Constellation Brands has “evolved” the playbook for its portfolio of Mexican import brands for 2025 and beyond, leadership shared last week during the company’s annual Gold Network Summit in Orlando.
The new playbook features three core pillars, beer brands EVP and managing director Mallika Monteiro shared with attending distributor partners:
- Strengthened brand positioning;
- Media and consumer connections;
- And “precision growth.”
The new strategy is most represented in Constellation’s plans for Corona, the second largest beer brand family in the company’s portfolio, but the only one to fail to record growth in 2024.
Corona, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, recorded flat dollar sales and a -1.5% decline in volume in 2024 in Circana-tracked off-premise channels. However, the brand – which is the fourth-largest brand family in total beer – is “poised to return to growth,” Monteiro said.
Flagship Corona Extra will be supported with a new marketing campaign, “La Playa Awaits” which will highlight Corona’s iconic beach as a “mindset,” and will celebrate “the emotional payoff” of “choosing to live in the moment,” VP of marketing Rob Nelson shared. The campaign will launch during MLB Opening Day (March 27), with “high impact placements” during ESPN broadcasts and will also air during March Madness college basketball games.
Constellation’s spend on Corona marketing has the highest return on investment (ROI) of the company’s total portfolio, according to Nelson. The company is capitalizing on that with increased investment across multiple outlets, including:
- A +66% year-over-year (YoY) increase in baseball spending, and partnerships with the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers;
- A +18% YoY increase in NBA marketing, with eight team partnerships;
- A +48% increase in local media marketing;
- And new retail programming during football season, including the “Corona Lime Zone,” an attempt to have Corona “own the pre-game tailgate.”
Corona Premier, the brand’s light beer extension, will receive an updated campaign highlighting active lifestyles and spending time together, titled “The Premier Side of Light,” and will feature the new tagline, “The only lighter than light beer that’s worthy of being called Corona.” The campaign is part of Constellation’s “No. 1 objective” for the extension: to educate consumers “that Premier is an elevated light beer,” Nelson said.
Corona Premier will also have dedicated programming initiatives throughout the year, centered around three sporting lifestyles: golf, boxing and pickleball. The latter will include a major presence at pickleball tournaments, providing sampling opportunities, and a partnership with professional rapper and singer Saweetie.
While the total Corona brand family was nearly flat in 2024, Corona Premier recorded double-digit declines in Circana off-premise channels (dollar sales -11.4%, volume -11.9%). Declines have decelerated slightly in the last 12 weeks (ending February 23), with dollar sales declining -8.4% and volume -10.4% YoY.
“We know it was an uphill battle at times last year, but we’re seeing positive momentum building behind Premier, and with that optimized campaign and the right tools now in place, we’ll take another big step forward in 2025,” Nelson said, thanking attendees for “staying the course on this brand.”
Additionally, Constellation is expanding Corona Sunbrew nationally in 2025. The extension, made with “real orange and lime juice and peels,” launched in several test markets in 2024 in an effort to target legal-drinking-age Gen Z consumers. The national launch will include an expanded assortment, including bottled 6- and 12-packs, and 24 oz. cans.
Corona Sunbrew will also receive a revamped secondary pack design, and a new campaign “JuiceYCorona” – a nod to the juicy elements of the liquid, and a play on the Spanish word “Y” for “and.” Additionally, the offering will have marketing integration with Love Island USA, along with “Gen Z influencer” partnerships.
Pacifico’s ‘Find Your Own Way’ Campaign, Inspired by Its Roots
On the opposite end of the growth spectrum in Constellation’s portfolio is Pacifico, which increased depletions +22% in 2024, marketing its sixth consecutive year of double-digit growth, according to SVP of brand marketing, beer brands, Greg Gallagher.
Pacifico was a top 15 brand nationally in 2024, and was the No. 3 beer in San Diego and No. 2 in Los Angeles, outpaced only by its sibling Modelo Especial, Gallagher said. The brand was also the No. 4 imported beer nationally, and the No. 3 Mexican import, behind Modelo and Corona.
To help sustain growth, Pacifico will be highlighted in a new “Find Your Own Way” campaign this year, inspired by the rumored origin story of the beer: that an American surfer fell in love with the beer while on a trip to Mexico in the 1970s.
For media support, Constellation will lead with digital advertising for Pacifico, along with two national TV spots to “drive mass awareness.” Constellation will increase its investment in digital media for Pacifico +30% YoY, with an additional +80% spend in digital and social channels, giving Pacifico the “No. 1 share of voice” in social media among all beer brands, Gallagher said.
Pacifico will also have a national partnership with Polaroid, and a “Yappy Hour” campaign, encouraging consumers to enjoy a Pacifico with their pets by their side. Additionally, the brand will partner with LineLeap – an app that helps consumers skip lines at bars and restaurants – as part of a +40% increase in on-premise support spend, and with various “action sports” including as a founding partner of the Snow League, a new snowboard and ski competition created by Olympic snowboarder Shaun White.
‘No Longer is the Victoria Drinker an Older, Heritage-Leaning Consumer’
The smallest beer brand in Constellation’s Mexican beer portfolio, Victoria, contributed double-digit growth in 2024, with depletions increasing +25%, marking the brand family’s third-consecutive year of depletions growth at or above +25%, and a more than +100% increase in the three-year period.
Additionally, “nearly every SKU” in Victoria’s lineup recorded double-digit depletions growth in 2024, including 21 oz. bottles (+39%), 16 oz. single-serve cans (+27%), 12-pack bottles (+21%), 12-pack cans (+19%) and the 24 oz. single-serve can flavor extension Victoria Chamoy (+16%).
What’s more significant than the raw numbers is how Victoria’s consumer base has changed, according to Gallagher.
“No longer is the Victoria drinker just an older heritage-leaning consumer,” Gallagher said.
Gallagher acknowledged that Victoria has historically appealed to older consumers, who have appreciated the brand’s connection to its Mexican heritage. That same messaging is now appealing to a new generation, Gallagher said.
“To be sure that [older] consumer remains an important part of our core business, but today, more than half of our Hispanic drinkers are actually bicultural consumers, and in a pretty surprising statistic, nearly half of the entire Victoria consumer base is now made up of Zillennial consumers aged 21 to 35,” Gallagher said.
“That’s a pretty remarkable stat for a brand that delivers a message centered around tradition, but it’s actually that focus on tradition and heritage that we believe is attracting these younger consumers to the brand as they look for ways to connect with their roots,” he continued. “These powerful messages about heritage and Mexican authenticity are resonating across generations, across acculturation levels and across the country, bringing more and more consumers into the fold. That’s the special sauce of Victoria.”
Victoria will receive a +10% increase in media investment in 2024, including additional spending in digital and social media marketing, and expanded advertising beyond Spanish language channels. The brand is also continuing its partnership with Mexican musician Carin León, in an attempt to “own musica Mexicana.”
At retail, Victoria will be “painting retail red all year long,” along with Dia de los Muertos programming in the fall, with four distinct packaging designs inspired by the elements of a Day of the Dead altar (earth, wind, water and fire).
Brewbound previously covered Constellation’s plans for leading brand Modelo, as well as additional comments from the company’s leadership. Read the report here.