COORS LIGHT
Coors Light ran age-gated augmented reality ads in an Instagram and Facebook campaign to boost consideration among US consumers who had recently reached legal drinking age, and saw a 9.2-point lift in purchase intent among young adults aged 21–24.
Coors Light was first created in the Rocky Mountains in 1978. The US brand produces a cold-lagered light beer for what it refers to as a crisp, clean taste: the beer is cold-filtered for a brilliant, bright appearance and cold-packaged at the peak of freshness in a cold-activated can.
lift in purchase intent (“Would you consider purchasing Coors Light the next time you shop for beer?”)
lift in purchase intent with young adults aged 21–24
lift in brand message association with adults aged 25–34
Coors Light wanted to boost consideration of its brand among consumers who had recently reached legal drinking age in the US.
THE SOLUTION
Testing age-gated augmented reality ads
Coors Light wanted a way to reach consumers who had recently reached legal drinking age and boost brand consideration. The team was excited to test augmented reality ads, because this fun, interactive format is known to resonate with younger age demographics. Coors Light was also the first beer brand in the US to test age-gated augmented reality ads, which enable advertisers to set up targeting parameters to exclude showing ads people under the legal drinking age of 21.
Coors Light’s media agency, Connect, collaborated with the team at Meta to develop the test planning and media strategy for the campaign. Molson Coors’ in-house creative agency, Volt, worked with Meta Business Partner Simone to produce the ad and the augmented reality (AR) effects in consultation with the team at Meta.
Because summer is the perfect time to chill, and the ad included a clear call to action to “Tap to Travel to Different Chill Moments and Share Your Favorite Moment.” For the AR effect, the team designed a dual-world experience that used both the selfie view and world view. When the effect opened, people first saw different world views, including a golf course, a lake and a swimming pool where they were able to search for different items like a gold bags and coolers. When the viewer flipped the camera to selfie view, the effects showed the viewer “wearing” a Coors Light-branded hat or visor, with the “Chill” world views visible in the background.
Coors Light followed best practices by showcasing both the selfie view and world view in the augmented reality ads so that people knew what to expect when clicking into the AR effect. Also in accordance with best practices, Coors Light featured the brand upfront with a three-dimensional visual of a beer can.
To understand the performance of this interactive ad, the team set up a Meta brand lift study that compared:
- Cell A: Coors Light’s usual video ads
- Cell B: the same usual video ads plus age-gated augmented reality ads
Coors Light delivered the ads to US adults aged 21–44—including those with an interest in beer and light beer—in Instagram and Facebook Feed, Stories and Reels.
The team measured the results of its August 31–September 13, 2023 campaign using a Meta brand lift study, which revealed:
- 6.7-point lift in purchase intent (“Would you consider purchasing Coors Light the next time you shop for beer?”)
- 9.2-point lift in purchase intent with young adults aged 21–24
- 6.7-point lift in brand message association with adults aged 25–34