64. Um, somebody tell these idiots the top New Year’s Resolutions include “Drink Less Alcohol.”

10182: Calling The Cavalry For Coors.

Advertising Age reported the new WPP agency coalition created to handle Coors will be led by Marty Stock—former Executive VP-Director of Account Management at Draftfcb, the shop that lost the account. Talk about capitalizing on one’s drinking buddies—and riding the Silver Bullet across town. Will Draftfcb file another poaching lawsuit? More importantly, does anyone really care? The new agency coalition is named Cavalry. Not sure if the staffers will be mounted on horseback, but it’s a safe bet there will be a never-ending supply of horseshit.

Coors Calls in Cavalry With New WPP Agency

Former DraftFCB Exec Marty Stock Tapped as CEO of Chicago Shop

By Maureen Morrison, E.J. Schultz

A little more than a month after MillerCoors moved its entire account out of DraftFCB, the WPP agency formed to house the Coors side of the business has opened up shop in Chicago and will be led by beer-marketing veteran Marty Stock.

Mr. Stock, who has been DraftFCB’s exec VP-director of account management on the MillerCoors business, is now CEO of the new WPP entity dubbed Cavalry, which will handle creative and digital for Coors Light, Coors Banquet and any other new products. Mr. Stock is a career-long beer account exec, having worked on the business for 23 years at DraftFCB and predecessor agency Foote, Cone & Belding. Prior to his career at FCB, he worked at D’Arcy on Anheuser-Busch, and Y&R.

Cavalry will call in talent from WPP agencies Y&R, JWT, digital agency VML, branding firm Landor, as well as others, and will start with about 40 full-time employees, some of which will be new hires and some from within the WPP system. Cavalry will be the first to work on digital and creative together for Coors, with digital talent being drawn from VML. (Previously, digital had been handled by Razorfish and creative by DraftFCB.) Cavalry has not yet announced a creative executive.

“We see in Marty somebody who knows the beer business cold … and has a strong relationship with the client, but we also saw something about his ability to be a leader,” said Global Business Development Director George Rogers at WPP, who masterminded the new agency. “What we wanted to do was put him in a situation where he can take what he’s learned and what he’s all about and build a great agency.”

Of Mr. Stock’s departure, DraftFCB said in a statement: “Our MillerCoors team collectively helped Coors Light topple Budweiser as the No. 2 beer in the U.S. and we appreciate Marty’s role in leading and developing those people, many of whom have been reassigned to other accounts at Draftfcb. We wish Marty continued success.”

Mr. Rogers said the new agency is essentially an extension of WPP’s other client-specific agencies, such as Team Mazda and Team Detroit, the Ford agency that was on Ad Age’s Agency A-List in 2010. But for all WPP’s success with its Ford agencies, it also had one shop, Enfatico, formed for Dell that did not fare very well. Mr. Rogers said that Cavalry’s model is very different from ill-fated Enfatico’s for a number of reasons, including the fact that Enfatico was formed and quickly racked up 1,000 employees.

Cavalry is not expected to significantly alter the creative positioning of Coors Light. The brand, which passed Budweiser last year as the nation’s second-largest beer, has long used cold-refreshment messaging and imagery. The agency change was not a “referendum on the positioning of the brands,” Mr. Rogers said.

Rather, MillerCoors seemed to be seeking stability and a deeper bench of creative talent, while looking to more seamlessly integrate digital and traditional creative. Questions have arisen over the last couple years about DraftFCB’s creative chops after it gradually lost much of the U.S. Kraft business and SC Johnson, both longtime above-the-line FCB accounts.

“We are very excited to begin working with Cavalry,” said MillerCoors Chief Marketing Officer Andy England in a statement to Ad Age. “We were looking to solve for two things: one was an above-the-line and digital integrated solution for the Coors family of brands, and the second was access to a very deep creative bench. We believe WPP via Cavalry addresses both of these critical pieces on our business. We are delighted that WPP has chosen to hire Marty Stock as the leader of Cavalry. His knowledge of beer advertising and deep understanding of the Coors family of brands is unparalleled.”

The integration comes as the brewer, like other beer marketers, is putting a new emphasis on digital. “Thinking that everything comes out of TV is the wrong way but it’s a rut that we were falling into,” Mr. Stock said. Speaking about the new model, Jon Cook, CEO and president of digital agency VML, said: “When you know from the very beginning that your role is central … that’s a big factor.”

