SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE BEVERAGE INDUSTRY: A MATCH BREWED IN HEAVEN
Beer, wine, and spirits have strong social components and, not surprising, a large and growing connection with social media. These relationships go well beyond tweets and status updates reflecting a great night out on the town. We’re seeing that most of the key players in the industry are increasingly relying on social media to deepen connections with consumers.
In 2010, LIFT9, reported that there are more than 7,000 wine tweets each day. In 2011, Palate Press reported 452 total wine-related iPhone apps. Wine word-of-mouth is made more powerful through mechanisms such as #winewednesday
In the spirits world, Diageo’s Smirnoff has been said to be the number one beverage alcohol brand on Facebook, worldwide, and the company has attributed a 20% increase in sales to its Facebook activity. Altogether, Diageo brands had an astounding 12.6 million fans across Facebook in 2011.
If you have a little Captain in you, you might be familiar with Diageo’s “The Captain’s Island” campaign. This Facebook-based global competition was designed to strengthen the connection between the brand and the Captain’s Crew (those who “liked” the Facebook page). The five keys that had to be collected in the contest could be gathered from special promotional packs, through online challenges and at experiential events. Crown Royal also has a campaign where once consumers “Like” their page, they can write a message to a member of the military that will be embroidered onto a special camo Crown Royal bag.
Captain Morgan- The Captain’s Island Commercial
New Belgium Brewing, best known for Fat Tire Amber Ale, has also taken full advantage of the social media trend and has an incredibly storing presence. In 2011, New Belgium was said to be perhaps the only true craft brewery to have over 100,000 fans on Facebook. The brewery focuses on engaging and empowering fans to take part in the brand experience while also providing them opportunities to participate and get involved on the local level.
Blue Moon is also utilizing social media. They are calling for the consumers to share their ideas about what Blue Moon’s next beer should be like. On Facebook, once you “like” the Blue Moon Brewing Company’s page you are given the opportunity to answer questions about what you would like to see in the next Blue Moon beer. The interactive experience doesn’t end there though, the user is also able to use a photo crafter. Here you can use your own pictures and make it look like a Blue Moon ad. Blue Moon is so invested in connecting with social media, when entering their web site they have a popup box regarding their “Next Blue Moon Beer” competition, if you want to share your ideas then you are linked directly to Facebook. Opportunities like this only come around, “Once in a Blue Moon”.