It’s not pumpkin spice season just yet. So today, we’re enjoying the last days of summer by digging into the Resonate Ignite Platform for inspiration on some fun summer drinks. The twist? We’re looking at each generation to uncover how fresh research alcohol consumption data, recent purchase history, and personal values can inform and optimize your upcoming marketing strategy.
Ready to find your perfect drink for the summer based on data? Let’s get started.
The 2022 Summer Drink for Gen Z
Members of the Gen Z group lead very social lives. Their top hobbies include group travel, playing sports, and going to a club or bar. Their daily routines—participating in team events, valuing athletic accomplishments, and avoiding soda (they tend to live more health-conscious lifestyles). So, it makes sense that this generation is least likely to drink alcohol at home for personal consumption. Some publications are calling them the sober-curious generation.
Messaging & Creative Tips Inside the Ignite Platform:
The Resonate Ignite Platform tells us that Gen Zers who consumed alcohol this summer mostly value self-enhancement (being in charge and acquiring wealth) apart from them wanting to live an exciting life. We then layered in our own audience to reveal the themes The Personal Values Report recommends for our upcoming campaign:
- Being assertive, commanding, and confident
- Adventure, inventiveness, excitement and variety in life
- Prestige, importance, prosperity and power attained by accumulating wealth
For the newest generation to enter the legal drinking age, we’re going to recommend a mocktail. But it can’t just be any mocktail. It has to be beautiful, socialite-friendly, and trendy, which is why we turned to TikTok’s Mocktail Girlie for recommendations and chose a blueberry mojito. Easy, inexpensive, and cute enough to post.
Where to Engage Them:
We know Gen Z is the most always-connected generation of the four. In fact, 27% of this generation spends 40+ hours online per week. But their media consumption can look vastly different from another generation. Looking at the Media Consumption Report, I could glance at their most used OTT devices, top paid streaming subscriptions, top read magazines and newspapers, and more for insights on where to reach them.
- On social media: Twitch, Snapchat, TikTok, Discord
- Via streaming devices & TV networks: Cartoon Network, Apple TV+, Hulu
- Through over-the-top devices: Laptop, Apple TV
The 2022 Summer Drink for Millennials
When looking at the Resonate Ignite Platform, we always like to start at the Audience Introduction Report to get a snapshot of who that segment is. Millennials are driven by social status and the desire for romantic love as well as the desire to live an exciting life. Like Gen Z, they value stimulation and achievement but also want to be influential and show abilities to be admired.
According to the report, one of their top hobbies—all of which are very social activities—is happy hour. When looking into this audience a bit more, We found that millennials are the generation most likely to drink with co-workers. 24% of millennials drank with co-workers in the last 3 months, and 14% of millennials drank with co-workers in the last month.
- 32% usually purchase middle-shelf liquor, followed by top-shelf at 16%
- 118% more likely to buy alcohol at a convenience store or gas station
- Top liquor consumed in the last 3 months: Vodka, Tequila, Rum
- Top Vodka brands consumed in the last 3 months: Smirnoff, Titos, Grey Goose
Fun Fact: 34% are more likely to buy alcohol online than the average consumer! If you’re a no-alcohol or low-alcohol beverage company looking to get your drinks in the hands of millennials make sure your retailers are on delivery apps like Drizzly.
According to our alcohol consumption data, the simple but refreshing Caipiroska is a great choice for the millennial drink of the summer. You can’t go wrong with the lemony lime flavor, and it won’t take forever to get back to your group from the bar during busy happy hour. Honorable mention: blackberry-cucumber mint mule. The mule is so millennial, and this fruity spin brings the refreshing vibes of summer.
Where to Engage Them:
Millennials are yet another hyper-connected generation that spends a lot of time online. Using insights from the Media Consumption report, we see that Tito’s Vodka can post ‘thirst trap’ vodka cocktail recipe videos and serve them ads across devices.