Beer has historically lagged other categories in digital marketing partly because of concerns over age verification. But brewers are finding ways around those concerns, such as a new age-checking tool on Twitter that spurred MillerCoors to launch a new handle for Coors Light.

New products, which Cavalry will work on, are an emerging priority at MillerCoors as it seeks to win over fickle millennial consumers. “There’s a willingness to try new things that’s probably greater than anything we’ve seen in the past,” Mr. Stock said. The brewer is testing several new offerings this summer, for instance, including Coco Breve, a coconut water-infused clear malt beverage.

10132: Draftfcb Redefines Memorial Day.

Memorial Day Weekend 2012 commemorates special fallen service people—namely, the Draftfcb employees axed in response to the MillerCoors account shifts announced earlier this month. Razorfish might have also trimmed workers, as the beer maker fired the digital shop too.

The trade press has been oddly quiet about the scenario, perhaps deciding to stop publishing news on advertising bloodbaths. Agency Spy reported up to 40 people were cut, while AdScam declared at least 200 staffers were dumped. The AdScam numbers are probably more accurate. Losing a multi-brand beer account translates to lots of billings and bodies. Plus, Draftfcb is notorious for trickling pink slips, quietly letting employees go in small spurts over an extended period of time.

It’s bad news overall for the Chicago job market. New York-based Saatchi & Saatchi picked up the Miller Lite account, while a Chicago-based coalition of WPP shops will handle Coors. Agencies often avoid hiring former staffers from ex-AORs, so the newly unemployed will face a tough road ahead.

Add the MillerCoors departure to the SC Johnson dismissal of roughly a year ago, and it’s safe to say Draftfcb is reeling. Management shuffles can’t be helping matters or morale. Draftfcb Chairman Howard Draft’s dream of running a small shop may come true sooner than later.

The self-proclaimed Agency of the Future has a fuzzy future, mostly because it ultimately acts like a relic of the past. That is, Draftfcb features all the characteristics of a standard BDA—politics, egos, bureaucracies, silos, outdated processes, lumbering structures, contrived catchphrases and White men. The breakthrough model is a Model T. A New Brand Agency is an old brontosaurus. And accountability apparently does not apply to the powers that be.

Don’t forget that Draftfcb President and CEO Laurence Boschetto promised, “…by 2014 we will be an organization that no longer uses the term ‘diversity and inclusion.’ We are working tirelessly, from the C-suite to the intern ranks, to foster an atmosphere of inclusion, where everyone is empowered to reach great heights.” Um, by 2014 Draftfcb may no longer be an organization—period.

10117: New Mainstream = Old Stereotypes.

Advertising Age presented another fluff piece proclaiming, “Multicultural is the New Mainstream”—especially among beer brands. Sounds like someone’s drinking the malt liquor Kool-Aid. In the recent MillerCoors shakeup, minority shops were not mentioned at all. To learn that the targeted agencies retained their assignments—or Jay-Z will stage a concert for Budweiser—is hardly a milestone moment. If the beer companies want to prove their commitment to non-White audiences, award AOR status to a non-White agency. Hell, MillerCoors handed its Coors business to a WPP coalition featuring at least two Chicago-based White agencies that are barely agencies (JWT Chicago and Grey). It’s a safe bet that the shops handling digital duties for MillerCoors receive greater marketing funds than the minorities. The Ad Age piece opened by stating, “The color lines are blurring in the beer business.” But the trade publication illustrated the story with a Latino ad featuring a soccer player—and highlighted increased integration of hip hop. Guess the New Mainstream is the Old Stereotypes.

Multicultural Is the New Mainstream for Brewers in Search of Growth

As Hispanics, African-Americans Become Crucial, MillerCoors, A-B Ease Off Frat-Boy Approach

By E.J. Schultz

The color lines are blurring in the beer business.

In an emerging multicultural strategy, brewers are making fewer overt appeals to African-Americans and Hispanics in targeted media. Instead, marketers are finding subtle ways to talk to all demographics at once in general-market campaigns meant to appeal to a drinking audience that is growing more diverse by the day as more millennials turn 21. Here’s what viewers can expect: Fewer ads filled with frat-boy antics and more spots with music, including from hip-hop artists with crossover appeal.

“Ethnic marketing is now the mainstream,” said Paul Chibe, Anheuser-Busch InBev’s VP-U.S. marketing.

