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Molson Coors Canada Team Report & Presentation Assignment Submitted to: Bill A. Crowe Monday November 3 rd , 2014 MARK101- Marketing Principles Section 101 St. Lawrence College, Kingston, Ontario By: Ashleigh Russell Richard Slade Victoria Condlln Juan Clapperton

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Page 1: Molson Coors Canada - Weebly · Molson Coors Canada Team Report & Presentation Assignment Submitted to: Bill A. Crowe Monday November 3rd, 2014 MARK101- Marketing Principles Section

Molson Coors Canada

Team Report & Presentation Assignment

Submitted to:

Bill A. Crowe

Monday November 3rd, 2014

MARK101- Marketing Principles Section 101

St. Lawrence College, Kingston, Ontario

By: Ashleigh Russell

Richard Slade Victoria Condlln Juan Clapperton

Page 2: Molson Coors Canada - Weebly · Molson Coors Canada Team Report & Presentation Assignment Submitted to: Bill A. Crowe Monday November 3rd, 2014 MARK101- Marketing Principles Section

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Table of Contents

Product/Service Offerings (Victoria) 3 Innovation/ Research & Development (Richard) 5 Market Environment (Ashleigh) 6 Segmentation (Ashleigh) 8 Channel Strategy (Juan) 9 Pricing (Victoria) 11 Promotion Campaigns (Richard) 11 Global Marketing Initiatives (Juan) 12 Buying Behaviours (Ashleigh) 13 Issues and Facts (Juan) 15 Summary 16 References 17 Appendix 20

- IMAGE 1: Animée Crisp Rosé Beer - IMAGE 2: 2020 Sustainability Strategy - IMAGE 3: Coors Light Iced Tea

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Canadian Spirit. Canadian Passion. Molson Coors Canada; Canada’s largest and North America’s oldest brewery, was founded in 1786 by John Molson, an English immigrant new to Montréal. Molson, an innovator and entrepreneur, created a new strain of yeast specifically for brewing beer, and he settled on the banks of the St. Lawrence River where he began his craft. (REAL TIME NEWS., n.d.) For nearly 230 years, Molson’s has retained the high standard of craftsmanship, and has extended their breweries across Canada, with locations in Montréal, Toronto, Granville Island, Vancouver, St. John’s, Creemore Springs and Moncton. With leading brands and products such as Molson Canadian - Canada’s #1 lager, Coors Light - Canada’s #1 light beer and Rickard’s collection of beers, Molson Coors has expanded itself within the industry and now employs over 3000 people. These employees include brewers with engineering, biology and chemistry degrees, which they have been using to improve brews and experiment with new flavours. (REAL TIME NEWS., n.d.) Product Service Offerings Molson Coors offers over 25 brands within Canada, the US and the UK (Our Brands - Signature Brands., n.d.), and is paired with other brands across the world to bring over 115 types of beer to markets everywhere. (Our Brands - Global Portfolio., n.d.) Signature Brands include:

Blue Moon Carling* Cobra* Coors Light Keystone Light MGD 64** Miller High Life** Miller Lite**

Molson Canadian Molson Dry Molson Export Molson M Rickard’s Red Staropramen** Doom Bar*

*UK only **US only (Our Brands - Signature Brands., n.d.) Internationally, Molson’s products include: (Our Brands - Global Portfolio., n.d.)

Águlia Amstel Light Apatinsko Astika Astika Dark Bergenbier Bergenbier Fresh

Keystone Premium Leinenkugel’s Fireside Nut Brown Miller 64 Mickey’s Miller Chill Miller Genuine Draft Miller High Life

