One More Before You Go: Spirits Marketing News Bites
Bikes and Brews.Miller Lite will be the exclusive malt beverage sponsor of next year’s Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary Celebration. The beer will also run a national summer promotion highlighting the Harley-Davidson affiliation. An anniversary ride in conjunction with the celebration will begin from 105 starting points in the U.S., all feeding into 25 major routes to Milwaukee, with an arrival date of Aug. 28. Miller Lite’s campaign will kick off in mid-May, featuring commemorative packaging, motorcycle giveaways, additional Miller Lite/Harley-Davidson branded merchandise that will be given away as part of the promotion, point-of-sale materials and regional/local promotions and events.
Ladies Choice? Maybe Not. There appears to be a generation – and gender – gap when it comes to wine, according to a new survey conducted for Robert Mondavi Private Selection by Harris Interactive. The survey revealed that younger adults are less likely to drink wine at least once a week, are more likely to feel uncomfortable pairing wine with food, and are less likely to have received or given wine as a gift. The survey was conducted online in mid-July among 3,386 adults ages 21 and over. On the gender front, the survey found that women are more likely than men to feel uncomfortable when it comes to choosing wine at a restaurant, pairing wine with food, or interacting with a waiter when selecting wine at a restaurant.
Ale and Hearty. Aussie rock bands topped the charts at an event last month in New York where a crowd sampled their first taste of Black Wattle Ale. Barons Brewing Co. staged a concert at The Delancey, a popular three-level night club on New York’s Lower East Side, to introduce four styles of premium beer to the U.S.: its flagship brand Black Wattle, Barons Lager, Barons Pale Ale and Barons’ ESB (Extra Special Bitter). Promo magazine reports that the beer was free. So too, was the shrimp on the barbie and meat pie, whose ingredients were marinated in Black Wattle. In addition to the Big Apple, the Barons brews are making their debut in Los Angeles, San Diego, Florida and Colorado, where they will be sold in restaurants, bars and grocery stores. “The demographic we’re going after enjoys going out to good bars and nice restaurants,” says Scott Garnett, a founder and managing director of Barons Brewing in Australia. “All of that was wrapped up in this event.”
A Toast to Liberty. Lockport, NY’s Freedom Run Winery is encouraging people to take time to think about what freedom means to them, and send in a brief description of this personal viewpoint as a mini-essay, poem, poster or even video via the winery’s Web site (http://www.freedomrunwinery.com). Each month, one entry will be randomly selected and with the author’s permission, posted on the web site along with his or her name and photo. The selected entry will also be posted in the winery’s tasting room, on their wine blog, and the author will be given a bottle of wine. The winery was named in honor of the Underground Railroad, according to co-owner and COO Larry Manning.
A Sobering Note.Alcohol industry spending on radio advertising decreased by 38% between 2001 and 2006, but more than a third of alcohol radio ads in 2006 were still more likely to be heard by underage youth than adults on a per capita basis, according to a monitoring report released by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) at Georgetown University (http://camy.org).”The assumption that iPods and the Internet have displaced radio as a primary source of entertainment for young people is wrong,” said David Jernigan, CAMY executive director in a statement. “Young people ages 12 to 17 are the most likely group to be listening from 7 p.m. to midnight and our findings show that alcohol ads are still finding their way to too many young ears.” Alcohol is the number one drug problem among youth, and underage alcohol use causes 5,000 deaths per year among people under 21, according to the U.S. Surgeon General.
