• Ad Age, Monday, May 19, 2008 10:30 AM

Coors brands are defying the sluggish U.S. beer market with some of the most robust growth the business has seen in decades, outpacing competitors in every segment of the market. And it's doing so with a marketing approach that is neither funny, sexy nor particularly stylish: the now-ubiquitous speeding train, which analysts say keeps the focus on the product and its point of differentiation.

The success started for Coors after ditching its "Rock on" approach in 2004, the effort that starred the beloved (by some) Coors Twins. That approach may have generated a lot of talk, but it didn't move sales. With the company's marketing now focusing on its brewing process and making ample use of the word "cold," its sales are outpacing its still-larger rivals, Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing.

Says one veteran Coors ad executive, "There was a collective decision that it was time to start selling beer again as opposed to lifestyles and jokes."

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