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Bergenbier Non-alcoholic Bergenbier Unfiltered Blue Moon Bohemian Borsodi Borsodi Bivaly Borsodi Friss Blackcurrant-Lime Borsodi Friss Apple Borsodi Friss Grapefruit Borsodi Friss Grapefruit Zero Borsodi Friss Lemon Borsodi Friss Lemon Zero Borsodi Póló Borsodi Super Dry Braník 11 Braník Lager Braník Light Burgasko Caffrey’s Carling Carling Zest Summer Carling Zest Winter Chalky’s Bark Chalky’s Bite Cobra King Cobra Cobra Zero Coors Banquet Coors Light Coors Non-Alcoholic Creemore Springs Cristal Cusqueña Doom Bar Extra Gold Lager Foster’s George Killian’s Irish Red Granville Island Lager Grolsch Hamm’s Heineken Henry Weinhard’s Private Reserve Jelen Jelen Cool Jelen Fresh Grapefruit

Miller Lite Milwaukee’s Best Molson Canadian Molson Canadian 67 Molson Canadian 67 Sublime Molson Canadian Light Molson Dry Molson Export Molson Golden Molson Ice Molson M Nik Cool Nik Gold NikSicko NikSicko Tamno Noroc Ostravar Lager Ostravar Light Ozujsko Ozujsko Cool Ozujsko Grapefruit Ozujsko Lemon Peroni Nastro Azzuro Pilsner Pilsner Urquell Red Dog Rickard’s Blonde Rickard’s Dark Rickard’s Oakhouse Rickard’s Red Rickard’s White Sharp’s Spark’s Staropramen Staropramen 11 Staropramen Cool Grep Staropramen Cool Lemon Staropramen Dark Staropramen Déčko Staropramen Granát Staropramen Ležák Staropramen Nealko Staropramen Unfltered Steel Reserve High Gravity Tomislav

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Jelen Fresh Lemon Jelen Fresh Blackcurrant-Lime Kamenitza Kamenitza Fresh Grapefruit Kamenitza Fresh Lemon Keystone Light

Tyskie Vratislav Winterfest Worthington’s Creamflow Worthington’s White Shield

As well as a large variety of brands available through Molson Coors, there is also a wide assortment of sizes for consumer convenience. Cans are a standard size of 473mL, and are available as individuals, or in packs of 4, 6, 8 12, or 24. Cans are also available in 355mL sizes, and are available in packs of 6, 12, 15, 18, 24, 30, and 48. Tallboys, Molson’s 710mL can, is available as individuals or 12 packs. The 750mL and 500mL cans, typically imported beers, are available in singles, 3 packs and packs of 12. Some imports are also available in 5L cans, as singles, or in pairs. Molson Coors also carries an aluminum bottle of 473mL and is available in packs of 4, 8, or 24. Cans are also available as Cold Shots, Molson Coors’ innovative smaller sized cans, are 250mLs, and available in packs of 4, 8, 16 and 24. Glass bottles are a standard size of 341mL, and are available in packs of 6, 12,15, 24, 28 and 30, while the larger bottle, 710mL, are available only in packs of 12. 450mL bottles and 330mL cans, usually imported beers, are available in packs of 4, 6, 12 and 24. Kegs, a big seller for bars and restaurants, are available in 20,000mLs (20Ls) or in 58,600mLs (58.6L). Molson Coors also carries mini kegs, a 3.1L can with a dispensing spout. (The Beer Store., n.d.)(The Beer Store: Lager., n.d.)(The Beer Store: Ale., n.d.) Innovation/ Research & Development Since Molson Coors was established they’ve strived for beer that tastes as good at home as it does straight from the tap, and with time and passion in the art of brewing, Molson Coors gets closer and closer every day. Being the first to have fully recyclable aluminum cans and being able to share them with competitors free of charge was one of the first of many great innovations for Molson Coors in the last century. (REAL TIME NEWS., n.d.) Always looking for ways to challenge the expected, Molson Coors wants to bring something new and exciting to customers. (Innovation., n.d.) In the past ten years Molson Coors has tried to make the drinking experience easier and more enjoyable for each customer. One of the greater achievements of this company, has been the Coors Light cold activated cans. Research shows that consumers want to know when their beer is cold enough to drink, which is why Molson Coors has made labels that show consumers the right time and temperature for maximum enjoyment. (Beer Drinkers., n.d.) People sometimes want a beer that is unique in flavour and like no other. Molson Coors has answered them with their Blue Moon Craft Beer selection. With flavours like Harvest Pumpkin Ale and

