Constellation recently has been playing up Cinco de Mayo, a day more than any other that marks the brand’s marketing coup. “We will continue to build our Corona de Mayo equity to reinforce our positioning around summer’s first fiesta,” Chief Executive Officer Robert Sands said during a conference call with analysts this week. Note the not-at-all subtle phrasing, “Corona de Mayo.” That’s like saying the “Fourth of Jack Daniels.”
Of course, an emphasis on marketing isn’t a new strategy in the beer business. Despite bloated advertising budgets, some of the biggest brands in the game have seen sales slip. Constellation’s Corona strategy is different, however, because of its consistency. The ads don’t talk about taste or hops or extra clean water. The image is not seasonal or dark or light. With the exception of the turkey promotion, the formula is simple: sand, sun, and lime wedges.
Corona isn’t selling beer. It’s selling the idea of having a beer on a beachside vacation. And the millions of beer drinkers who’ve taken a spring break trip to Cancun or hit a California taco stand don’t really care what the brew tastes like.
Here’s Sands again discussing that equation during a January conference call.
“We had a very consistent message to the consumer about what these products stand for year in and year out that is resonating with the consumer,” he said. “That’s a differentiating factor versus the competition, which has kind of been all over the place trying to find some hook with the consumer in a market that’s been down overall.”