Dive Brief:

• MillerCoors' new CMO David Kroll has vowed to revamp the company's marketing strategy to focus on "bringing that consistency back" with changes that will take place "over time," according to Ad Age. He also said that the "near-term priority is very much around stabilizing and reversing the trends on those businesses."
• Kroll called the company's past marketing efforts "too scattered," noting that in some years, campaigns changed anywhere from three to five times, which he felt was "eroding the meaning of our brands," Ad Age reported.
• The company's former innovation VP, will continue to focus on new product development, such as a rumored lower-alcohol hard soda line, according to Ad Age. However, Kroll will ultimately be judged on the future performances of MillerCoors' two flagship brands, Miller Lite and Coors Light.

Dive Insight:

MillerCoors has been stiff competition for No. 1 U.S. beer producer Anheuser-Busch InBev and recently even bested this competitor. "While both companies are struggling to sell more beer in the U.S., MillerCoors volumes fell 2.4% in the four weeks ending July 4, compared with a 3.1% drop for A-B InBev, according to a recent report by Beer Business Daily, citing Nielsen figures. Year-to-date, Miller Lite is up slightly by 0.7%, but Coors Light is down by 0.6%, according to the publication. Bud Light fell 4.4% in the four-week period and is down 1.5% year-to-date," Ad Age reported.

In focusing on a brand like Coors Light, Kroll's marketing approach is simple: Simplify. "My drive with that team is to get back to a much more consistent meaningful message around Rocky Mountain cold refreshment," he told Ad Age. The company's current summer campaign, "Born in the Rockies," uses picturesque imagery of the Rocky Mountains to take the brand back to those very roots and conforms to Kroll's "consistent meaningful message" around the Rockies.