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Blackberry Tart Ale, they give their customers an experience like no other. Blue Moon gives consumers the freedom to try new, bold, and delicious products. (Beer Drinkers., n.d.) For people who are trying to watch their figure, Molson Coors has also created Molson Canadian 67, which is a low calorie alternative to Canada’s top beer. This beer is a success as 61% of a study of 2,000 people said that the calorie count of their beer is important to them. (Beer Drinkers., n.d.) Comfort is a pinnacle of the beer lifestyle, which is why Molson Coors came up with an innovative alternative for their packaging to add ease and comfort for the beer drinker as he or she travels. Bringing Moslon Coors, Home Draft Systems (miniature kegs) into the homes of their customers allows the consumer to have a “straight from the tap” taste without having to leave the comfort of their house. Also, Molson Coors new aluminum pint bottles allow for proper disposal outside without any of the unwanted mess or injury risks that fragile glass bottles can bring. Not every product the company brings to the consumer can be a success though. Molson Coors Coors Light Iced T (refer to IMAGE 3 in Appendix) was hard hit with many bad reviews among beer drinkers due to flavour and colour. (Coors Light Iced T…, n.d.) The beer also felt backlash due to an unfortunate and unintentional acronym. (Yuen, J., 2012) Animée (refer to IMAGE 1 in Appendix) was another beer that was not a success. Animée was a low ABV, low carbonated beer that advertised to women. Finding that 79% of the UK female population, rarely or never drink beer Molson Coors believed that this beer could distort the female perception that all beers taste the same. (Molson Coors (UK & Ireland)..., 2011) Unfortunately after a £2 million advertising campaign the beer was taken out of circulation as it failed to reach female drinkers. (Molson Coors (UK & Ireland)..., 2011) (Degun, G., 2012) Even though Molson Coors has had some minor setbacks while trying to give the consumers new ways to enjoy their beer, they have also had many great innovations that their customers enjoyed and continue to want more of. Molson Coors can safely say that they have made many great beers that, as a company, they can be proud to call their product. Market Environment Molson Coors strongly respects and appreciates the interaction of their customers and consumers with each of their products and has strict standards to ensure that each relationship stays positive and that consumers remain loyal. The company puts a lot of effort into maintaining the values of their target markets, the communities surrounding, as well as the government officials. A good brand image only benefits the company and increases sales. One of the values that Molson Coors upholds is the appropriate and responsible consumption of alcohol. Underage drinking is becoming a huge problem within Canada and the United States, and Molson Coors is setting a necessary standard

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within it’s company, breweries and at all distributing locations. All Molson Coors employees are required to take an alcohol responsibility training course, which covers everything from company policies and the role each employee plays in modeling proper and responsible behaviour, not only in their communities but also when surrounded by family. To further this message of not supporting underage and excessive drinking, the company has been working in tandem with the government, as well as non-government organizations to promote safe drinking and not driving under the influence of alcohol. (Alcohol Responsibility., n.d.) Molson Coors also refuses to create any marketing campaigns or advertisements that encourage underage and/or excessive alcohol consumption, and they expect that all of their retailers and distributors to adhere to the laws and policies involved in the selling of their products. Licensed professionals are able to monitor who makes purchases in order to prevent alcoholic beverages from being acquired by underage or overly-intoxicated persons. (Alcohol Responsibility., n.d.) Another value that Molson Coors monitors closely to ensure that standards are maintained is whether their company is environmentally sustainable. Since 1786, Molson Coors has depended on a “clean and secure supply of agricultural materials and water” (Environmental Stewardship., n.d.), making the natural environment a crucial factor not only in the products they make but also in the way they are perceived as a brand by their consumers. “Protecting our environment is critical to maintaining the trust of our consumers and therefore our long-term sustainability as a business.”(Environmental Stewardship., n.d.) Molson Coors has come up with a 2020 Sustainability Strategy (refer to IMAGE 2 in Appendix), which covers how they will manage energy consumption, GHG emissions, and water and solid waste. It was launched in 2013 and explains how they as a company plan to meet the target goals by 2020. Some of these targets are: (Environmental Stewardship., n.d.)

