We describe the emergence of the Bud Light brand to illustrate the steps in developing a competition-based position. In the mid-1970s, Miller Brewing Company introduced a brand that was called Lite beer from Miller. This was not the first attempt to introduce a light beer. Gablinger had marketed such a product in the late 1960s. That brand was positioned as a dietetic beer. Ms Light, a thin young woman, served as the spokesperson for the brand. Consumers exhibited little interest in the category.

In contrast, Lite beer from Miller was positioned as the beer that tasted great, but had fewer calories than regular beer. The advantage of this product was that users could drink more without getting filled up. The campaign, which was developed by Backer Spielvogel, targeted 18-34 year old males with blue-collar occupations, who were the heavy users of the beer category. The campaign was supported by the endorsement of ex-athletes and other beer-drinking personalities and aired on television during sports programming.

The result was impressive sales of Lite. Consumption of the brand was substantial in-home as well as in bars and restaurants, where 30% of all beer is sold. Unexpectedly, however, the majority of users were not the 18-34 year-old heavy drinkers of beer. Rather, more moderate drinking 25-44 year old professionals were the dominant Lite users. This observation raised the question of why a campaign directed at inducing greater consumption among young downscale users was successful in prompting consumption among more upscale and older users? It also created a dilemma for Miller. Should they stay with a campaign that was extremely well known and popular, but off-strategy in that it was aimedat heavy users rather than the moderate users, or should they risk the development of a new campaign that recognized the motivations of the light user? Miller chose to stay with the off-strategy campaign. Miller did make some effort to speak to the more upscale consumers who were the primary users of the light category. This involved using ex-athletes who were known more for their mental quickness than for their physical prowess.

Anheuser-Busch (A-B) viewed Lite's introductory campaign as a potential threat to their Budweiser brand, which at the time commanded 43% of the beer market. A-B responded by entering the light market in 1977 with the premium Natural Light brand and in 1978 with a superpremium Michelob Light brand. The logic behind these introductions was that A-B dominated Miller and other brewers in distribution, and this domination would enable A-B's new light brands to emerge as strong players in the light category.

By 1982 the fallacy of A-B's strategy became apparent. Light beer represented about 20% of the beer category. The flagship Budweiser brand had suffered some share loss and neither Natural Light nor Michelob Light offset this loss. Indeed, Lite had over 50% of the light beer market and Coors light entry was the second leading beer in the light category.

A-B introduced Budweiser Light in 1982. The goal was to market a brand that, unlike Natural Light and Michelob Light, would have a strong point of advantage in relation to Lite. The advantage was the heritage of Budweiser, the king of beers. The introductory campaign was targeted at the 25-44 year old professionals, which by this time all light beers were targeting. The position was the light beer with superior quality because it is made by A-B. The introductory campaign featured a Clydesdale horse, which was an icon that A-B had associated with their Budweiser brand, running free on the beach and the slogan "bring out your best." The voice-over explained that the brand had been developed slowly over time with the same care, quality, and commitment that went into Budweiser to ensure that it lived up to the heritage of Budweiser. Subsequent executions showed season-appropriate sports including football, hockey, skiing and baseball. Each was aired during sports programming.

Business results were impressive. In 1982, Budweiser Light sold more product than Lite had in its first three years, and by the end of 1983, Budweiser Light achieved a 20% share of the light beer market. At the same time, Budweiser Light had failed to make significant inroads in the out-of-home market. Apparently, when people asked for a Budweiser Light in bars and restaurants, they were more often than not being served either Miller Lite, or a regular Budweiser. As a result Lite beer from Miller maintained a market share of over 50% in the light category. A-B also found that a substantial percentage of Budweiser Light sales were at the expense of the flagship Budweiser brand.

To address these concerns, A-B made several changes in their marketing program for 1984. One change was the brand name from Budweiser Light to Bud Light. The other was to introduce a new campaign called Make it a "Bud Light". It focused on the fact that Bud Light was a light beer and that if they just asked for a light they might get any number of different objects that were not Bud Light beer. It was anticipated that this campaign would be run for several months and then Bud Light advertising would return to the heritage focus that had been used to launch the brand. However, when it was found Bud Light's sales increased in response to bar call, the campaign was run for five years.

In 1987, Miller Lite was still the leading brand in the light category and had actually maintained its advantage over Bud Light. Sales of both brands had grown substantially as light was now almost 30% of the beer market. A-B was particularly concerned about these developments because the growth of the light category was largely at the expense of their Budweiser brand. Indeed, many of the heavy-drinking blue-collar males under 25 were abandoning regular beer for light beer. In addition, the growing consumption of white wine and soft drinks were limiting growth of the beer category.

In an effort to capture the under-25 heavy user, A-B segmented the market and developed two campaigns. One was focused at the 25-44 year old professionals, who were the traditional users of the light category. The other campaign was targeted at the under-25, heavy user of beer. It featured a dog named Spuds MacKenzie, a party animal who attracted the attention of beautiful women.

Coincident with these campaigns, Bud Light share of the under-25 market grew dramatically and it began to reduce the share advantage that Miller had enjoyed in the light category. In the early 1990s, Bud Light campaigns featured spots directed at both its younger and older users. In 1995, the "I love you man" campaign featuring Rob Fitzgerald was aired to reinforce Bud Light's identity.

As their share and sales began to decline in 1990 and 1991, Miller Lite sought a campaign that would deliver news. Leo Burnett aired "It's it and that's that!" that used Lite's leading position in the light beer category as the point of difference. When share and sales fell, price adjustments were made to increase the value of Lite and the slogan was changed to "I like it like that!" Sales continued to fall and the advertising was again changed, to build more directly on the heritage of the brand. This involved expanding the heritage of lightness and taste by exploring the combination of other disparate things. While these moves slowed Lite's erosion somewhat, between 1991 and May 1996 Lite shipments continued to fall, eventually coming to rest at 80% of peak brand sales. Research conducted in 1996 indicated that heavy users of beer perceived the Miller Lite drinker to be accountants, librarians and ministers and Miller Time was associated with work and reward

In 1997, Miller's CEO Jack MacDonough decided that a dramatic change was needed if Miller Lite was to reestablish its position as the number one light brand. He hired Fallon McElligott, the hot Minneapolis agency. Their charge was to attract 21-24 year olds with the proposition that "Miller invites you to Miller Time, where it's always fun, entertaining and unexpected -- anything can happen." Two Swedes, copywriter Linus Karlsson and art director Paul Malmstrom, developed the Miller Time campaign. These creatives were under 30 and were best known for work on Diesel Jeans in Europe, which included humorous references to American culture.

During 1997, Fallon produced 45 Miller Time spots, up from seven the previous year. The idea was to keep the attention of an easily bored target. The first three were "Intro, Field, Magician and Adios Amigos". The reaction was generally unfavorable. The Advertising Age creative critic Bob Garfield called it "Smug, masturbatory...anti-advertising," and USA Today's Ad Track polling indicated that consumers found the advertising to be the most disliked spot ever measured. However, Adweek critic Barbara Lippert called "Adios Amigos" a refreshing portrayal of the "direct effect of the brewer's art."

By the end of 1997, the light category had 40% share of the beer category sales and Bud Light had 9.6% of the overall beer category. For the first time, Bud Light surpassed Lite beer from Miller, which had slipped to a 8.8% share. The Budweiser regular beer had 22% share of the beer category and Anheuser-Busch brands had 45% of the beer market.