Ownership: Miller Brewing Company is a private subsidiary of Philip Morris Companies Inc ., a publicly owned company traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Officers: John N. MacDonough, Chmn. & CEO; Paul Napieralski, CFO; Richard F. Strup, VP
"This deal is attractive to Philip Morris shareholders, and a stake in global SABMiller probably has better growth prospects than Philip Morris' existing ownership of Miller," Merrill Lynch analyst Martin Feldman said in a research note.
Beginning in 1906 High Life was touted in ads as the "Champagne of Bottled Beer," in an attempt to appeal to more affluent and status-conscious consumers. By the time the Philip Morris Company acquired Miller in 1969, however, the tag line had contributed to a widespread perception of High Life as a rich man's brew.
In 1971 Miller extended its production activities in Fort Worth, obtained a tract of land in Delaware as a possible site for a new brewery, and also acquired Formosa Springs, a Canadian brewery. By 1972 Miller Brewing ranked seventh in the beer industry.
These efforts were motivated partly by the desire to reduce the negative effects of excessive drinking, and part ly to counter growing public pressure to restrict the advertising and sale of alcoholic beverages.
The company currently produces more than 40 million barrels of beer per year and is the second largest brewery in the U.S. The founder of the Miller Brewing Company, Frederick Miller, was born in Germany in 1824. As a young man he worked in the Royal Brewing Company at Sigmaringen, Hohenzollern.
Because the U.S. beer market was stagnating in the late 1990s, Miller opted not to introduce any new products in 1997. This was a marked change from the mid-1990s, when breweries introduced low-alcohol beers, red beers, dry beers, and other novel versions at a frenzied pace.
The Miller Brewing Company, a subsidiary of cigarette maker Philip Morris, was the second largest beer maker in the United States behind Anheuser-Busch. The Milwaukee-based company brewed about 44 million barrels of beer a year and controlled approximately 20 percent of U.S. sales. Popular Miller Brewing brands included Miller Genuine Draft, Miller High Life, and Icehouse, as well as Red Dog, Meister Brau, Milwaukee's Best, and the nonalcoholic brew Sharp's. Miller Brewing owned eight breweries in seven states, including California, Texas, and its home state of Wisconsin.
Brewed since the beginning of the twentieth century, Miller High Life was the foundation brand for the Milwaukee-based Miller Brewing Company , which emerged as the industry's principal challenger to Anheuser-Busch. Beginning in 1906 High Life was touted in ads as the "Champagne of Bottled Beer," in an attempt to appeal to more affluent and status-conscious consumers. By the time the Philip Morris Company acquired Miller in 1969, however, the tag line had contributed to a widespread perception of High Life as a rich man's brew. One typical print ad from then-agency Mathisson & Company of Milwaukee, featured a needlepoint rendition of the bottle with the tag line "Home Is Where the Miller Is."
As a result, production rose from seven million barrels in 1973 to 31 million barrels in 1978. Led by John Murphy, a Philip Morris executive trained as a lawyer and with notable marketing ability, the company began a thorough study of American beer drinking trends.
Bud Light overtook Miller Lite in 1995 on the strength of a series of successful ad campaigns that dated to the late 1980s when Spuds Mackenzie, the cool dog with the black eye, became a cultural phenomenon. Bud Light carried this momentum into the 1990s with the catchphrases "Yes I am" and "I love you, man." According to Bob Scarpelli of DDB Needham Chicago, Budweiser's advertising agency, these phrases "established the brand as hip, and that translates into sales." Bud Light's success stemmed largely from its strategy of targeting 21- to 30-year-old men, many of whom saw themselves mirrored in Mr. Insincerity, a character who at any opportunity that might reward him with a Bud Light would utter, "I love you, man."