Water Improve water efficiency by 15% by 2020. Breweries in water stressed areas will achieve world-class water use

efficiency. Energy and Carbon

Improve energy efficiency by 25% by 2020 Reduce carbon intensity by 15% by 2020

Waste Send zero waste to landfill by 2020

Packaging Reduce the weight of packaging sold by 4% by 2015

Molson Coors is also very upfront about their Beer Print, which is how they minimize the company’s impact the environment; the natural resources used as well as any waste created during the creation and use of their products. Molson Coors uses four easy steps to improve their Beer Print.

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1. Customers and stakeholders are asked about what is important to them and then using their responses, Molson Coors focuses its efforts on topics mentioned.

2. Molson Coors constantly works towards their long term goals to reduce GHG (Green House Gas) emissions and generation of product waste.

3. Every risk involved with the production of waste or resources used are evaluated, and work is done to minimalize and change these risks.

4. Molson Coors works with their suppliers to manage any risks and to overall minimize the company’s impact and their supply chain’s impact on the environment.

(Environmental Stewardship., n.d.) “We are committed to an ethical and sustainable supply chain and to manage the supply of goods and services in a responsible way by adopting a risk and opportunities based approach to identify our priorities.” This is why responsible sourcing is also an important value to Molson Coors. They believe that a fundamental part to doing business correctly is to obtain their practices and resources, etc. through a sustainable manner for their business, the community as well as the environment. They have set supplier standards that include the minimum expectations Molson Coors has of their suppliers involving environmental, social and economic sustainability. Molson Coors also sources only from suppliers who embrace these standards and are able to commit to growing, producing and delivering necessary ingredients in a way that the company is proud to involved with. (Responsible Sourcing., n.d.) Segmentation Molson Coors, known across Canada for Molson Canadian beer, and known across the United States for Coors light, has a very specific targeted demographic. Geographically Molson Coors has mainly targeted Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom are the main countries targeted by Molson Coors as this is also where they operate and have many offices located. These are not the only countries that their products are being sold in though. Their markets have also been expanding throughout Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East. In each region, Molson Coors has been capturing local flavours and have been making them available to drinkers all over the world. Molson Coors has been very deliberate in marketing and advertising their products to those of legal drinking age, typically between the ages of 19-24, but many ages groups above this are known for buying the company’s delicious products. Molson Coors has slipped up a bit though when it comes to how they marketed to the male and female genders. The focus has been on the male

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demographic consistently, while barely any directed at the female demographic. Why? ‘“One of the things we need to recognize in the industry is that we've effectively ignored 50% of the population for many years," a brewery spokeswoman said of targeting the female market. "There's something fundamentally wrong with the relationship women have with beer," she added.’ (Bloat resistant beer…, 2011) This was said by an employee at Molson Coors, and she is very right in her statement. By only marketing to 50% of the population you are only profiting by half of what you could be. Molson Coors needs to do some serious investigating into how they could market to females, which is harder than it looks, as they launched a product called Animée (refer to IMAGE 1 in Appendix) in 2011. It was a beer dyed pink basically, and it was not received well by the female population, resulting in it being taken off market in 2012. ‘Kristy McCready, Communications Partner, Molson Coors (UK & Ireland) said: “Women are an essential part of future growth for the beer industry and can no longer be ignored. We need to repair the reputation of beer among women by launching products that meet their needs.”’ (Molson Coors (UK & Ireland)..., 2011)

Channel Strategy “Beer is a social commodity. Maintaining good relations with the community drives the business.” - Jonathan Kash (Molson Coors Social Media…, 2013)

Molson Coors benefits from a joint-venture with SABMiller to distribute Miller Lite, MGD, Milwaukee’s Best and their other products in North America. This joint-venture is known as Miller Coors. Molson Coors is also a part owner of The Beer Store in Ontario. They operate as a beer distributor and retailer, which has over 85% of the market share of total beer sales in Ontario. Molson Coors owns half of Brewers Distribution Limited in Western Canada as well. Molson Coors distributes their products through value adding resellers like the beer store and bars and restaurants, which through licensing and contracts ensure that their product is sold throughout that chain consistently, and allows customers to know that Molson Coors brands will always be available at these locations. They also sell to distributors that sell to the dealers and VAR’s and not to the end users (consumers) directly. (Molson Brewery., 2014)

