The number of alcohol brands seems to be equal or even larger than the amount of juice or dairy labels, and while they don’t have the major virtue—alcohol doesn’t make people healthier in the traditional way—these labels try their best to offer something in return, from rendering financial support to entertaining.
You don’t drink alcohol? Not a problem. Alcohol brands still have something to offer. Winston Churchill once said, “Always remember that I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me,” and from the marketing point of view, it can be interpreted as follows—the alcohol itself may be not that good to your health, but the spirits brands restore their image by a parallel activity, which is supposed to have a bigger positive impact than the damage the alcohol causes.
Vodka encourages to ‘be there’ and taste art, beer supports you when you support your team, whisky celebrates craftsmanship and encourages to never stop walking, and rum unleashes your inner musician and even an athlete—the alcohol brands have something to offer you even if they don’t sell you a single bottle. Enjoy the positive side of alcohol, purchase is not necessary… Or is it?
The alcohol companies and brands have been spreading their power across multiple fields, ranging from arts and education to environment and social sphere, to enhance positive change across the globe. There are six major categories of these activities, focused on casting a new, more positive light on alcohol by focusing not the product itself but on the benefits its money can bring to consumers, both drinkers and non-drinkers.
1. Alcohol brands as art connoisseurs
Alcohol has been a source of creative inspirations from the time immemorial, and nothing changed much since the times of Romans and Greeks or even earlier. Spirits have a strong influence on the art scene, encourage both recognized creators and younger minds to share their talents with the global audience, and at this most frequently these activities don’t imply the alcohol component at all. One of the biggest alcohol brand connected with art is ABSOLUT. The brand impresses the audience with remarkable collaborations with art community and encourages common consumers to join in as it was in the ABSOLUT Blank campaign, which is revolving around creating pieces of art from by moving to the beat. The connection of alcohol drinks with cinema world was established long ago and is now supported by such brands as Stella Artois, the long-time sponsor of the Cannes Film Festival, Jameson Irish Whisky and Grolsch to name but a few. Their activities in this sphere range from launching themed campaigns with stunning visuals (Stella Artois has been doing this for years) and hosting movie awards to kicking off filmmaking competitions and supervising creation of new movies. Some alcohol brands team up with celebrities to promote their art inspired advertising —for instance, Campari releases its annual calendar featuring fashion and cinema A-listers (remember the ‘end of the world’ edition featuring Milla Jovovich), Stoli has teamed up with a number of well-known personalities (including Hugh Hefner) for the ‘drinking with you’ push and The Macallan, which partnered with the recognized photographer Annie Leibovitz for an exclusive photo series.
2. Alcohol brands as entertainers and sport fans’ friends
When we talk about beer, the first association that comes to our mind is football. And the next is modern music concerts. Beer brands capitalize on this mind pattern, creating a plethora of initiatives which revolve around modern rhythms and sport, football in particular. It would take hours to list all the initiatives of this kind, so we’ll remember just a few of those. The undisputable leader here is Heineken, which has supported 2012 UEFA Champions League with its ‘Keep It Legendary’ campaign and introduced its traditional Holland Heineken House for the London Olympics 2012, along with sponsoring numerous music events including Open Source Stage at Flow Festival. Bud Light seems to be the biggest beer brand supporting national football movement in the USA by launching the annual Bud Light Hotel, a unique venue hosting star-studded lineup of concerts, and engaging fans ahead of Super Bowl. Guinness, the black stout, which has become one of symbols of Ireland along with the green colour and clover, arranges annual St. Patrick celebrations, aiming to spread this national Irish holiday across the globe. Participants of these activities are not limited to beer drinkers, but the brands definitely expect visitors to all these digital hubs and off-line venues to share a bottle of beer or a glass of wine with their friends. Interestingly enough, the most of alcohol entertainers are beer brands, which can be explained by a simple fact—you can’t get really drunk with beer, and that’s essential if you want to get entertained, be active part of the events and get maximum pleasure. In fact, drinks with bigger ABV also can position themselves as entertainers, and the most vivid example here is Smirnoff with its one-of-the-kind party swapping initiative, which encourages consumers to create their own partying crate, including music, drinks, settings and so on, which is to be swapped with the other country’s crate. Hendrick’s Gin is also a great entertainer, advocating for absurdity and irony with its cucumber elections or fairy-tale inspired parties.
3. Alcohol brands as encouragers
Alcohol has one valuable quality—it destroys physiological barriers, unleashes our creativity and makes us think unconventionally after just one glass of good whisky or a shot of vodka. Smirnoff, the No.1 selling vodka brand in the world, calls people to be in the middle of events, actually Be There, seeing everything with their own eyes. Brands often tug on the heart strings of the consumers, who are eager to explore their creativity, and often position themselves as sources of inspiration and motivators. One of such brands is Johnny Walker, which has been rolling out its ‘Keep Walking’ campaign for years, and released numerous initiative under this tagline, including Words of a Journey in China and the cross-country Walk with Giants campaign featuring celebrities, visionaries and gurus from various industries. Hennessy also tapped globally recognized faces for its ‘What’s your wild rabbit?’ push to share what is their source of inspiration, the component which drives them to the new heights.
