Alcohol's New Target

 

 

 

Alcohol’s New Target 

Marketers take aim at affluent, independent females 

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Dark Mint, Midnight Berry, Mocha Taboo. Exotic beverages or flavored cigarettes? It’s hard to 

tell these days. Tobacco companies have been using flavor in their cigarettes for decades.1 Most 

recently, they’ve attempted to supercharge their sales by marketing these to women and young 

smokers.2,3 Not wanting to be outdone, the alcohol industry has now caught on. If it works for 

nicotine, it should work for alcohol, right?4 Again, women are deliberately targeted. 

 

What’s going on here? Let’s start with a few facts. Between 1999 and 2004, alcohol 

consumption among American and British women between the legal drinking age and the age of 24 

has increased by more than 30 percent.5 That’s quite a statistic, especially when you consider that 

these are challenging times for the alcohol industry. It’s growing just 1 percent a year worldwide. 

Alcohol consumption overall increased by only 1 percent in the United States between 1999 and 

2004, and by 5 percent in the U.K. And in other countries, alcohol consumption actually decreased – 

by 8 percent in Germany and 6 percent in France.5  

 

Under such pressure, it’s no surprise that marketing programs have expanded and become 

more innovative and more targeted. Why are women being singled out? Because times are changing. 

Women are more affluent and independent than ever before, and they’re starting families later in life. 

This means more disposable income and more time to socialize. Plus, many have already acquired a 

taste for alcohol after four years on a college campus. 

 

The marketing is pervasive. Whether you’re watching the small screen or the large, reading a 

magazine or surfing the Internet, you’ll often see women holding a beverage -- predictably fizzy, fruity 

and alcoholic. From Carrie Bradshaw to Bridget Jones, many of our modern “heroines” are also 

associated with fun, passion and glamour. Product marketers tend to connect the dots.  Take 

Anheuser-Busch’s new entrant, Peels. Peels is a line of alcoholic fruit drinks in flavors like blueberry- 

pomegranate and strawberry-passion fruit. In a recent promotion, the company invited women’s 

magazine editors to a Manhattan spa for free manicures and facials, and, of course, free drinks.5,6  

 

It’s all “good fun” and “good business” too. The industry itself is young and hip. Consider that 

alcohol-spiked soda pop, the parent of today’s more sophisticated offerings, didn’t even appear in the 

U.K. until the mid 1990s. In just over a decade, more than 80 new varieties have appeared in the U.K. 

with sales last year of more than $2 billion.5  

 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Called “alcopops,” sales worldwide in 2005 were $23 

billion, up 300% since 1997.5 American Medical Association president Ed Hill had it right when he 

said: “A lot of it has to do with the very successful and sophisticated advertising and marketing by the 

alcohol industry.”5  

 

 

A 2004 AMA study of 12 to 18 year olds showed that substantially more girls had an alcopop in 

the prior 6 months than boys, and 12 to 18 year old girls consumed more of all types of alcohol than 

boys.7 

 

For those in the alcohol sales business, the economics are clear and the game plan well tested. 

Potential targets should be aware. Become familiar with their plans and don’t let yourself be 

vulnerable. Alcohol marketers are likely to follow the tobacco industry’s playbook by promoting their 

products as smooth, flavor-filled, mild, and refined. They want to get ahead of the echo-boomer curve 

-- 10 to 27 year olds will soon dominate all consumer markets.5 They’ll be following the numbers, 

offering lots of choice, and putting their money behind the leaders. If flavored vodkas are most 

popular, you’ll surely see them in the hands of popular on-screen characters. Don’t be lured in by cute 

packaging, either. Case in point: “Cocktails by Jenn” -- flavored vodka martinis that are 17 percent 

alcohol. These drinks come in bottles adorned with metal charms – a high-heel shoe, a purse, a 

diamond ring, or a heart.5 Precious little keep-sake charms? I don’t think so. I hope you won’t be 

fooled either. 

  

For Health Politics, I’m Mike Magee. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References 

 

1. Carpenter CM, Wayne GF, Pauly JL, Howard KK, Connolly GN. New cigarette brands with 

flavors that appeal to youth: tobacco marketing strategies. Health Affairs. 2005;24:1601-1610. 

2. Harvard School of Public Health Press Release. “Internal Documents Show Cigarette 

Manufacturers Developed Candy-flavored Brands Specifically to Target Youth Market Despite 

Promises.” November 10, 2005. 

3. Sommers TG. “Topline: Alternate Cigarette Flavors.” January 18, 1984. Bates no. 537004281- 

5370042. Cited in Carpenter CM, Wayne GF, Pauly JL, Howard KK, Connolly GN. 

4. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Web page. “Alcopops: Not Your Grandma’s 

Lemonade.” Available at: http://family.samhsa.gov/monitor/alcopops.aspx. 

5. Ball D, O’Connell V. As Young Women Drink More, Alcohol Sales, Concerns Rise. The Wall 

Street Journal. February 15, 2006. A1. 

6. Peels Web site. Available at: http://www.enjoypeels.com/. 

7. American Medical Association News Release. “Teenage girls targeted for sweet-flavored 

alcoholic beverages.” December 16, 2005. Available at: http://www.ama- 

assn.org/ama/pub/category/14425.html.