The products Molson Coors provides are reasonable priced and promoted towards target markets. The people involved from the workers, brewers, drivers, bartenders, sales clerks, and so on, play an important role in the company. They use good principles in their production process, their ad campaigns for responsible drinking, and their public relations. They hire employees from different cultures that they provide the products in. Where they place their product is important too, as

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improper placement can result in a decrease in sales and not to mention a potentially negative brand image. This in mind, Molson Coors does a good job of reaching targeted markets both local and internationally.

SWOT Analysis

Molson Coors has many strengths, including their great web and social media presence. They understand it is important to stay connected in the channels their consumers use to stay connected to each other, as it will help promote the company as well as help Molson Coors discover new trends to try on their beverages. They have good public relations and do well with distribution globally as they are the fifth largest brewer in the world. Molson Coors offers a good variety of products with over a hundred different beers, and they assist in building the economy by hiring over 19,000 employees in over 50 countries. (REAL TIME NEWS., n.d.) Molson Coors does have some weaknesses, the largest one being product presentation. Majority of the company’s campaigns and advertisements are not gender neutral as they are more aimed towards young adult males and just men in general. This limits the amount of profit the company can bring in, and further pushes the female population away from their products. These weaknesses can provide a lot of opportunities for the company though. And Molson Coors has a lot of opportunities. They can attempt to get more into the craft beer category by making more of their own craft beers and try to make it into a monopoly or at least an oligopoly. Molson Coors can also try to attract more female buyers by maybe changing the taste, not minimizing it as they did with the Animée beer brand (Cole, M., 2011), or by innovating new pre-mixed drinks or fruity drinks. They might also be able to attract an older demographic by marketing stronger more robust beers. Molson Coors definitely still has an opportunity to grow into a larger company seeing as they’re only the fifth largest. They can do more event marketing and get more involved with sports and music festivals around the world. They could have a Molson Coors taxi service to discourage drunk driving. There really are endless options for this company, as long as they are willing to think outside the box and get creative. As for threats, there are a few. Molson Coors is being threatened by the growing popularity of wine. For the last ten years beer sales have been losing ground to wine sales. In 2000, beer had a 52% market share, compared to now where they only have a 45% market share. At the same time there is another threat as craft beer sales are also increasing. Molson Coors has been working on managing the threat of craft beers as in the end it may also help counter act the threat of wine sales. Another threat would be the fact that they are only the fifth largest brewery in the world and the larger companies can take their potential customers and market shares. (Strategies., n.d.)

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Pricing With Molson’s wide range of products, it comes as no surprise that the pricing ranges greatly as well. The brand’s domestic products (Canadian, Coors, etc.) and international products price differently. Molson’s Craft beers, which include Creemore Springs, Rickard’s collection of ales, and Granville Island ales, are often priced in bars and restaurants as domestic or craft beers and can sometimes be priced individually. The standard size – a 12 pack of 341mL bottles, is priced anywhere between $22.50 to $25.95 retail, and is only available to consumers through the Beer Store or LCBO. (The Beer Store - Craft., n.d.) The second category of beers, the discount beers, include very few of Molson’s line of products, including Carling and Keystone. Priced at the standard case size, these ales typically run between $17.95 and $19.95. http://www.thebeerstore.ca/beers/search/brand_type--Discount Molson’s premium beers, also known as domestic, include ales such as Canadian, Coors, Export, Miller and Molson M, are priced between $19.95 and $21.75. http://www.thebeerstore.ca/beers/search/brand_type--Premium Finally, Molson’s imported beers are their largest collection of ales, including Caffrey’s, Coors, Foster’s, Grolsch, Heineken, Miller, and Urquell. As these are international beers owned and imported by Molson, the comparison of prices becomes increasingly difficult, because each exporting company sizes differently than the rest. Typically, however, 473mL cans price around $2.50, with 500mL cans ranging from $2.00 to $3.00. Beers available only in 750mL cans price between $3.50 and $4.50, and imported beers available only in bottles, purchasable in the standard, domestic sizes, price at $22.00 to $25.00 for 12 at 355mL. (The Beer Store - Imported., n.d.) Molson in Canada sells through the Beer Store and LCBOs across the country, and so the manufacturer retains these prices in order to remain competitive and loyal to the companies that provide consumers with the largest part of their products. Promotion Campaigns Promotion is an essential key to keeping up with competition and staying ahead of them, which is why Molson Coors and many of their brands present the image of bringing people together to have fun and enjoy some beers. The Molson Canadian brand attends some of the biggest music festivals like the Squamish, Osheaga, and Pemberton music festivals to name a few. (Molson Canadian Live., n.d.) This attendance lets Molson Coors bring their product to the new generation of legal age beer drinkers, without alienating them with ads aimed directly at them. At Osheaga, Molson Canadian had a contest where bands submitted

