Seemingly, the tail’s wagging the dog a bit if the latest Budweiser ad is anything to go by. The US giant has gone on the attack against Craft Beers stating that it’s proudly a ‘Macro Beer’ . The trouble in most commentators’ eyes is that Budweiser’s got a stake in Craft brewers inc. Elysian, Redhook and Widmer Bros over in the States.
Chumbawumba put it best and, as with most people, I like a whiskey drink, I like a vodka drink, sometimes a lager drink and I’ve even been known to have a craft beer drink; I buy whatever takes my fancy that evening and, if I’m being honest, am only truly brand loyal to Guinness.
“So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.”
Taken at face value, Budweiser’s actions aren’t that smart in a market where your choice of drink speaks about your personality, according to certain social studies and also one of my favourite Buzzfeed articles of the last 12mths. The ‘Craft’ brewing industry has also never been stronger.
Instead of prodding the ‘enemy’ which is perceived as an upstart, Diageo has instead invited consumers in to take a look around – they know that Craft beers are out there challenging them so they’ve opened St James’s Gate to show off their brewery and, importantly, their team of dedicated, highly skilled brewers who dare I say it are masters of their… craft.
Budweiser isn’t regarded as the nicest drink out there, it’s not even considered the best lager. Whilst it’s not as bad as this article suggests, you are nonetheless 42% more likely to drive a truck according to a survey by market research company Mindset Media. The blue collared American seems, therefore, to be their heartland consumer-wise.
Maybe, Budweiser feel their fanbase will consolidate around their macro message but the purists out there consider marketing as a means to grow a business or share of a marketplace not one to slap your competitors in the face. Subsequently, Budweiser has been largely castigated in the media and lampooned from all corners. I can’t help but feel that a beer associated with quality, heritage and that’s more universally admired (like Guinness?) would perhaps have been better placed to attack Craft Brewers… but they’re bigger than that.
Here’s a thought though. Maybe the Macro Beer advert is a masterstroke: keep the mainstream – who don’t like the hipster connotations of craft – happy and get a rise out of consumers loyal to craft. Let’s see what happens to those three breweries outlined at the top and their revenues in the immediate aftermath of this campaign.
Whisky, it’s been claimed, is too intimidating for new drinkers and the stuffiness associated with the category should make way for fun marketing and a demystification of the product. On the contrary. some observers have noted that this is nonsense and that informing consumers about whisky, the laborious craftsmanship involved and highlighting what makes a single malt different to a blended whisky, for example, should be the way forward to educate the uninitiated and entice new drinkers into whisky ‘culture’. A classic Old School versus Nu Skool argument about whisky that’s by no means new.
Those who see whisky as ‘stuffy’, associate the drink with an older drinker – so why not simply focus on the grey market more cleverly than the competition and wait for the audience coming up behind them to mature? Taking a couple of percentage points out of the competition where consumption amongst the 45-65yr old demographic is concerned couldn’t be a bad thing… after all, our fathers drank more than we did according to a recent blog in Esquire.
However, this doesn’t mean that the younger drinker should simply be ignored until they’re ready to appreciate whisky. Diageo has pinned its hopes on Haig Club via a sumptuously stylish launch; yes the grain used in the distilling process is from a single estate but that message has taken a backseat to the blue perfume bottle that it comes in for many critics – it’s there to be noticed, not contemplated. The thing is, the name itself is an attempt to entice you to join the club. To get involved. This is something very pertinent in today’s social media-led world where ‘followers’, ‘likes’ and a common interest all play out in 20 somethings’ daily lives so we’ll see whether DB7 can start a Nu club and shift as many blue bottles as he can pants, leather jackets, phones or whatever else he’s associated with tomorrow.
Recruiting new, younger consumers is nothing new… Back in 2005 Glenfiddich explained what they were doing to break beyond the 65+ market and in 2013 Diageo tried it by promoting Johnnie Walker Red & Ginger under the tagline Where Flavour Is King – trouble is, if you don’t like ginger, you’re a bit scuppered so maybe, instead, ‘Flavour Is… There To Mask The Whisky In This’ would have been more apt.
So here’s possibly the key problem: FLAVOUR. You can make any brand’s marketing campaign light-hearted and fun but unless the product’s cool, addictively tasty, functional or necessary it’d be difficult to drive repeat business. I like whisky of all shapes and sizes but I have to be in the right frame of mind for an Islay malt, for example, and even though I prefer my Ardbeg with a dash of water in it, it’s still difficult to really consider it ‘easy drinking’.
Not as flexible as Vodka and Gin, when it comes to cocktails, the market’s seen an inexorable rise in flavoured whiskies to extend the category’s appeal. Blame McDonalds, or whatever else with E numbers in it, for altering our palates over time but whatever the cause the younger generation has a sweeter tooth and whisky isn’t overly sweet – more common descriptions include smoky, woody, spicy or even medicinal. The wine industry, in a similar recruitment quandary (and, interestingly, a similarly stuffy industry to a lot of people) is going down a similar path to Bourbon producers right now – the rise of honey this or maple that has tapped into the trend for sweet Bourbon cocktails and appeals to the wannabe Don Drapers out there… further extensions like Black Cherry Jim Beam have witnessed an increase in consumption by the Holy Grail of consumer for drinks businesses: women. Wines, by the same token, have started to introduce sweeter fruitier lines aimed squarely at the 18-24yr old market.
