Booze advertising sticks in the mind. That Carling Black Label “got any leeches for this” ad has been living rent free in my brain for decades now. The Metz Judderman has haunted my wife for nearly as long.
But it’s January, and that means abstinence. Dry January, despite the best efforts of breweries pushing Try January (as in try something new - the requirement for explanatory parentheses scuppers the whole thing) is very much A Thing.
Even in this house.
And it’s fascinating how companies tweak their messaging to try and sell alcohol-free beers. Because let’s face it, while we like the taste of a cellar temperature beer and the ritual of the Friday night pint, most people drink alcohol for the active effects. We want to be tipsy, even if we don’t want to be drunk.
Here’s three different tweaks I’ve spotted so far.
One - the category shift
“The refreshing isotonic recovery drink.”
Erdinger Alkoholfrei has been my go-to nolo1 option for years now. My mate Sam turned me onto it while she was pregnant, and my friend Gaz is singing its praises while he’s been off the sauce for medical treatment.
Everyone who’s recommended it says the same thing. It tastes like beer.
But the messaging doesn’t reflect it. Instead, they’ve decided not to compete against alcohol or other non-alcoholic drinks. Erdinger Alkoholfrei isn’t a replacement for a pint after work, it’s an alternative to your energy drink after a workout. It’s got electrolytes and isotones and stuff, you see.
It means Erdinger aren’t competing against their own core product - alcoholic wheat beer - or the other nolo runners and riders. Instead, they’re an alternative to sickly sweet luminous Gatorade and Lucozade.
Which doesn’t explain why I could buy a bottle at a restaurant or a pint at the Belgian Beer Bar in Altrincham…
Two - the cards on the table
“Beer so good… you won’t miss the alcohol.”
Big Drop take a similar approach to most nolo beers on the market. Your Lucky Saints and your FreeDams (which is rats, by the way).
This is a really good product, says the messaging. But cards on the table, it’s not what you usually want. It just doesn’t have that thing you usually buy the product for.
It’s a pitch at people who drink beer for the taste. Craft ale snobs. Your CAMRA crowd probably enjoy this kind of messaging, whereas your six Stellas after 5-a-side lads must think it’s nonsense. “Better than your usual choice, except it fundamentally doesn’t work.”
Maybe it’s smart. Maybe they know binge drinkers won’t switch to non-alcoholic beers whatever the pitch is. Know your ideal audience and speak directly to them.
Three - the just as good
“100% Guinness. 0% Alcohol.”
Then there’s Guinness. Their approach is basically to turn round and say it’s the exact same product. It just doesn’t have that unhealthy ingredient in it. It’s the fat-free Philadelphia of beer messaging. The Coke Zero of nolos.
Maybe it’ll work for Guinness. After all, this is a beer that trades on identity and heritage - not just of the product, but of the drinker. There are Guinness drinkers. Not beer drinkers, or stout drinkers. People who will drink Guinness or not drink. Brand loyalty that’s tied up with St Patrick’s Day and the Irish diaspora and that bollocks about it taking 120 seconds to pour.
Turning round to that kind of loyal, invested customer and saying “yup, same product” might just work.
But it’d never fly for Carling Black Label 0%. And maybe that’s the point.
Something mint - take your pick
There’s been somewhat of a debate at HNW towers about the three approaches above.
I think Erdinger’s category shift is smart, while Martin says it’s disingenous bollocks. Ben’s a fan of Guinness’ straight-forward “it’s just as good as Guinness” approach while I think it’s a little underpowered. And none of us are totally sold on Big Drop’s hand-wringing “we know you’d rather be drinking real beer” attempt. Even if I quite like their stout.
But I straight up hate Impossibrew’s positioning and messaging here. All this talk of herbal relaxation and mood lifting. I’d define it as “non-alcoholic beer that gets you sort of tipsy but not really.”
It’s homeopathic bullshit. And it sounds like it’ll taste like herbal tea.
But what interests me is what you think. Which messaging approach deserves to be this week’s something mint? Show your working in the comments. It’s not like you’re rushing off to the pub, is it?
And don’t forget to subscribe. I’ll share the results next week.
No/Low alcohol beer. It’s a growing market segment.