Recently, we started comparing ads from spirits marketers (whose business is generally rising) to ads from Big Beer (whose business is generally going the other way). The surprising conclusion: Booze guys seem to uncover insights that result in their ads breaking the beer guys' advertising rules.
To be sure, these beer-ad rules don't actually exist on paper (that we know of), but they're real enough. How else to explain the lock-step adherence to such conventional wisdom by Big Beer?
One of these beer rules:
BeerAd*Rule: Do NOT preach to young men, just entertain them. Guys won't listen to preaching and will be annoyed with the advertiser who tries to get all serious with them.
Just try and remember any beer ad devoted to preaching to young men.
But what you'll see if you click on all three videos below is four minutes of liquor advertising absolutely crushing the "Do not preach" dictum. Three different liquor brands all preaching their hearts out. And they're not preaching about minor issues like how men should dress or style their hair, either. No, they're tackling the big ones: True happiness; the character of a man; personal choices that will define the trajectory of your life.
No beer brand would dare venture into this minefield!
Conventional wisdom says young guys are sure to tune these out completely. And shoot the alcohol messengers for good measure.
Right?
To be sure, these beer-ad rules don't actually exist on paper (that we know of), but they're real enough. How else to explain the lock-step adherence to such conventional wisdom by Big Beer?
One of these beer rules:
BeerAd*Rule: Do NOT preach to young men, just entertain them. Guys won't listen to preaching and will be annoyed with the advertiser who tries to get all serious with them.
Just try and remember any beer ad devoted to preaching to young men.
But what you'll see if you click on all three videos below is four minutes of liquor advertising absolutely crushing the "Do not preach" dictum. Three different liquor brands all preaching their hearts out. And they're not preaching about minor issues like how men should dress or style their hair, either. No, they're tackling the big ones: True happiness; the character of a man; personal choices that will define the trajectory of your life.
No beer brand would dare venture into this minefield!
Conventional wisdom says young guys are sure to tune these out completely. And shoot the alcohol messengers for good measure.
Right?
Or will young guys instead find in these messages something that resonates? Something that gets inside their heads, and their hearts. Something that connects more deeply than a pool party or a football game. Something that's not as superficial as a beer-ad joke that's not all that funny the tenth time you hear it anyway.
Maybe the booze guys just see things differently.
Booze*Insight: There is part of a young man's psyche that longs for meaning and direction; properly addressed, this emotional need can be a basis for connecting with a brand.
Decide for yourself whether it's the beer-advertising rule-makers, or the liquor rule-breakers who have it right.
Maybe the booze guys just see things differently.
Booze*Insight: There is part of a young man's psyche that longs for meaning and direction; properly addressed, this emotional need can be a basis for connecting with a brand.
Decide for yourself whether it's the beer-advertising rule-makers, or the liquor rule-breakers who have it right.
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