Consumer

Molson Coors Spent More to Steal Bud Light Drinkers — and It Worked

  • Beer maker spent 19% more on marketing and administration
  • Molson Coors says consumer shift is ‘structural,’ not fading

Coors Light beer.

Photographer: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg
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Molson Coors Beverage Co. spent more on marketing its core brands during competitor Anheuser-Busch InBev NV’s Bud Light marketing imbroglio, and it’s working, according to the company’s fourth-quarter results.

Molson Coors on Tuesday announced earnings that beat average estimatesBloomberg Terminal for earnings and net sales. Analysts had predictedBloomberg Terminal that the impact of the Bud Light boycott would wane, and that higher marketing spending would knock adjusted earnings per share down 14%. Instead, the metric decreased only 8%.