Miller Readies Urban Concert Series

Miller Brewing Co. this summer will run a concert series and sweepstakes targeting urban men for its MGD brand.

The Flavor to Savor campaign centers on a series of urban-music concerts that MGD will host in five to eight markets this summer. A sweepstakes will award trips to a New York City concert; fans enter at MGDflavortosavor.com. On-premise and in-store P-O-P supports; TV and print ads extend the Flavor to Savor theme. Multi-cultural marketing agency Commonground, Chicago, handles.

Concerts will be "a musical gumbo" of hip-hop, soul, R&B and other urban genres, said Commonground Managing Partner Ahmad Islam.

Miller serves "musical gumbo" to urban men

The campaign cuts across ethnic lines to target 21- to 29-year-old men. "It's targeted to the urban mindset, which goes across multiple ethnicities with the common bond of urban music," said Commonground Managing Partner Sherman Wright.

The summer campaign is Commonground's first promotional work for Milwaukee-based Miller. The 18-month-old agency is wrapping up a print and radio ad campaign for MGD themed "Spoken Word," which broke in October targeting the same urban audience.

Chicago agency veterans Islam (from Leo Burnett USA) and Wright (from Upshot) founded Commonground to address cultural marketing as "inclusive marketing" that starts with what consumers have in common, then leverages cultural nuances, Wright said. The agency does cultural consulting for other agencies and last summer helped Kobrand Corp. launch Alize Blue liquor in Chicago with on-premise events and p.r.

For more stories on event marketing