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a song and after having fans vote, a band was picked to play one of the main stages. (Molson Canadian Live., n.d.) Another music related promotion that Molson Coors made was Altered States; three nights in three cities, where Molson Canadian transformed different venues into concert halls. In Toronto it was the iconic department store, Honest Ed’s, and in Calgary it was the historic livestock showroom, Victoria Halls. (Molson Canadian Live., n.d.) Anything For Hockey is an ongoing Twitter campaign where fans of both Hockey and Molson Canadian tweet in pictures of what they do to play the game of their nation. People have tweeted in makeshift Zamboni’s to pierced ears. The winners who are chosen will be flown to play a game of Hockey on top of a mountain. Hundreds of thousands of people have sent in pictures. (WANT TO LACE UP…, n.d.) At the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Molson Coors sold their product Molson Canadian at events and used a mosaic filled with pictures via twitter of supportive Canadians that filled up over time to make one very patriotic Canadian. These combined with other smaller promotions and commercials helped sales improve by 5% in the retail space, compared to the 3.8% industry gain, and the profit increased by 38% in the first quarter. Molson Canadian earned $104.6 million for three months ending March 27th, up from the $75.7 million of the same months the year earlier. Revenue climbed to $661 from $559 million, $25 million more than the Wall Street expectation. (Marowits, R., 2010) Many of the Molson Coors products like Heineken offer tours of their breweries, which helps promote brands, advertise production and lets the company offer samples of signature products as well as occasionally sample upcoming beers. (Vancouver Food Tour., n.d.)(Welcome to Heineken., n.d.) “Beer is a social commodity. Maintaining good relations with the community drives the business” - Johnathan Kash Using social media has helped Molson Coors connect with a larger target market demographic of younger, but legal drinking age, generations. They have used Facebook to connect with the 19-24 demographic. Using Facebook pages, Molson Coors and their brands have been able to connect with consumers, share events and promotions easily with multiple generations, as well as even use twitter to easily send updates about those same events to millions within a very short time period. (Molson Coors Social Media…, 2013) Global Marketing Initiatives “We are all members of a larger community which depends on everyone playing a part.” ~ John Molson, 1825. (Molson Coors Social Media…, 2013)

In 2008 Molson Coors established Molson Coors International (MCI). It comprised of three primary regions – Asia, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean. The MCI headquarters is located in Denver Colorado and employs over 400 people who work

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all over North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Now Molson Coors has 19,000 employees working in over 50 countries satisfying beer drinkers with over 100 different brands. (REAL TIME NEWS., n.d.) By reaching out, selling, producing, etc. in multiple countries Molson Coors is increasing their profit margins as well as improving their brand image and diversity.

