Dive Brief:

• In celebration of its 150th anniversary, Coors Banquet is launching a global campaign featuring new ads, packaging, merchandise and retail tools, according to a company blog post.
• The “Start Your Legacy” campaign is supported by a new ad featuring the voice of “Yellowstone” actor Cole Hauser and will culminate with a party in the beer’s home town of Golden, Colorado, this fall. Additionally, the brand will help foster future legacies by giving away $150,000 and free beer to budding entrepreneurs.
• The campaign comes as the beer sees significant sales growth, along with a surging cultural relevance. The Molson Coors brand saw a 10% dollar-sales growth in 2022, per data cited by the brand, and has been featured in several popular TV shows.

Dive Insight:

Coors Banquet is celebrating its 150-year history by looking to its past and heritage, while taking advantage of its renewed place in the public eye. The multifaceted campaign includes a QR campaign, where consumers can scan codes for a chance to win a trip to the celebration in Golden, and a giveaway effort timed to National Small Business Day (May 10) that could help the brand collect valuable first-party data via a microsite.

“Only about half of crowdsourced projects actually reach their goal. That’s a lot of legacies that never get started,” said Tracey Bien Schenck, senior marketing manager for Coors Banquet, in the blog post. “We understand how tough it can be to get the support to start a passion project or business, so we want to give a kickstart to legacies in the making.”

The beer, which is brewed in Colorado, has seen a resurgence due to its appearance in popular properties. It was the official beer of “Yellowstone” season 5, and it was also the beer of choice of hard-drinking karate sensei Johnny Lawrence, played by actor William Zabka, in the Netflix show “Cobra Kai.” After the latter show’s season 3 premiere, volume sales grew by over 5%, per data shared by the brand.

With the brand’s pop culture momentum, it’s fitting that “Yellowstone” star Hauser lends his voice to the campaign celebrating Coors Banquet’s heritage. The spot leans into the beer’s Colorado identity, which has always been central to its marketing, and celebrates the history of the brand, showing it in the hands of cowboys and presidents.

Parent company Molson Coors put up a strong Q1, with sales growing 5.9%, its eighth consecutive quarter for growth. The company cited marketing initiatives as one reason for its strong results.