Over the years, Miller Lite has seen declining volume and drastic drops in brand loyalty. Because Generation Y is attracted to craft and retro beers, Miller Lite reintroduced their Original Lite can in Q1 of 2014. Seeing positive volume trends and renewed consumer interest immediately, the brand sought to create a promotional program to push the can and it’s original message.

To do so a summer-long digital promotional campaign was created to encourage consumers to share their Miller Lite experiences with others through social media. Display ads across entertainment, lifestyle and sports websites were leveraged to promote the original can and a call to action for consumers to show their Miller Time. Towards the end of the campaign, Miller Lite created a spot from the user generated content collected throughout the campaign to thank old and new fans for helping promote Miller Lite, the original light beer.

Identifying Millennial’s key interests of entertainment, lifestyle and sports, Miller Lite promoted original can imagery across digital outlets including Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Vevo while also promoting #ItsMillerTime to encourage old and new customers to share their Miller Lite moments. Additionally, existing TV assets were leveraged to showcase #ItsMillerTime UGC while sparking additional engagement.

To stay present in consumers’ minds, promotion of the campaign was also taken offline through oversized, visually arresting out-of-home installations and TV spots.

The campaign culminated with a “thank you” spot comprised entirely of UGC, effectively mirroring our classic creative in the hands of Generation Y.

By mid-August, over 180,000 photos were uploaded while #ItsMillerTime became the #2 branded hashtag in America for 5 months, second only to 2014 World Cup sponsor Adidas’ #AllIn.

In a year where premium light beer sales declined to single digits (Nielsen), Miller Lite reversed sales trends by 5% jumping from -6.9% to -1.8% in a year. Additionally, Miller Lite saw brand growth during the fourth quarter for the first time in seven years, maintaining their market share while their competition declined. Sales trend improvement included significant growth among the original packaging featured throughout the campaign with a 3.3% jump for the original can and over an 8.8% jump in Aluminum Pints.

Best of all, Miller Lite saw a 1.3% spike in their share among 21 to 27 year-olds who drink at least one beer a week, showing promise for the future of the brand and increased loyalty across Generation Y.