As with the argument outlined in the first part of this blog, you could see this flavouring trend two ways: as sacrilegious kowtowing to a young, fickle generation of drinker or as the opportunity to extend your brandfootprint and infiltrate this impressionable new drinker’s habits.
In the hope that people’s palates develop as they get older, companies launching these sweeter flavours are introducing them as a gateway into the category and if a brand does a decent job of gaining loyalty through consumer-centric, engaging marketing then the assumption is that, once advocates have been on-boarded, it’s easier to create a platform from which to educate them – you’d have their ear rather than just a soap box as you try to describe the virtues of a bold, complex Barolo versus an easier to drink Beaujolais, a wheat beer versus ubiquitous lager or a single barrel bourbon versus a cherry flavoured sister brand.
Traditionalist thinking suggests that you shouldn’t undermine something that’s been crafted by simply making its brand message more light-hearted and fun because it’s lowest common denominator marketing but, inadvertently backing up that point right now, ‘craft’ is en vogue as Budweiser has just found out – consumers actually like a story or heritage to pin their brand choice to. Equally, if whisky producers genuinely want to get a few more quid from the younger generation’s wallets then they do have to embrace the fact that drinking habits have changed, associated stuffy old boys clubs aren’t cool and, furthermore, getting a consumer’s attention is more difficult than ever.
Making whisky marketing more fun is OK but it’s not an ‘accessible’ drink for the everyman and it’s also linked to a very traditional industry – it would be a shame if any demystification were cumbersome or crude. That said, I’m sure at least a few of those distillers out there would love to see the product they slave over grow at the same rate as Bourbon has done recently.
I really like the Virgin Atlantic advert, it’s very rock and roll.
Being an early thirties male who is bombarded by more Tim Ferriss style work/life tips every day, I get that Virgin wants to tap into me.
The trouble is, I don’t run my own business and am not a Wantrepreneur, Entrepreneur or anything like that just yet – I happily work for a business and am lucky enough to have the day-to-day administrative tasks of invoice chasing, diary organisation and meeting arrangements taken off my hands by a highly efficient office management team. Travel is also booked by them and I’m pretty sure, as long as I’m at my meeting on time, cost plays the deciding factor in which airline I use.
Google flights to New York and Virgin comes 7th out of 10 on price (from £1687) with United the cheapest (from £1030) and Lufthansa the most expensive (£2110). Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t all about price from a consumer perspective but my admin team (the purchaser) isn’t travelling, I am and they’re aim is to benefit my business financially – in this case having the option to save us ~£657.
This got me to thinking, will brand marketing be as beneficial as it always has been going forwards or is influencing consumers more important and will traditional media simply act as window dressing to remind us that businesses exist whilst we’re sat with a TV dinners in front of the box.
Take the drinks industry – the doomsayers will point to a bleak future of dark marketing a la tobacco whilst lobbyists for health and well being will also suggest that less overt marketing, via perhaps more restricted times and/or channels, should also occur.
Historically, lines have been drawn within marketing: TVCs were King and trickled down through social media, digital, DM and other forms of marketing. However,nowadays as is well documented, influencing consumers via technology comes into play – the grumpy old man inside me gets cheesed off every morning when, instead of focusing on getting off the train, onto the escalator, crossing the road etc people walk whilst glued to their phone screen having their one key purpose (getting to work) scrambled. Despite my inner Victor Meldrew screaming, there’s obviously a lot of credence in brands targeting this time poor, attention span-poor, on-the-go consumer – sheer volume of phone users tells you this but it’s a busy old space to try to tap into so brands have their work cut out.
Maybe there’s still value in creating a broad message but really getting hold of consumers, turning them into fans of your brand and then winning their custom when they’re purchasing is becoming the battleground for most FMCG companies. Key drinks industry giants like Diageo and Heineken are now focusing on influencer & advocacy marketing: creating compelling narratives for their brands and then hanging relevant media off of them, for example, digital, social and in-store in order to engage consumers in that conversation and story: you feel part of something but you’re also more easy to market to because it’s not a ‘hard sell’, it’s a two way dialogue if done well.
Direct engagement, and effective, informative interaction, with a purchaser (or someone making a decision about what to buy) will become more and more important so should Virgin target me and my 4 hour work week brethren or our secretaries, should Diageo target consumers via TV adverts or spend more money on P.O.P. engagement and educating barstaff who can influence someone with money in their hand there-and-then. It’s tough for drinks businesses to get a full grip on advocacy for a number of reasons but instead of the traditional marketing methods of yesterday, we’re starting to see consumers lead conversations around brands so getting their advocacy early will be key.
I like Virgin’s advert because it makes me smile but it’s not compelling enough to make me choose them over A.N.Other carrier. Unfortunately, their Youtube page is also full of negative comments made by consumers so maybe they could learn from the drinks industry and evaluate whether rock and roll TVCs outweigh proper purchaser engagement and fans’ advocacy.
beers / wines / spirits blog 