Many Promos, One Message: Have a Cold One

In the run up to summer, many domestic and imported beer brands are unleashing online promotions to drive seasonal consumption. Their campaigns include Foursquare, Facebook and YouTube and range from flattering their young customers to simply focusing on having a good time.

A sampling of these efforts:

On May 1, Miller Lite launched its Taste Points campaign in which consumers of legal drinking age can collect points found on specially marked beer packages. They can gain additional points by using Foursquare to check in to participating bars and restaurants. Participants must be on Facebook and invite friends to enter for weekly and “epic” prizes. Kevin Oglesby, director of Miller Lite Brand Marketing, says the promotion has 80,000 registered users and more than 700,000 sweepstakes entries. It runs through July 31.

In March, Keystone Light launched a new website, Keith Stone’s Wheelhouse, that features a collection of content – including videos, photos, and a virtual beanbag-toss-like game called Canhole — that appeals to men 21 to 34 “who see the fun in just about everything,” according to Brand Manager Elina Vives. “To us, it doesn’t make much sense to tell guys what they like,” Vives says. “They already know what they like and they’ve been sharing it and posting it for years. So we’re going to encourage guys to continue doing what they’re doing while we engage fans to interact with the brand.”

Taking a page from Willy Wonka’s playbook, Corona is giving customers a chance to win one of 100 trips to Mexico by finding custom-wrapped Corona bottles or cans as part of its Corona Beach Getaway campaign. Using the same theme, drinkers at local bars can submit a photo of their “Corona Getaway Moment” to CoronaTriptoMexico.com for a chance to win a beach vacation. Ten finalists will have their photo submissions posted on Corona’s Facebook page for its nearly 600,000 fans to see. California residents can participate in an additional contest by going to CoronaRelaxationExpert.com and telling the brand why they should be retained as Corona’s Relaxation Expert. A winner will be invited to share tips on the best ways to relax with Corona.

Another Mexican beer, Pacifico, is also providing promotional in-pack codes that consumers can enter on its Facebook page to donate $1 to one of several charities. Pacifico also has an “Adventures on Tap” promotion on Facebook in which it will deliver kegs to five West coast cities — Phoenix, San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle — and turn them into distinct pieces of art. It will display the progress on its Facebook page, which has 2900 fans.

In December, Heineken debuted the first video in its Legends campaign, “The Entrance,” online. Targeting men 25 to 34, it now includes an additional video, “The Date,” which debuted Thursday. “The Entrance” (embedded below) has been viewed more than 3.6 million times.

Spokesperson Tara Carraro said the Legends campaign seeks to make Heineken drinkers feel legendary and “to inspire and flatter them as Men of the World in their own right.” She added, “Core to the strategy is to think digital at the inception of the idea and not as an afterthought,” Carraro says. For example, in “The Entrance,” the main figure interacts with various characters. Heineken then developed “a series of eleven supporting creative assets” to tell the back-story of these interactions, Carraro says. “These additional assets extend the reach of the campaign and raise the level of engagement with consumers as well as help ensure the brand is a part of their ongoing conversations.”