Marketing, the act or business of selling and promoting services or products, is highly versatile and widely used by most, if not all, corporations across the world. Marketing is a broad enough term to cover many areas, such as advertising in print, radio, television, or even on social media. A term that is occasionally used to define the crucial components of marketing is called the “marketing mix”, which is comprised of the “four Ps” – product, price, place, and promotion. Alcohol marketing makes excellent use of the four Ps to its advantage!

Alcohol Marketing – What is it?

Alcohol marketing, simply put, is the action of marketing alcohol over a wide variety of platforms in an attempt to have people purchase the product! What makes alcohol marketing so interesting is its ability to aptly make the fullest use of the four Ps of marketing! For example, marketers of alcohol are able to exploit large-scale opportunities simply from the design of the product itself (for example, flavorful coolers with lower alcohol content); price promotions are used as a strategy to get more sales; tactics are employed at the place of sale, such as aesthetically pleasing liquor store promotions; and promotion tactics are used across media platforms (like social media) and through sponsorships of cultural or sporting events. After all, who hasn’t seen a commercial for beer during a sports game? How about free promotional items at a sports game or concert, like t-shirts with beer logos, hats, or even blow-up pool floats? Alcohol companies know where to spend their money on advertising to get their promotional messages out there.

Of course, alcohol companies aren’t the only ones doing alcohol marketing. Other companies can get in on the game by using alcohol to promote their own products or services. For instance, a company could have its own beer crafted and named after itself, and this can help get that company’s name across in a positive and engaging way. You could also have a custom drink made at an event you are hosting to ensure your message about how fun and exciting a company you are is hitting home. And the advertising benefits can go both ways. As one example, a Canadian bar was saved when the stars of a local TV series decided to buy it. They then began creating drinks and menu items from the show, and the success of their efforts boosted interest both in the bar and its new menu items (the new beer in particular) as well as in the TV series.

The Four Ps:

As mentioned earlier, alcohol marketing certainly knows how to capitalize on the four Ps of marketing. However, what is it precisely about these four aspects of marketing that make advertising so successful? To arrive at an answer to this question, the four Ps need to be discussed in a bit more detail:

Product: like many things, the design of a product can directly influence who will want to buy it. The designs of certain alcoholic drinks, for instance, appeal more to adolescents than adult audiences. For example, the design of the packaging used for ‘alcopops’ was demonstrated to have higher demand amongst adolescents than adults in an Australian study, which simultaneously showed that the alcopop design had a higher demand amongst females.

Price: promotions and discounts are an essential marketing tool for any company, including alcohol retailers. There have been many studies on the fact that consumers will purchase greater quantities of products when they are discounted if the discount applies to large amount-based offers. In fact, a study done by Alcohol Focus Scotland found that discounts and promotions offered by supermarkets on alcohol heightened sales by twenty to twenty-five percent! One can also assume that people who purchase larger quantities of alcohol also increase their consumption levels.

Place: the location where alcohol is sold can impact the volume and amount of alcoholic purchased. Factors that contribute to this include the accessibility of alcohol retailers and the hours that these stores are open. With an increase in the number of alcohol retailers and a lengthening in the store’s operational hours, more people can purchase alcohol, and subsequently, more alcoholic consumption is taking place. Additionally, the positioning and placement of alcoholic products in the store can also be an encouraging factor for people to buy more alcohol than they initially intended to.

Promotion: this covers quite a few activities, such as sponsorship and advertising. Alcohol is increasingly being promoted on social media, and celebrity sponsorships, PR-generating activity, and viral marketing strategies are also being employed to promote alcoholic products.

In other words, if you are looking for an advertising method that has seen sure success, alcohol marketing may be the way to go.