How sponsorships help brands tap into new audiences for the long game
It’s hard not to associate sports in America with “Miller Time.” The brand has a long legacy of sponsorship and has used it throughout the decades to tap into the fandom of mass audiences of potential beer drinkers. As Ann Legan, global vice president of marketing for the Miller family of brands at Molson Coors Beverage Company, thinks about the future, she’s looking at novel ways to connect with new audiences.
Matt Carmichael: How do you view the differences between advertising and more direct sponsorship with entertainment and sports?
Ann Legan: With traditional advertising, you have more control. It's shorter term, and you can reach a lot more people. With sponsorship or a strategic alliance, that has a longer-term horizon. There's usually a distinct audience that we're able to tap into, and we're trying to align over a common interest and passion point. In beer, we partner with sports or music or you name the passion. It allows us to connect at a deeper level with our consumers.
Carmichael: What are some favorite examples?
Legan: Fandom is all about passion. A lot of what put Miller Lite on the map was our partnering with different athletes through time and showcasing them in our commercials. The history of the brand is everything, from our All-Stars campaign where we partnered with John Madden or Bob Uecker, or our longstanding relationships with the Dallas Cowboys, where we cultivate a unique fan experience with different Miller Lite fan experiences throughout that stadium.
Carmichael: Ipsos data shows price is often a barrier for fans. How can sponsorship make access easier?
Legan: It comes down to content creation and leveraging technology to get that information out to consumers. We've just entered a relationship with Top Rank Boxing that allows us to tap into a unique fandom, unlike the NFL and MLB. It's a more multicultural and younger legal drinking age (21+) consumer demographic. Our partnership gives fans unique experiences through custom content creation with different fighters telling their stories through the Top Rank channels and our own.
We just sponsored Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 basketball tournament featuring women from the WNBA … You can take something niche and package it up and amplify it.”
Carmichael: How do you keep relationships going?
Legan: That's one of the biggest reasons we do these sponsorships: to generate content that we can push out throughout the year and not just one point in time. We sponsor Luke Combs’ concerts, but we're also working with him throughout the year to push out custom content in our social channels. We had him visit our brewery in Milwaukee and talk to our employees. He has such a relationship with the brand and the company that we've been able to amplify.
Carmichael: And you can reach different audiences?
Legan: We just sponsored Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 basketball tournament featuring women from the WNBA. The events themselves are small, but it's televised, so that gets pushed out, and we can leverage that content to people who are interested in women's sports. You can take something niche and package it up and amplify it.
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