Keystone Light gets a boost with help from summer packaging

From MolsonCoors & Alex Parker:

Keystone Light is ready for summer with a new look that celebrates the great outdoors.

The brand has introduced limited-time summer packaging that is an ode to the many outdoor spaces where Keystone Light is best enjoyed, from mountainsides and lakes to forest landscapes.

And the piece de resistance? A Keystone Light-branded utility task vehicle (UTV) – available for legal-age consumers to win and local distributors to put on display.

“Keystone Light is all about the outdoor life and we’ve been hearing from fans that they appreciate packaging that reflects that, too,” says Bill Holland, associate marketing manager for Keystone Light. “This is our tribute to wide-open spaces, summertime bonfires and the beauty of nature.”

The new packaging and UTV contest (details can be found here) are part of Keystone Light’s continued courtship of legal-age rural consumers, an important demographic that accounts for more than 60% of the brand’s sales. The beer has sought to create authentic connections with an audience that has a specific love of the outdoors, community and camouflage any time of the year.

That includes an ongoing partnership with outdoor lifestyle company Realtree, which features a Keystone Light custom camo pattern that’s appeared on hats, shirts, coolers – and this summer’s UTV.

Those efforts – plus the new summer packaging that debuted in April – have contributed to a lift for Keystone Light heading into beer’s busiest season. Keystone Light’s volume share of total beer has grown .05 points for the 13 weeks that ended June 4 versus last year, according to Circana multi-outlet and convenience store data. It’s outpacing volume share growth in the economy segment, as well, up .25 points compared to the segment’s .20 point-loss, Circana data show.

Keystone Light is also keeping up the momentum this summer by celebrating an unexpected part of the outdoors: the fish pics people often post on dating apps – where people pose with giant fish they’ve caught – which have caused a stir in the world of online dating. After one major dating app temporarily banned the use of fish pics, Keystone Light wanted to celebrate the practice and give legal-age drinkers a chance to win $10,000 toward the ultimate outdoor date.

Consumers can submit their fish pics and love stories online through June 28 for a chance to win.

“There’s nothing better than cracking open a Keystone Light and going fishing with friends — and hopefully taking a picture of your big catch,” he says. “We’re champions of the fish pic and those who know they’re a great catch, too.”