Miller Brewing has named new lead agencies on its two
biggest brands, Lite and Genuine Draft, according to AD AGE.
Fallon, McElligott, Minneapolis, will take over the $100M
Miller Lite account, while Portland-based Wieden & Kennedy
will handle the $80M Genuine Draft account. The agencies
take over creative for Leo Burnett, USA, Chicago and Bates,
USA, New York, respectively. No formal agency review was
ever announced by Miller, but "it was known" that the brewer
had invited agencies to pitch ideas (AD AGE ONLINE, 12/13).
In Chicago, Jim Kirk writes that Leo Burnett will "pick up"
all of Miller's media planning and buying from Bates,
representing roughly $300M per-year in media billing
(CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 12/13). For Bates, the changes mark the
end of a "long association" with Miller that began when the
founders of Bates, then at McCann-Erickson, helped launch
Miller Lite in '73, creating the famous "Tastes great...Less
Filling" tag line (Tom Daykin, MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL,
12/13). In New York, Stuart Elliott writes that the moves
"underscore how younger, creatively focused agencies ... are
winning more assignments from giant marketers seeking to
catch the attention of jaded consumers" (N.Y. TIMES, 12/13).
