Dive Brief:

• For the launch of its new Coors Seltzer brand, MolsonCoors has pledged to support projects that will protect 87 million gallons — the amount of hard seltzer the company says was consumed over the summer — of water, according to a press release. People can enlist in the Coors Seltzer Volunteer Program to support the brand's efforts and receive a rebate on their first 12-pack, with the company covering the purchase of 175,000 12-packs.
• The brand is partnering with the Bonneville Environmental Foundation's Change the Course Program, which funds water projects that help sustain healthy, flowing rivers. Together, the two organizations will target 16 river basins in 14 states, support projects that focus on modernizing irrigation, removing barriers, reducing pollution and restoring fish and wildlife habitats.
• The effort includes a social sweepstakes that highlights activism as well as video spots, which will appear first on social media before moving to digital video and TV programming, such as college football and primetime shows. The commercials appeal to Gen Z's and millennials' sense of purpose, depicting young people drinking Coors Seltzers "because the rivers need me."

Dive Insight:

Diving into the popular hard seltzer market, MolsonCoors is launching its Coors Seltzer brand by appealing to consumers' desire to protect the environment, a positioning the company hopes will set it apart from other brands in an increasingly competitive space.

The popularity of brands like White Claw and Truly among young consumers continues to catch the attention of the major beer marketers. AB InBev earlier this year dedicated a significant portion of its marketing to its own product, and Constellation brands' Corona-branded seltzer was unfortunately timed to the pandemic, although sales were still strong.

While some other hard seltzer brands are taking a more lighthearted, meme-heavy approach to reach the younger drinkers who have made the category so popular, MolsonCoors is moving in another direction, banking on younger millennials' and older Gen Z's affinity for activism.

The environment and climate change remain among the cohort's top concerns, even amid the pandemic. In a recent global survey of more than 27,000 people, more than six in 10 individuals under 30 strongly agreed that society should respond to climate change with the same urgency as it has to the pandemic. Nearly two-thirds of those respondents also said they felt "guilty about my negative impact on the environment."

The launch promotion is designed to appeal to these consumers' sense of purpose toward the environment, asking them to enroll in the Coors Seltzer Volunteer Program, which will entitle people in eligible states to receive a rebate on their first 12-pack brand purchase.

"Americans are drinking an astounding amount of hard seltzer, but it's not doing much good. With the launch of Coors Seltzer and its Volunteer Program, we're setting out to provide a seltzer that tastes good and also gives drinkers an opportunity to do good with each and every sip," Matt Escalante, Molson Coors' senior director of above premium flavors, said in an announcement.

In addition to the video advertising, the brand is trying to get the Coors Seltzer Volunteer Program to trend on social media, offering a sweepstakes in which followers on Instagram or Twitter create a post featuring them engaged in a volunteer activity. Prizes will include the chance to win free Coors Seltzer for a year (in the form of $500), along with a $1,000 donation made in the winner’s name to one of the conservation projects.

At a time when brand authenticity matters more than ever, the Coors brand may be trying to bank on its history of environmental stewardship. Commercials for the company's Coors Light brand in the early 2000s depicted company chairman Pete Coors, grandson of brewery founder Adolph Coors, in idyllic Colorado settings proclaiming the brand was made with "pure Rocky Mountain spring water."