Molson Coors strives to have an inclusive company, full of cultural diversity. They know that in order to succeed in the marketplace on a global scale and in our communities, they must try to create and support the ideals of inclusion of multiple cultures and ethnicities among their employees, their suppliers, and their beer drinkers. Basically the company believes they should reflect the wide variety of cultures and ethnicities of the communities they do business in. Molson Coors even takes this one step further by allowing flavours of their beers to be inspired by local tastes in each country, creating not only a wide market reach, but also diversity in their products that will appeal to people all over the world. Like a wise man once told us, “If you want to go fast go alone, but if you want to go far go together” (Bill A. Crowe).

International growth in Eastern Europe and Latin America helped Molson Coors despite declining global beer sales and flat results in Canada. The company saw sales for Coors light rise more than 30% in Britain and Chile last year, and says brand development for Europe and other regions continue. Shares in the Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary market increased also but were offset by natural disasters in Serbia and political turmoil in their Russian and Ukrainian markets. In their Latin America market sales increased more than double last year. According to The Globe and Mail “The company reported a 9.5-per-cent increase in net income in the second quarter, growing to $290.7-million, up from $271.3-million a year ago. Earnings per share were $1.57 (U.S.), beating analyst estimates of $1.47. Revenue grew nearly 1 per cent, and investors sent the company’s stock up 5.8 per cent”. (HAINS, D., 2014) We believe that the company is meeting its targets by cost cutting and offering more product selection and variety.

All in all Molson Coors is doing a good job with their global marketing initiatives. They’ve made the most out of uncontrollable forces that affect their global markets such as, war, natural disasters, political turmoil, and economic issues. They continue to keep their head up and look to innovate and overcome barriers. The North American market hasn’t been exceptionally profitable but the numbers don’t lie, they’re still increasing sales and distribution of their products. Their stock has risen over the last year along with their revenue and net income.

Buying Behaviour Molson Coors’ has had a pretty steady increase of sales over the years and there are many reasons as to why this is. They have diversified the products available to the point where there is a least one brand each person will enjoy. They have made their products more accessible to many cultures and sub cultures through price and the

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innovation of beverages that capture the flavour of different locations where Molson Coors sells and manufactures it’s products. (Our Brands - Global Portfolio., n.d.) The company has also portrayed themselves as a brand that values friends, family and the good times and memories shared together. By having this message, people think of this brand when they are indeed going to have fun with those closest to them. Molson Canadian was first brewed in 1959 along the banks of the St. Lawrence River in Montreal, and is one of “Canada’s most iconic and best-selling brands” today. (Heritage In Beer., n.d.) This one brand of Molson Coors beer is known for it’s patriotism and is strongly supported by Canadians, even though at times it’s flavour can be criticized. Depending on whether there is an event, sporting, national crisis, etc. that revolves around Canada, will affect the sales of this “Canadian” beer, as people will purchase it on a personal, psychological and social need to support the country they live in. A perfect example of this is the Vancouver Olympic Games in 2010, as mentioned previously in Promotion Campaigns. Sales for Molson Canadian increased as the country watched and supported all the athletes who represented Canada. Most of Molson Coors products are also found to be a great balance of taste, alcohol percentage and cost, which suits majority of their customers. Beer sales have been decreasing around the world, but despite this, Molson Coors has managed to stay positive with sales and net income still rising. (HAINS, D., 2014) The new trend is the consumption and preference of craft beers over large brewing companies and Molson Coors has leapt on this trend by not only beginning to produce their own craft beers but also by buying smaller microbreweries and adding them to their already large collection of available beverages. (Craft beer made…, 2013) One way the targeted demographics has not changed in buying behaviour, is that of the female population buying behaviour. This is mainly do to the lack of targeting this demographic has received over the previous decades. It has become more of a focus in recent years but in order to really make an impact in the perception women have of beer is to ask them. Molson Coors needs to understand why consumers make the purchases they do, the factors that influence them and changing factors in society, but they need to now focus specifically on women. Instead of assuming what the female population needs or wants, they should be crowd sourcing to come up with ideas from the people they want to reach. If Molson can recognize the problem, research and question those involved in the dissatisfaction and come up with alternatives or new products, they could change the buying behaviour of women and completely change the beer industry and it’s interaction with the female population. “Big breweries need to ask themselves why more women don't drink the beers they are already selling – and the answer is that they have busily been disenfranchising women from the beer market for the past 40 years and are now clumsily trying to entice them