4. Alcohol brands as social and ecology change drivers
Alcohol brands may come not only as entertainers, but as contributors for social change in communities and ecology. Alcohol manufacturers lead an eco-friendly life by supporting and initiating a range of initiatives related to addressing ecology problems, just like companies from other fields do. For instance, in late 2011 Diageo unveiled its first Sustainable Packaging Guidelines, “representing [the company’s] global policy on ensuring [Diageo’s] packaging is increasingly sustainable.” Each of the brands unveils its achievements in the sustainability sector by launching annual reports and unveiling major goals on the dedicated pages on their websites. Alcohol labels also address health and social problems by funding life-saving and business-saving programs. The vodka brand Belvedere is a proud supporter of the (RED) movement, donating money from the purchase of its special edition bottles to battle AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and Diageo gives grants to organizations, which address a community/social need, in particular excluded and disadvantaged people, through Diageo Foundation. Budweiser raises money for military, MillerCoors helps aspiring US entrepreneurs and Guinness invites the Irish residents to apply for The Arthur Guinness Fund. The ABSOLUT and SKYY brands even support the LGTB movement, advocating for better attitude to gay community. Some people tend to blame alcohol for making the lives worse—the addiction to this kind of drinks can destroy families, careers, relationship and health—but with these initiatives, alcohol brands want to assure public that they do help those who are in tough conditions. They are trying to make consumer sentiment toward their brands consistently positive by offering ways out of trouble, the only thing is that sometimes they are the ones which are behind the origin of this trouble.
5. Alcohol brands as promoters of healthy lifestyle
Is alcohol totally out of sync with healthy living? In fact, only if it’s not consumed responsibly, the brands say. Each alcohol label’s website features a message, encouraging people to drink with their brain switched on, but words on a digital page or in print are not as convincing as themed campaigns, which encourage consumers to sip their favourite beer, rum or vodka responsibly. For instance, Heineken rolled out a hilarious promotion under the ‘Sunrise belongs to moderate drinkers’ theme, promoting the message with a short film and installing specially created benches in places with the best sunrise view. Some brands are taking the initiative further and encourage consumers to take a pledge that they will enjoy alcohol only if they are of age, and use a designated driver after a party. Earlier this month, Anheuser-Busch, the parent company of such brands as Budweiser, Beck’s, Bud Light and Kirin to name a few, has launched the Nation Of Responsible Drinkers website—each pledge is marked on a map, and visitors to the hub can see where people are responding to this call. In June, Pernod Ricard launched an initiative Accept Responsibility—Here’s to Tomorrow, calling US parents to talk to their children about alcohol “Talk to your child, and keep them from becoming another statistic. Take the pledge. Join the movement. Become the -1,” calls the initiative on Facebook.
Sometimes, big names in the alcohol business invite celebrities to spread the message of moderate drinking. In late 2011, Bacardi teamed up with tennis star Rafael Nadal for the ‘Champions drinks responsibly’ campaign, inviting legal age drinkers to compete online for a chance to play with the tennis celebrity in real time. This initiative continued the alcohol manufacturer’s program started in 2008 with the launch the ‘Drinking and Driving Don’t Mix’ campaign featuring Formula 1 World Champion Michael Schumacher.
As it turns out, alcohol can also inspire physical training sessions as well—last year, Captain Morgan presented its own revolutionary workout system based on the brand’s mascot iconic pose, the hand-on-knee stance. Alcohol brands also offer lower-calorie option to its consumers to help them fight weight problems, without quitting old habits. For instance, Anheuser-Busch InBev launched the low-calorie beer Select 55—the lightest beer in the world—in early 2010, acting just like soft drinks brands with their diet and low calorie versions.
Most of these brands lead a twofold policy: alcohol brands can’t promote sober lifestyle (bees can’t be against honey), but they try to build a better image by encouraging to drink less (but drink anyway). These brands can be entertaining, motivating, encouraging, supportive, soothing and saving, which in fact drives consumer’s attention from the fact that the product itself is quite dangerous. The fact is that all alcohol brands’ promotions do influence underage consumers and position alcohol as a non-harmful, obligatory component of everyday life. Do we want kids drink or even think of drinking? Probably, not. While alcohol advertising won’t disappear, I would advise alcohol brands to make responsible consumption the key element of their promotions, and focus rather on describing positive sides of moderate drinking, resulting in having fun without getting a trouble, knowing when to say enough to secure good memories, than highlighting its ability to ‘open your mind.’
