Molson Coors wants to score another Super Bowl touchdown

Molson Coors is hoping to catch lightning in a bottle again, after its Super Bowl game spot stateside captured a sizable Canadian viewership.

For the first time, Molson Coors is buying a Canadian ad in the Super Bowl, with a bespoke spot for Coors Light. Last year, the company returned to the airwaves with a new ad during the Super Bowl in the U.S. after a hiatus of more than 30 years. Its “High Stakes Beer Ad” featured a video game-styled bar brawl pitting a Coors Light versus a Miller Lite acolyte, which actually turned out to be an ad for the premium, Belgian-style wheat beer Blue Moon.

In Canada, 17M watched the big game last year. This year, the brewer is promising a Canadian Super Bowl spot along with a fully integrated campaign across social, digital, retail and more that ladders back to its U.S. campaign work.

Leslie Malcolm vice president of marketing at Molson Coors Beverage Company, says there were a lot of moments in the “High Stakes” spot that connected with consumers, thanks to a creative and collaborative approach, and due to a redirect at the end that “nobody saw coming.”

“The bar was raised last year… and we are going to make sure that [this year] we bring a really sticky, memorable, hardworking ad to the market,” Malcolm says.

The company’s Canadian ad during the Super Bowl will be inspired by and “very similar in nature” to the U.S. ad that’s being developed by Molson Coors’ U.S. agency partner. Citizen Relations will lead a local activation of the campaign, with Wavemaker working on the buy side.

Malcolm tells strategy that while viewers will have to wait and see the ad on Super Bowl Sunday, audiences should be excited about “the chill” that the brewer is bringing this February.

With consistency and connectivity being so important to the consumer, Malcolm says that the point of sale retail and other assets could likely ladder back to the “chill” idea, as campaigns, typically, regardless of consumer touchpoint, should have a cohesive feel.

The chill theme is one which Coors Light also recently explored in an LTO holiday merch drop with the Toronto Raptors, with apparel designed by Joey Gollish, the founder and creative director of party brand, Mr. Saturday.

The big marketing investment in Canada comes at a time of “unprecedented momentum” for Coors Light, which Molson Coors says is the top-selling premium light beer in Canada.