- On social media: Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok
- Via streaming devices & TV networks: Nick Jr, ESPN+, Apple TV
- Through over-the-top devices: Tablet, Google Chromecast
Note that because we are talking about an entire generation, this is a very large audience. If you are an alcoholic beverage brand that wants to reach young Millennial Moms in Virginia who love at-home entertaining or Millennial Working Men in San Francisco who are unmarried and play endless hours video games, Resonate can help you target them with more personalized messaging at scale.
The 2022 Summer Drink for Gen X
Beer brands, meet the Boomers. This generation values their safety, being humble, and living an exciting life. They are personally driven by an optimistic outlook, as well as their desire to find romantic love and be trusted by others.
40% of Gen X consumed domestic craft beer in the last 3 months, and 32% cracked open an imported beer. Inside the Resonate Ignite Platform, we identified other beer consumption-related attributes to inform messaging and creative for beer brands looking to attract Gen Xers.
Using Beer-Specific Attributes inside the Ignite Platform:
This generation’s top considerations when buying beer are pretty straightforward—they look at brand, price, and taste. We can also look at what they don’t consider as important. For example, only 4% of Gen X considers seasonality when buying beer.
Looking at recent buying behavior in the Ignite platform, around 70% of all generations, including Gen X, have consumed alcohol while spending time with family members in the last three months. What type of beer did they drink recently? What brands? The alcohol consumption data a beer brand would need is all there, living and breathing, always fresh and ready for immediate activation.
- Top domestic craft beer in the last 3 months: Sam Adams, Blue Moon
- Top imported beer in the last 3 months: Corona Extra, Stella Artois
- Top liquor consumed in the last 3 months: Rum, Tequila
Based on these insights, a delicious frozen Coronarita is the Gex X summer drink of choice. It’s a fun drink that looks cool at family gatherings, and it’s great for sipping for longer periods of time, like say if you’re gardening or grilling on a hot Sunday afternoon. Honorable mention: An Island Moon cocktail with spiced rum and pineapple.
Where to Engage Gen X:
Here’s a look into the Media Consumption Report mentioned previously for Gen X Summer Drinkers. You can use this to help you understand what an audience watches (show & networks, streamed shows), how much time they spend online, how much time they spend on social media and in front of their TVs, and what apps they use on their mobile devices.
If you’re Corona or Blue Moon, and you want to reach Gen Xers with the right message on the right channel, you can find them:
- On social media: Snapchat, Reddit, TikTok
- Via streaming devices & TV networks: ESPN Classic, Starz, Apple TV
- Through over-the-top devices: Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick
The 2022 Summer Drink for Baby Boomers
While our alcohol consumption data shows this group isn’t drinking more than other generations, there is one libation they enjoy, and that’s wine. 1 in 3 Boomers consumed wine in the last three months.
In this instance, we’re looking at a generation that values safety, duty, and tradition. They have an optimistic outlook on life and are driven by their devotion to God and being trustworthy. Their daily activities include watching their calorie intake and keeping a routine, and their top hobbies are stationary (drinking coffee) apart from gardening.
Using Wine-Specific Attributes Inside the Ignite Platform:
Let’s go even deeper into the platform to identify what this generation looks for when buying and consuming wine. Using some wine-specific attributes inside the Ignite platform, we can pinpoint the top reasons they drink wine, their taste preference, and ideal price range, to name a few.
- Top Reasons to Drink Wine: Taste, Relaxation, To Pair with Food
- Wine Taste Preference: Dry, Smooth
- Price of Wine: 34% buy wine priced between $15-20
- 1 in 5 says brand is a top consideration when choosing a wine
- 30% will prefer buying familiar wines they recognize
Reviewing what we know about this audience, we think a refreshing, low-calorie white summer sangria is the perfect summer drink for Boomers. It allows them to watch their calorie intake while enjoying a their go to- wine.
Where to Engage Boomers:
For well-known wine brands that want to serve Boomers a refreshing cocktail ad with in-season summer fruit, where could I find them?
- On social media: None of the Above, LinkedIn, Facebook
- Via streaming devices & TV networks: ESPN Classic, Starz, Apple TV
- Through over-the-top devices: Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick
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Thirsty for more? If you want to see what rich, recent, hyper-relevant insights Resonate has on your target audience, talk to us about your next project.
