The New Rules for Performing in Today’s Adult Beverage Category

The adult beverage category is in a state of disruption, with the implications of evolving consumer demographics having been greatly exacerbated by two years of pandemic-altered habits. Today, the youngest generation of adult beverage consumers is discovering, buying and consuming spirits in entirely new ways, while older generations are expanding their horizons and altering their own habits as well. The implications for the marketing of adult beverages going forward are profound. As companies adapt to emerging consumer ecommerce expectations for the category, new and established brands alike are going to have to prioritize agility across their business models, products and marketing strategies. Let’s take a deeper dive into some of the major shifts setting the stage in the adult beverage category in 2022 and beyond, as well as the brands that are leading the charge. A new approach to reaching today’s market In driving people out of the bars and into their living rooms, the pandemic fundamentally altered the when, where and why behind adult beverage consumption in many ways, while ushering in a new audience of social drinkers who don’t necessarily equate imbibing with a crowded bar scene. As a result, even as people venture out again, product discovery in the space looks fundamentally different than it did a couple years ago. People have become accustomed to a variety of home delivery options—from restaurant delivery to online grocery orders to adult beverage subscriptions—and that has deeper implications for products within this category. Non-Drinkers Are Struggling in an Agency World That Relies on Alcohol For example, consider the ready-to-drink (RTD) canned cocktail trend: While craft beers took almost 20 years to climb to the height of popularity that they now enjoy, the RTD cocktail category’s adoption trajectory is proving much steeper. Between 2019 and 2021, the number of RTD options on the market grew 170%, with this category continuing to grow its share of total adult beverage sales. In fact, adult beverage delivery service Drizly now features RTD as its own category, making it even easier for at-home consumers to browse and discover options. Now that people have opened themselves to drinking a cocktail from a can, a slew of new brands—including Coppercraft, Two Chicks and more, each with their own unique origin story—have emerged in the space. At the same time, traditional adult beverage brands—from Kahlúa and Jim Beam to Bacardi and Ketel One—have launched their own RTD offerings to expand their selection for existing customers while tapping into new pools of consumers. Rethinking the role of data The rise of adult beverage ecommerce means that the traditional distribution model has been completely upended, and new vital players are now operating in the mix. For adult beverage brands, the playing field just became more complicated—but the opportunity to glean audience insights has never been greater. To capitalize on the growing ecommerce opportunity, brands need to be decidedly digital-first in their approach. From a consumer standpoint, this means facilitating direct-to-consumer sales, either via a brand’s own site or via third parties. But it also means engaging customers in new ways, via cocktail recipes, virtual tastings and conversational commerce. Every new touch point offers an opportunity to learn more about customers and deepen lifetime value. From a customer intelligence standpoint, brands need to be looking for new ways to collect and leverage data across not only their full marketing funnel but also their full spectrum of partners—retailers, ecommerce partners, distributors, merchandising teams and more. Bacardi, for example, has done a great job of putting digital tactics first in their marketing mix. The brand has created a custom Google AMP page that facilitates ecommerce transactions—it’s a great strategy to serve a user a Where to Buy page when they are in the “searching” moment. If you type Bacardi.com on your regular browser, you will be brought to their standard site. Likewise, the brand’s site includes a section on experiences that features virtual mixology classes, a festival lineup, events and more. The company’s Cocktail section offers a ton of recipes, while its Where to Buy page showcases its top delivery partners, further enhancing data collection opportunities on the ecommerce front. Making way for new players As the category continues to evolve, interest is growing beyond the startup and established adult beverage brand circles to include a number of traditional CPG players. No doubt, this is just the beginning of a deeper category evolution—one driven not just by new competition, but by new business and partnership models. And that makes sense: In a category marked by shifting consumer tastes and buying habits, agility has never been more important. As the adult beverage category continues to grow and evolve, brand success will be determined not just by strength of marketing budgets, but by the ability to react and adapt products and marketing strategies alongside consumers’ tastes and preferences. Would You Drink This Velveeta-Infused Martini?