• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, June 4, 2009

But Corona Extra -- which hasn't changed either the design of its bottle or its essential brand positioning in, lo, these many years -- is doing just that for the critical, peak beer-drinking summer season. The beer is also heavying up its summer media schedule to "run these iconic ads as often as possible" during these months, reports Jim Sabia, EVP of marketing for Crown Imports.

Consumer research revealed that the ads are as appealing and effective for today's consumers as they were back when -- in fact, their theme of temporarily escaping from stress and communication overload has added resonance in the current economic climate, Sabia tells Marketing Daily.

One of the spots is "Lagoon" (1998), in which a male Corona drinker who is skipping rocks into the sea decides to do the same with his PDA after it begins vibrating. In the other ad, "Kite" (1992), viewers see a close-up of headlines from the day's financial newspaper. As the camera pulls back, it's revealed that the newspaper has been made into a kite that's being flown over the ocean by a Corona fan.

The only tweaks being made to the original ads, which will begin airing on Monday, are updating the content of the headlines on the financial newspaper in the "Kite" spot and turning what was a beeper device into the PDA in the "Lagoon" spot. (Cramer-Krasselt, Corona's agency of record for the past 10 years, refreshed the spots. The original "Kite" ad was created at Campbell-Mithun under the direction of Marshall Ross, who is now C-K's EVP/chief creative officer and continues to oversee Corona's business. The original "Lagoon" ad was shot by The Richards Group.)

How did this revival come about? Sabia, who joined Crown four months ago, says that in reviewing Corona Extra's previous campaigns, he was struck by their relevance both to the brand and the current consumer zeitgeist.

The marketing team selected about 10 former commercials and did both qualitative and quantitative research with male and female beer drinkers between 21 and 45. In both cases, consumers responded most positively to the same three ads, and the "Lagoon" and "Kite" spots ranked highest.

Reprising the ads was not driven by saving money on creative, according to Sabia. "The goal was having the strongest possible ads, and these two scored extremely high on all fronts, including purchasing intent and likeability," he stresses. "Corona's positioning continues to be the 'spirit of the getaway,' the packaging hasn't changed, and the art direction and look of the brand's ads have stayed consistent." A beach backdrop for the brand's commercials has also been consistent and is now associated with the brand in consumers' minds, he adds.

Because of this consistency, the reprised commercials fit with the brand's current out-of-home, print, Web and other advertising and messaging, Sabia notes.

Corona Extra had been spreading its media budget fairly evenly over the year, but is now shifting spending from non-holiday weeks in the fourth quarter to the key sales weeks in the second and third quarters. (Corona's peak season runs from Cinco de Mayo through Labor Day, with sales bumps during the winter holidays.) June's overall media spending will be 45% higher than last June's, and the Hispanic media budget for the month will be 70% higher, Sabia reports.

The network and cable schedule includes programming such as Comedy Central's "Daily Show" and "Colbert Report," The Discovery Channel's "Deadliest Catch," Spike's "Guys' Choice Awards," the NBA finals and Major League Baseball.