The “Internet Daddy” has found his beach. Pedro Pascal, star of The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, is the new lead brand ambassador for Corona.
The Emmy-nominated and SAG-award winning actor brings crossover appeal with multicultural and bicultural consumers, Constellation Brands beer division SVP and CMO Matt Lindsay announced Tuesday during the Gold Network Summit in Las Vegas.
Pascal’s addition to the Corona brand marks a shift in tone and presentation as future ads will consolidate with a singular campaign that isn’t translated or dubbed for Hispanic consumers but shows that the brand understands them, Lindsay said.
In a pre-recorded message, Pascal, who showed up in a sling at January’s Golden Globe Awards, said the first step in his recovery is lifting a Corona Extra to his lips.
The campaign featuring Pascal will start in May for Cinco de Mayo – officially kicking off the next iteration of the “La Vida Mas Fina” (the fine life) campaign created by MullenLowe Los Angeles – and then ramp up from Memorial Day through the summer with a +25% increase in media spend.
Lindsay reiterated that Corona Extra is the “crown jewel” of Constellation’s beer portfolio, and grew +6% in dollar sales and has a +7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). Corona Extra hit the 125 million case mark last year, which Lindsay called “an all new record.”
“Its reign and its growth is far from over,” he said.
The list of reasons to believe Corona Extra’s runway is still long, as the brand “has the most multicultural consumer base” within Constellation’s portfolio. This comes as more than half of Generation Z consumers are minorities, Hispanic people make up the largest minority subsegment, and bicultural people will drive the population through 2050.
“Today’s biculturals are 200% – 100% Latino and 100% American – and they are fluidly living in both worlds, watching both English language and Spanish language content,” Lindsay said. “Hispanics are also redefining what mainstream means, influencing food and music culture all in the United States.”
Pascal was among several new Corona brand ambassadors announced across sports and music, including former NBA star Carmelo Anthony and Mexican singer Peso Pluma.
Anthony, the former New York Knicks star, will appear in basketball spots with former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
Corona will be the presenting sponsor of Pluma’s U.S. tour, and the company will be launching Pluma bobble heads.
Sports will be an important part of Corona’s programming, with Constellation increasing its spend by +10%, targeted at mens and womens March Madness basketball games, the NBA Finals, the World Series, and Copa América and LaLiga soccer matches.
Baseball will also be a key driver for the brand, with campaigns featuring Fernando Tatis Jr. of the San Diego Padres and Luis Castillo of the Seattle Mariners, among others.
New Products Coming Online: Corona Sunbrew, Shyft, The Drop
Constellation Brands is launching Corona Sunbrew, a Corona line extension brewed with real orange and lime juice and peels, in an effort to appeal to younger legal-drinking-age consumers who are seeking flavor-forward offerings. Rumblings about the innovation began earlier this year after a Alcohol Tobacco and Trade Bureau filing.
“For the first time ever, nearly 50% of legal-drinking-age drinkers will enter the category outside of beer,” Lindsay said. “Why? It’s simple. Flavor is delivering what Gen Z LDA [legal drinking age] consumers crave: easy to drink liquid, exploration, variety and fun.”
Sunbrew meets a need for Corona drinkers who were using the beer for mixing and blending with other flavors that the core brand wasn’t meeting, Lindsay said. It is quite different from Anheuser-Busch InBev/Grupo Modelo’s version of Corona Sunbrew, an alcohol-free beer with Vitamin D, that launched outside of the U.S. in early 2022.
Constellation’s Sunbrew received the highest ratings ever for a new Constellation product in consumer tests, with a 73% purchase intent and 77% want-to-try-it rating, Lindsay said.
“This is our new No. 1,” Lindsay said. “Hitting bullseye with our Gen Z flavor seekers on preferred sweetness levels without sacrificing on sessionability and the packaging, it’s vibrant. It showcases something new to the category.”
Sunbrew 6-pack bottles and draft will test in select markets in the Northeast this summer. Constellation will lean in on the Gen Z consumers who are driving this trend on social media.
“We will stoke the demand for Sunbrew by seeding the product with co-creators, with tastemakers using a product-drop mentality to drive buzz for this unbelievably outstanding liquid,” Lindsay said. “At retail, we’ll leverage aggressive sampling and bright sunny POS to intercept shoppers and educate them on the only real citrus cerveza.”
Constellation also highlighted two new-to-world brands: Shyft, “a patented flavor shifting ” flavored malt beverage (FMB), and The Drop, a 9% ABV line of canned cocktails inspired by the lemon drop shot, Mallika Monteiro, chief growth and digital officer and managing director of Constellation’s beer division, shared.
Shyft was first announced in November during an investor day. The FMB is “designed to hit different taste buds at different times.” It’s sold in single-serve 16 oz. cans (6% ABV each) of three flavors: Citrus Cherry, Peach Ginger and Raspberry Watermelon. It’s being tested in three markets: Providence, Rhode Island; Greenville, South Carolina; and Kansas City, Kansas.
The Drop was revealed Tuesday. It is sold in 16 oz. can singles in two flavors – Raspberry Lemon Drop and Signature Lemon Drop – and the FMB is lightly carbonated and sweetened with cane sugar. The brand will launch in Rhode Island; Columbus, Ohio; and north and central New Jersey. The company is also testing 4-packs.
Corona Premier as a High-End, Light Beer Challenger Brand
Constellation Brands continues to see an opportunity for Corona Premier to breakthrough as a “high-end” light beer challenge brand. Although half of the beer category today is high-end brands, light beer accounts for only 18% of high-end offerings, Lindsay noted.
Premier – at 4% ABV, 90-calories and 2.6 carbs – is one of Constellation’s two high-end light beer challenger brands, along with Modelo Oro, to Michelob Ultra. Lindsay pointed to Premier bringing in consumers who are two-thirds incremental to the Corona franchise and carrying an 89% repurchase rate.
Constellation is refreshing the packaging for Premier to highlight its better-for-you attributes and launching a new campaign, “Welcome to the Premier side of light” that will run April through summer. The spot shows active-living consumers set to Major Lazer’s “Light It Up.”
Constellation is increasing national account investment behind the brand +60% and local media investment 10x with a focus on golf, baseball and the on-premise. The brand will also attempt to appeal to younger LDA consumers via boxing, with an exclusive agreement to bring Premier to major fights over the summer, Lindsay said.
Lindsay highlighted the opportunity of focusing on the brand, pointing to the Odessa, Texas, market where Premier sales were up +32% due to heavy grocery and chain focus, Lindsay said. In the same market, Corona Extra (+19%) and Modelo Especial (+35%) still grew strong double digits.
“This could be any of you,” Lindsay said. “This should be you.”