95-calorie Blue Moon LightSky makes national debut
America’s top-selling craft beer has released a new brand called Blue Moon LightSky, a 95-calorie, light citrus wheat beer designed to appeal to a new group of legal-age drinkers and open the brand to new drinking occasions.
MillerCoors
Blue Moon LightSky, which launched nationally Feb. 1, is brewed with real tangerine peel and pours light golden in color with a slight haze. The 4% alcohol-by-volume beer packs bright citrus notes on the nose, complemented by a touch of malt sweetness. It finishes clean with a hint of tropical fruit.
“We wanted to brew a beer that had all of the flavor and qualities of Blue Moon but in a lighter profile,” says Sarah Irizarry, associate marketing manager for the brand. “Drinkers are shifting to more premium, yet lighter offerings. But they’re still interested in flavor and they still want to drink beer. We know Blue Moon LightSky delivers on that.”
Like other Blue Moon beers that have gone on to national distribution, such as Blue Moon Mango Wheat and Blue Moon Iced Coffee Blonde, Blue Moon LIghtSky was developed at the brand’s brewery in Denver’s RiNo neighborhood, which recently underwent an expansion to meet growing demand for its range of craft beers.
Packaged in white 12-ounce slim cans and 16-ounce single-serve cans dominated with a vertical “LightSky” in blue script, the year-round beer will be backed with a marketing campaign that includes television spots slated to debut in March, a blitz of out-of-home and retail advertising, and digital and social media work. The campaign will use the tagline: “Welcome to the light side of the moon.”
The brand secured robust initial distribution in national and regional chain retailers. And in the on-premise, Buffalo Wild Wings selected Blue Moon LightSky as a national feature at its 1,200-plus sports bars for February and March. Blue Moon LightSky will occupy the lead photo slot on the chain’s beer menu for February, featured alongside the return of Blue Moon BBQ sauce, which is making a limited-time-only appearance in the sports bars after four years on the shelf.
Blue Moon LightSky is a key part of the Molson Coors effort to reshape its portfolio and align its offerings behind consumer trends fueling market growth amid seismic shifts in the beer industry. Among these mactrotrends is a shift toward products that fall into two spaces: one led by health and wellness trends and another driven by flavor. Blue Moon LightSky hits both of them, says Andrew Walker, vice president of above premium beer at Molson Coors Beverage Company.
“We wanted to make this beer unique and distinctive to the Blue Moon portfolio,” Walker says. “We think Blue Moon LightSky is going to bring new drinkers into the Blue Moon family of brands and continue to elevate the brand as a whole.”
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