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back. It's the business equivalent of someone breaking up with you horribly at school, only to beg you to come back in your mid-30s.” (Cole, M., 2011) Issues and Facts “Problems are opportunities in disguise” – Bill A. Crowe

Based on the research and information our team has gathered, here is what we have found. One issue found was that in the North American market, wine growing more popular at the expense of beer. But what does Molson Coors do to respond to the problem? Variety! With the also growing popularity of craft beers, Molson Coors has to take a new approach. Back in the day people would have a go-to name brand beer that they were loyal to. Now consumers want to experience and try new things. So what is Molson Coors doing? They’ve got right in there with the craft beers by launching their very own craft brews, as well as buying microbreweries to further add to the collection of beers and flavours Molson Coors has available. (Craft beer made…, 2013) Names like Blue Moon Belgian White, Six Pints beer academy Kölsch, Creemore Springs Kellerbier, and Granville Island Brewing Co. Lion’s Winter Ale are all owned by Molson Coors. The company is also offering more diversified products such as premium beverages like Coors Banquet and a new Cider.

Molson Coors is also the official beer of the National Hockey League. This is great exposure for the company, but sales might be higher for Molson Canadian beer if more Canadian teams made it to the playoffs. The playoffs is when consumers are more likely to go out and drink with friends and family, when the games are more interesting and have more worth then regular season games. (HAINS, D., 2014)

Another issue for Molson Coors would be the fact that they market mainly towards men. If you ask women if they like drinking beer, most of them will say no. Why is that? It’s a little bit of everything, the taste, the advertisement campaigns, the packaging, the naming of products, and the placement. If they started marketing their products towards both genders, sales would definitely increase. Molson Coors should start making fruity coolers and tasty beers that will attract women. If the advertisement campaigns showed groups of women engaging in drinking beer and socializing it would have a positive effect and make it appear more accessible to women. If the colors and designs of the labels were more female friendly, using pastille colours and more fluid curvy fonts, it may be more appealing for female consumers. Females also tend to be very environmentally conscious, so if the packaging were to be marketed as being recycled materials it may also bring in new customers as well as attract a new psychographic of eco-friendly consumers.

Molson Coors should get more involved and interactive with the female audience and host events like spas, retreats, and so on where their products could be tested and voted upon. It’s important to take into consideration what the consumers have to say. What interest the consumer should fascinate the company. Set up more public relations and maybe get involved with annual charity events and donations. Give back to the communities you do business in and show the public that you have

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safe and healthy work environments, you create jobs, you help the local economy, and you care about your environmental footprint.

Become more transparent and help customers understand that your company is more than one dimension. Show them there are actual real people behind the products and services your company provides. If the consumers feel like they know the ins and outs of Molson Coors they will feel more comfortable with the products, therefore creating brand loyalty. They do a great job at this in their website where ample information is available. Summary Molson Coors Canada, a well known, and well defined company that has inspired many of it’s consumers by the variety of products they offer, the innovation behind everything they produce (cold- activated Coors Light cans), and just overall the way they present their brand and support the community, the business, and the environment. They have everything that a large brand company could want in the way their customers respect and view their brand, to increasing sales and so much more. Like every company, there are always areas to improve on, such as their marketing towards the female demographic, and also their Beer Print and minimalizing the impact their company has on the environment. Molson Coors believes that all of their products, retailers, distributers, etc. should uphold the image of the company’s values, and as they are known mostly throughout Canada for Molson Canadian beer, they have definitely represented their company perfectly as well as demonstrated the values and personality of Canada. Canadian Spirit. Canadian Passion.

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References

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Marowits, R. (2010, May 4). Molson Canadian sales lifted by Olympics | Toronto Star.

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Appendix

IMAGE IMAGE 1

IMAGE 2 v 2020 Sustainability Strategy (Environmental Stewardship., n.d.)

IMAGE 3 ^ Coors Light Iced Tea (nicknamed C.L.I.T)

< IMAGE 1 Animée: Crisp Rosé beer for women