The Curse of Modern Advertising

By: Josh Kostelnyk

First-Year Brewmaster Student

Mainstream beer is almost universally viewed as a masculine beverage. Various ad campaigns in the 80s, 90s, and even early 2000s were specifically targeted towards men. Somewhat understandable, given that market research showed that men comprised about 90% of their market. Naturally, after throwing huge amounts of money into these campaigns, advertisers were successful in their efforts.

Curently, our industry is presented with a rather unique opportunity. Today's younger generations (myself included), seem to be less influenced by significant marketing campaigns. We are turning away from large chain stores/brands in favour of locally produced or even artisanal products. We seem to respond more to commercials representing inclusivity and community rather than something that is portrayed as a status symbol. Herein lays our path to greater market share.

While macro has an advertising image to rehabilitate, we rogue, independent craft brewers are starting from scratch. We do not have decades of sexist ads to make up for. We are generally perceived as people who are all about beer first, with everything else coming second - a potential concern for an industry where sales and advertising really do matter. Only by diversifying our campaigns, irrespective of whichever platform they may be on, can we expose more people to our brand.

Recent research has shown that the craft beer market share is lucky to hit 20%, and even then that percentage depends on which region you are studying and how large it is. Except for Portland. As the slogan says, Portland is weird. Instead of fighting each other for a more significant share of the 20%, growing our portion of the market could be as simple as including diversity in our ad campaigns. 

It’s no secret that people other than bearded white guys enjoy an alcoholic beverage which contains some creative flavours, and our brand growing efforts should reflect this. 

This will help reverse a somewhat counterproductive trend in industry advertising. For years now, big beer has been targeting specifically men in their campaigns, which naturally pushed everyone who doesn’t identify as a man, specifically a white man, over to other alcoholic beverages. When a person doesn't see themselves represented in a particular market, they may start thinking that it isn't meant for them.

Macro has recently (last decade or so, history is not short, people!) started specifically targeting other demographics with mixed results, in that the way they are presenting their products is somewhat offensive. 

I am reminded of a story recently told by Zoe Ottaway*, an Australian marketing professional. She was walking down the street when a bus carrying a macro beer advert passed her. This ad had 3 women enjoying a beer around a table, but the ad was for a low-carb, low-alcohol beer. Ottaway's takeaway from that ad was that women could only enjoy beer if they were counting calories and watching their weight.  

AnheuserBusch Diversity stock images

Modern craft beer advertising needs to reflect the society in which we live and operate. While there are many different approaches that a company could take, the main idea is that we, as a somewhat counter-cultural industry, need to be aware of this. As always, the world is changing, and those that are able to keep up tend to succeed. 

The simple step of becoming more diverse in your ad campaigns is a relatively small and easy change to make that could lead to a potentially massive impact on sales. 

While there are many other options for increasing market share, when you take into consideration the current social and political climate that exists among today's young adults, displaying diversity in ad campaigns would have a significantly positive influence.

*Zoe Ottaway told this story on the podcast Radio Brews News during the episode Women Like Beer Too, released March 21, 2019.

Josh Kostelnyk is a first-year student in the 6th cohort of the Brewaster Program. He has plans to open his own brewery in Winnipeg, Manitoba and is selling parcels of Saskatchewan to fund his world-domination endeavours.