It’s really a matter of survival. Hispanics and African-Americans are expected to drive 70% of beer growth from 2000 to 2020, according to industry estimates cited by Heineken USA. But rather than segmenting the markets, some brands have found better results with more inclusive general- market advertising. African-Americans have influence over white drinkers, and Hispanic audiences are so large and acculturated that it’s imperative to speak to both in general-market media.

“Brands are finally seizing the opportunity and moving beyond this age-old assumption that you have to lead mass efforts through general-market insights,” said Ahmad Islam, managing partner of multicultural agency Commonground, which works on MillerCoors brands. “The idea that you can actually lead with more of an urban sensibility in the right context and still have relevance to the masses is … being more broadly embraced.”

And there is some evidence the new approaches are working. Bud Light, Coors Light and Miller Lite all had higher perception scores among millennial African-Americans and Hispanics this spring, according to a survey by YouGov BrandIndex.

This is good news for multicultural shops, which are winning more business from brewers, including general-market assignments. (Notably, when MillerCoors recently reshuffled its agency roster, Commonground and Hispanic shop Bromley survived unscathed, even as the brewer cut ties with longtime Coors agency Interpublic Group of Cos.’ DraftFCB in favor of a newly formed entity at WPP.)

Coors Light is doing more testing of general-market ads with Hispanic and African-American audiences “to make sure they see themselves in the work just as much as the overall market [does],” said Al Patel, VP-multicultural marketing for MillerCoors. The brewer had historically underperformed with Hispanics and African-Americans. But the two demographics drove all of the brand’s growth last year, Mr. Patel said, helping Coors Light pass Budweiser as the nation’s second-bestselling beer behind Bud Light.

Sometimes the smallest details matter the most. Consider an ad Commonground did for Coors Light a couple years ago featuring an African-American man boarding the iconic Coors Light cold train. He is shown leaving work, giving his colleagues a traditional handshake. But when he gets onboard, he greets his buddies with a “dap,” a more casual, rhythmic handshake common in African-American communities.

The contrast hits “what is a reality for a lot African-Americans, especially male professionals, which is living in this dual world: The way I have to behave in my professional world vs. the way I behave and function when I’m with my friends,” Mr. Islam said. While that subtlety might escape a white viewer, there is a more universal message: There’s nothing like a cold beer after a long workday. One of Coors Light’s most successful general-market spots was originally conceived as an African-American-targeted campaign. It features hip-hop mogul Ice Cube arguing with a bottle of Coors Light over which is colder, Cube or the brew.

When Commonground first approached MillerCoors Chief Marketing Officer Andy England with the ad, he told the shop that it “feels much, much bigger than just African-American,” Mr. Islam recalled. So they unleashed it into the general market last year. It was the right call. The ad stole the show when it made its debut at a distributors meeting, drawing big cheers from the overwhelmingly white crowd of wholesalers.

MillerCoors still targets specific audiences, even ramping up efforts to reach Hispanics in their neighborhoods with point-of-sale messaging touting its sponsorship of a Mexican soccer league. But even within Hispanic communities, lines are blurring. For instance, Bromley, the brand’s Hispanic agency, used to create separate Coors Light TV spots for Puerto Ricans and Mexicans. The Puerto Rican ads were more urban, while the Mexican spots featured Western gear such as cowboy hats.

But as the percentage of U.S.-born Hispanics has grown, the ads evolved to include partygoers of all ethnicities, including some spots that are running in the general market. The ads are “portraying folks as how they see their world. [And] they see their worlds as pretty diverse worlds, so it has to be relevant and real in terms of how they live their lives,” said Ernest Bromley, CEO of the shop.

Inclusion was also on the mind of Heineken USA when it launched its “Legends” campaign last year. One spot shows a man charming his way into a lavish party filled with people of all colors, nationalities and cultures. At the same time, the importer scrapped its African-American-targeted TV ads because the “Legends” campaign tested exceedingly well with the demographic, according to Heineken.

Anheuser-Busch, meantime, is making music a bigger part of its advertising because “music has a cultural relevance that is transcendent,” Mr. Chibe said. The brewer has given heavy mass-media airplay to a Bud Light spot featuring Cuban-American hip-hop star Pitbull by Hispanic agency LatinWorks. And A-B recently announced a Labor Day weekend music festival called “Budweiser Made in America,” headlined and curated by Jay-Z and featuring rock, hip-hop, R&B, Latin and dance acts.

Steve Stoute, CEO of Translation, an A-B ad agency that helped develop the festival, said: “I don’t see [the festival] as African-American … I see it as inclusive and responsive to mirroring what’s taking place in America today.”