beverages

Lime-A-Rita To Market Exclusively To Women

by Karlene Lukovitz , March 13, 2017

Anheuser-Busch U.S. is unveiling a “by women, for women” makeover and campaign for Lime-A-Rita — and making it the first brand in its portfolio to be marketed exclusively to women.

The campaign, “Make It a Margarita Moment,” was created by female Anheuser-Busch and agency executives, including Lime-A-Rita senior director Selena Kalvaria and Melanie Hellenga, SVP, group management director at FCB Chicago, the brand’s lead creative agency.

In addition, its videos, being employed as digital ads and TV spots, were directed by Hey Wonderful's Tricia Brock, whose credits include hit TV shows “Girls” and “Orange is the New Black.”

The margarita-inspired malt beverage brand — a major hit when it launched in 2012 — has suffered sales declines in recent years.

Its rejuvenation push, in time for its fifth anniversary, also includes the first packaging redesign since its launch and new flavor varieties debuting this spring.

Each ad features a female voiceover describing a montage of fun moments among a group of female Millennial friends — in each case kicked off by one of the group bringing along some Lime-A-Ritas (“That’s how we knew it was going to be one of those nights…”).

The 15- and 30-second vignettes include one in which a woman’s imitation of her boyfriend’s “romantic face” inspires others to share their own funny-face moments (below). Other ads play off a disco ball, spontaneous retro dance moves during a rooftop gathering, and a double entendre involving a Brazilian.

The new creative, based on research of the real lives and interaction styles of young adult women, aims to build on and increase usage by Lime-A-Rita’s existing consumer base, which is about three-quarters female.

"We did our homework to understand the special connection female drinkers have with margaritas, and uncovered insights on the role that Lime-A-Rita plays in bringing women together,” said Kalvaria. "We wanted to tap into real moments when women get together with their friends, drink margaritas, let loose and go where the conversation takes them,” added Hellenga.

The new creative is being featured on YouTube and the brand’s social media channels. The campaign will also include retail implementations, events and PR.

The colorful new packaging, in stores this week, is inspired by Pop Art and features images of margarita glasses and fruit.

The new flavors include Grape-A-Rita and peach and orange summer seasonals for the core line. Splash by Lime-A-Rita, a lower-alcohol extension line, is adding flavors including Pine-Apple-Rita Splash nationally and a limited-edition flavor, Coco-Nut-Rita Splash.

campaigns, liquor, retail, women

2 comments about "Lime-A-Rita To Market Exclusively To Women".

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Rachel Rosenfeld from NA, March 14, 2017 at 8:07 p.m.
This article initially intrigued me because I currently work closely for another beverage brand distributed by the same company as Lime-A-Ritas. Because of this, I am aware of how much time and effort goes into marketing campaigns for products and love the idea of Anheuser-Busch targeting specifically women for this line. At my job, we are always looking for new and innovative ways to promote our brand to our target audience and Lime- A- Rita is doing just that. The short commercials do a good job of showing young adults having a girls night in a pretty realistic way. While I am sure men drink this product, I know from personal experience Lime A Ritas are enjoyed mostly by females and the mass marketing will be a success to the line’s previous subpar sales. I wonder, however, if these advertisements will bring up social issues regarding gender profiling and so on especially in today’s society. I watched a few of the new commercials and they all follow the same voice over and silly “girls nights” and would have liked to see a slight variation in the different advertisements, perhaps working women or a different setting. The new packaging is much better in my opinion and gives the brand a more modern look and feel.
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Walt Bakes from Own, September 2, 2017 at 9:07 p.m.

This is a really irresponsible ad in that the insinuation of "one of those nights" is that it's a night to get shit faced. A company like InBev really should be promoting responsible drinking and avoiding dog whistles like this.