4 Ways A-B Is Marketing Lime-a-Rita Exclusively to Women
By Steve Holtz on Mar. 13, 2017ST. LOUIS -- Anheuser-Busch InBev has launched a new strategy for its struggling Lime-a-Rita franchise that focuses the brand on a key demographic: women.
According to an AdAge report, the margarita-flavored malt beverage will become the first brand in the brewer's portfolio to be marketed almost exclusively to females.
A-B had a surprising success on its hands when it launched the Bud Light Lime-a-Rita brand in 2012, arguably revolutioning the beer industry in the United States and driving new sales and profits for both the brewer and retailers by attracting female consumers to the beer category.
More recently, however, the Rita brand has stalled. In convenience stores, sales of the Bud Light Lime family, which includes the multiple Rita flavors, were down 11% in 2016, according to IRI data.
Here are four ways AB InBev hopes to revive the brand ...
1. New agency
To get the job done, AB InBev has put the brand in the hands of a female-led marketing and agency team, according to AdAge. That includes Selena Kalvaria, the brewer's senior director for Lime-a-Rita, and Melanie Hellenga, senior vice president and group management director of FCB Chicago, which has been the lead creative agency on the brand since 2015.
Kalvaria said 65% of the brand's drinkers are female.
New ads are directed by a female: Tricia Brock of production company Hey Wonderful. Her directing credits include TV shows "Girls" and "Orange Is the New Black."
"We thought if we are going to speak to women and to feel authentic, that women needed to be working on this brand in order to put that stake in the ground," Kalvaria told the newspaper.
2. New ads
The new campaign, which will include four new TV ads, is called "Make It a Margarita Moment." It features a woman narrating scenes of females socializing over some Ritas. One ad (below) depicts a group of friends making fun of the "romantic face" of one of their boyfriends. Another spot shows a woman talking about a date with a Brazilian and another woman chiming in about a Brazilian of another kind.
3. New flavors
The new ads will run on female-friendly TV and digital properties, including Bravo, Food Network, E! and VH1. New product-focused spots (below) will target men and women. "Men will see the new flavors and the things that always made them interested in the brand," Kalvaria said.
This summer, that will include Grape-a-Rita, Peach-a-Rita and, in select markets, Orange-a-Rita. The brand is also adding to its lower-alcohol line extension called Lime-a-Rita Splash with Pine-Apple-Rita Splash and the limited time Coco-Nut-Rita Splash.
4. New packaging
As part of its female push, the brand is also rolling out a new package design inspired by pop art, according to the newspaper. "The team found that the way Andy Warhol treated color in some of his work was something the Ritas could leverage," Kalvaria said.