Miller Picks New Ad Agencies for Lite, Genuine Draft Beers

Miller Brewing Co. on Wednesday tapped two key Kraft Foods advertising agencies to handle its ailing premium brands, Miller Lite and Miller Genuine Draft.

New York-based Ogilvy & Mather, a longtime Kraft agency handling Post cereals, will succeed Fallon McElligott of Minneapolis in the $95-million Miller Lite business. The Chicago office of J. Walter Thompson USA, Kraft’s cheese and Oscar Mayer agency, will handle the $60-million Miller Genuine Draft account, succeeding Wieden & Kennedy of Portland, Ore.

Miller and Kraft are units of Philip Morris Cos.

Bob Mikulay, Miller’s new senior vice president of marketing, said in a statement that the new agencies “bring a solid understanding of, and deep appreciation for, the power of brands, as well as a proven track record of grasping a brand’s essence and translating that into compelling and meaningful consumer communications which help convince consumers to choose one brand over another.”

Mikulay expressed gratitude for the work of Fallon and Wieden & Kennedy on behalf of the brands.

In April, Philip Morris shook up the management at troubled Miller, bringing in a number of key executives, including John Bowlin, formerly president and chief executive of Kraft Foods, as Miller’s chief executive. Earlier this month, Miller reorganized its marketing structure and brought in another group of Philip Morris recruits.

Miller then turned to its advertising agencies.

“The decision has been made to have a fresh look at the two largest brands and their marketing communications efforts,” said Susan Henderson, a Miller spokeswoman.

The agency shifts, though not entirely unexpected, came as somewhat of a surprise to Fallon, which had received indications from Bowlin that its current campaign for Lite, a revival of the brand’s successful All Stars campaign, was on the right track.

“We’re terribly disappointed because we have not finished what we started out to do,” agency Chairman Pat Fallon told Reuters. “We thought we saw some light at the end of the tunnel. We are both respectful and grateful for the opportunity.”

The agency defended the account in January, surviving an agency review that was reported to have included Publicis & Hal Riney of San Francisco, Square One of Dallas and Wieden & Kennedy and Young & Rubicam of New York.