Miller Lite Launches Comprehensive Soccer Program Featuring CONCACAF Champions League(TM) Partnership

Multi-tiered Marketing Effort Highlights Miller’s Ongoing Commitment to Hispanic Soccer Platform, Features Stars Omar Bravo and Cuauhtemoc Blanco


MILWAUKEE, May 22 /PRNewswire/ — Miller Lite today announced the launch of a summer-long marketing effort focused on the sport Hispanic consumers love most: soccer.


Miller Lite’s 2008 soccer program is designed to build excitement around soccer and the brand’s status as the official beer sponsor of the CONCACAF’s Champions League(TM) completely new tournament. Miller Lite also will launch advertising featuring current Mexican soccer champions Omar Bravo and Cuauhtemoc Blanco. Anchored by a significant, integrated partnership with Univision, “A Champion Combination” is part of Miller Lite’s commitment to the fast-growing Hispanic market and is a continuation of the equity in CONCACAF soccer that the brand began building with the 2005 and 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup(TM) tournaments.


The partnership with CONCACAF enables Miller Lite to connect with legal-drinking-age Hispanics within the world of soccer in the United States, as well as Latin America, since CONCACAF’s 40-member nations include the United States, Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.


“Our goal is to make Miller Lite synonymous with soccer for our Hispanic consumers, and the scale of this program will help do that,” said Jesica Duarte, senior manager of Hispanic marketing at Miller. “We’re looking forward to a summer full of activities that will help us connect with Hispanics in a way that is fun and relevant to their interests.”


Television, radio and out-of-home advertising, set to launch June 1, will be centered on two of the sport’s most recognizable players, Blanco and Bravo. In addition, Miller Lite will offer special collectable single-serve cans featuring the two players. A national consumer promotion will give soccer fans a chance to win a soccer viewing party where Miller Lite will provide the television, food and refreshments to share with a champion soccer player and 20 of the winner’s friends.


“A Champion Combination” builds upon Miller Lite’s previous soccer programs, reaching an unprecedented number of fans thanks to a large-scale media partnership with Univision. As a national broadcast sponsor for CONCACAF Champions League games, Miller Lite will be a part of the live game broadcasts with features such as game clock and half-time show sponsorship during primetime matches on TeleFutura and Galavision. Miller Lite also will have branded content during the summer on TeleFutura’s “Contacto Deportivo” and digital elements such as branded sponsorship of exclusive online content.


Another digital element will be the update of MillerLiteLatino.com, a site created last year to support the 2007 Gold Cup tournament sponsorship. The site will feature interactive games, tournament information and CONCACAF game footage, as well as sweepstakes where visitors can register to win prizes such as flat screen TVs, keg-erators and mini-fridges.


Grassroots marketing will be headlined by the Campeones Miller Lite, a team made up of some of the best Latino freestyle soccer players who combine the sport with tricks and moves that rival those of the best pro players. The Campeones Miller Lite team will tour major Hispanic markets such as Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Miami to show off their unique skills and draw attention to the brand and its sponsorship of the new league. Celebrity player appearances at in-market events will engage fans and further create excitement around CONCACAF Champions League.


CONCACAF’s Champions League replaces the former CONCACAF Champions’ Cup(TM) and the new format will feature 24 teams in total: four clubs each from the United States and Mexico, three Caribbean sides, two clubs each from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama and one representative each from Canada, Belize, and Nicaragua. The tournament is scheduled to kick-off in August 2008; the U.S. teams that have qualified to compete are the Houston Dynamo, D.C. United, the New England Revolution and Chivas USA.


About Miller


As one of America’s oldest brewers, Miller Brewing Company continues the commitment of founder Frederick J. Miller to brew “confoundedly good beers” with “uncompromising quality.” Through more than 150 years of innovation and brewing excellence, Miller has built a broad portfolio of award-winning beers that capture approximately 18 percent of U.S. beer sales. An unprecedented four-time gold award winner at the World Beer Cup, Miller Lite is the great tasting, less filling beer that established the American light beer category in 1975. Miller’s latest innovation is Miller Chill, a chelada-style beer brewed with lime and salt to provide a unique twist on refreshment. The company also brews Miller Genuine Draft, Miller High Life, Foster’s, Milwaukee’s Best Light, Olde English 800, Mickey’s Malt Liquor, Icehouse and Sharp’s, a non-alcohol brew. Miller imports Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Pilsner Urquell and Tyskie and offers the Sparks line of caffeinated alcohol beverages, as well as regional craft brews from the Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company and the Blitz-Weinhard Brewing Company. Miller is a wholly owned subsidiary of SABMiller plc, one of the world’s leading brewers with a global footprint spread across six continents. For more information, visit http://www.millerbrewing.com/.


About CONCACAF


CONCACAF “The Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football” is one of six continental confederations of FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) and serves as the governing body of football in this part of the world. It is composed of 40 national associations, from Canada in the north to Guyana, Surinam and French Guyana in the south.


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Source: Miller Brewing Company


CONTACT: Scott Bussen of Miller Brewing Company, +1-414-931-3848,
bussen.scott@mbco.com, or Silvia Manrique of Dig Communications,
+1-312-577-4121,
smanrique@digcommunications.com, for Miller Brewing Company


Web site: http://www.millerbrewing.com/