SWOT Analysis Miller-Coors
Internal
Favorable
Strengths
Unfavorable
Weaknesses

Cost Advantage/Inexpensive

Few Brewing Sites

Variety

Low Market Share

Name Recognition

Advertising

Innovation
External
Opportunities
Threats

Merchandise

Growing Import Market

Increase presence on Internet

Competition

Emerging Markets in Europe and Central
Asia

Economic Slowdown

Health Issues
Strengths
MillerCoors has the advantage of being able to sell their products at a lower price than its competitors.
That advantage comes from other factors which are also strengths for MillerCoors. The variety, name
recognition, and innovation allow for the cost advantage MillerCoors holds. MillerCoors offers a wide
variety of beer, and these beers include Miller Light, Coors Light, Blue Moon, etc. They have a mix of
craft, domestic, and specialty beers which are well recognized World Wide. This leads into MillerCoors
next strength which is name recognition. Name recognition feeds into the innovation aspect which
causes MillerCoors to be recognized. For instance, when you buy a Coors Light what do you look for?
You look to see if the mountains are blue, due to the cold activated technology MillerCoors has
developed. All these factors are interdependent and collectively they make up MillerCoors strengths.
Weaknesses
MillerCoors is a well-recognized company which is a big strength for them. Although being well
recognized is strength it kind of works against them due to the fact they only have about 10 brewing
sites which supply beer to the entire World. They have a problem keeping their supply of beer constant
with the demand for their beer due to their popularity. This popularity should translate into a fairly high
percentage of the market, but oddly enough it doesn’t. Even though MillerCoors is well recognized they
have a relatively low market share for the second-largest brewer in the United States. This may be
because of some advertising issues MillerCoors has faced. They have been scrutinized for some of their
ads in which some people feel they depict women in a negative light. For example, a recent Sparks
(caffeinated alcoholic drink) commercial was classified by some women as soft core porn. I’m sure
MillerCoors does not want to be portrayed in that light.
Opportunities
MillerCoors has plenty of opportunities that they can pursue in order to advance in their market. They
can and have started breaking into the merchandise market. You can buy MillerCoors t-shirts,
sweatshirts, caps, etc., but I still believe there is more effort that can be put forth in order to fully seize
this opportunity. Another opportunity MillerCoors has is to increase its Web presence. Until a few years
ago, they had a very minimal Web presence and even into today it is still very average. Their Web
presence can also help spark the merchandise opportunity as well. As well known as MillerCoors is they
have yet to break into the emerging markets in Europe and Central Asia. If they fall too far behind in
their efforts they may end up missing out on a chance to develop in a new area.
Threats
MillerCoors along with all other businesses face threats from competitors. That’s the nature in the
business world. Although MillerCoors faces threats from competitors, they are starting to get even more
competition from the increase of imported beer. These new imported beers may defer attention from
their products potentially depleting some of their customer base. Beers like Corona are starting to
become more popular among US citizens and MillerCoors is starting to feel the effect. Along with the
threats from competition MillerCoors faces threats such as economic slowdown. An economic
slowdown could affect MillerCoors because if people begin to make less and become laid off the last
thing on their mind to worry about buying will be beer. Due to the fact it is not a necessity it would be
adversely affected by an economic slowdown. Another threat MillerCoors has is the fact that people
view beer as a health issue. People always focus on the negative of beer and encourage people not to
drink which is deferring attention away from alcoholic beverages. MillerCoors has tried to counteract
this by offer light beers and low calorie beer, but they still cannot get around the fact that some people
just do not accept their practice.