We dugg up some interesting comparative research from the Kellog School of Management at Northwestern University. The monolithic beer industry was, and still is today, dominated by Budweiser with most of the remainder being filled out by other major breweries and their brands. Beer was basic and bland, and apparently just not healthy enough. Times were changing, and with a little brand positioning, Miller found out how to step on the King of Beer's toes.

The concept of diet beer was first introduced in the mid twentieth century, but it wasn't until Miller introduced its Lite brand that Lite beer caught on. Initially targeted at the blue-collar younger bracket of the drinking demographic, light beer primarily caught on with slightly older professionals. King Bud didn't see the challenge at first, and within a few years Miller Lite had taken a way a lot of market share from the overall beer market. Initially, Bud introduced new premium products to the market: Natural Ice (Natty Ice was initially a premium beer?) and Michelob Light. But it wasn't until Budweiser put some brand power into Bud Light that they had a fighting chance and began to win back share by the early 1990s with the introduction of spokes dog, Spuds McKenzie. Today, we have party time, the bullet train, and many others, and the battle ranges on. Whether is MGD 64 or Bud Select 55, the war will wage on to see how low the calorie count can go, while still tasting goodacceptable, and looking cool. I guess I'll just stick to actually exercising and enjoy my beer calories in moderation.

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