Creative Alcohol Campaigns to Use For Inspiration

Long gone are the days of alcohol advertising being limited to commercials of guys drinking beer at a sports bar or models sipping from fancy glasses around a pool.

Alcohol companies are increasingly using creative and innovative strategies to reach their target audience and stand out from the competition. Strategies such as experiential marketing, using influencers, and leveraging digital marketing are all being used to create a lasting impression on drinkers. 

For marketers looking for ideas to start the brainstorming process, here are some examples of creative alcohol advertising campaigns.

What is creative alcohol advertising?

Creative alcohol advertising goes beyond showcasing a bottle surrounded by happy-drinking adults. It uses visual and auditory elements to tell a story that evokes emotions of some sort. Depending on the approach, viewers may relate to the story, laugh at it, or simply feel moved by it. 

Deciding what story to tell will depend on several factors, including your target demographic, your brand, and which channels you use to promote it. Take alcohol influencer marketing, for example. A moving story about three generations of men sharing a scotch around the fire may not play as well with newly legal drinkers on TikTok as it would with 45-year-old men on Facebook.

Get to know your target audience and create a story about your brand that resonates. Then market it through the channels where your customers will see it

Who are you telling the story for?

Whether you’re introducing a new product or boosting awareness around an existing brand, you’ll need to understand what makes your target persona tick so you can build an initial connection. Start with some basic questions:

• What and where do they currently drink?
• What do they do for fun?
• Do they drink alone or with a partner, friends, or coworkers?
• How old are they?
• Do they live in the city, the suburbs, or the country?
• What are their values?
• Do they have kids or pets?
• Are they friends with their coworkers?
• How much disposable income do they have?
• What do they watch (TV, movies, news) and listen to (music genre)?
• Do they care about calories, carbs, and sugars?
• What are their preferences and perceptions around different kinds of adult beverages?

With these demographics and insights in mind, you can begin to develop your storytelling efforts in a way that stays true to your brand’s history, vision, and goals. 

Creative alcohol campaigns

To be clear, the features—and perhaps even benefits—of your alcoholic beverage don’t need to get lost in the storytelling. If your selling point is zero calories, affordability, low-carb, or low alcohol, you won’t necessarily want to skip over those benefits. But that’s not to say that your campaign’s talking points need to revolve around them.

Just check out this ad for Starla’s trio of “alcohol-removed wine.” With audio limited to only music, the digital and social campaign aimed for an elevated, feminine vibe inspired by luxury fashion. 

Starla’s website and marketing reflect the brand’s target consumer, incorporating highly curated editorial content. Customers can shop the campaign looks, create recipes and read up on books and resources tailored towards the style-conscious, alcohol-free consumer. 

Looking for more examples of creative alcohol campaigns?

Fetch Pale Ale

Pet insurance company Fetch by the Dodo partnered with Torch & Crown Brewing Company to create a namesake craft brew, Fetch Pale Ale. A portion of each sale was donated to Project Street Vet to help the organization launch a New York City Chapter, and the limited edition of the brew sold out in just two days! 

In addition, Fetch promoted an animal adoption event at Torch & Crown Brewing Company, for which the $30 ticket prices included VIP access, a pint of the special-release beer, raffle entries, and a $10 donation to Project Street Vet. 

Lipton Hard Iced Tea

Using the tagline “Your cup of (hard) tea™,” ice tea giant Lipton has launched four flavors of 5% alcohol by volume “hard” iced tea. The company released a series of playful video clips aimed at working Millennials using groups of friends and co-workers enjoying fun activities to solidify the target audience. The word “obviously” is repeated throughout all the clips as a nod to the idea that Lipton was destined to develop an adult version of the beloved beverage.

The video was complemented with social media posts, including this Instagram image re-promoting the product’s mention in Athleisure Mag, which focuses on “athleisure culture” with a Millennial demographic.

Jim Beam

With the lockdowns of Covid-19 in the rearview mirror, bourbon whiskey icon Jim Beam is encouraging drinkers to return to crowded bars for spontaneous fun. 

The campaign, which is titled “People Are Good For You,” serves as a reminder that building connections is vital for mental health. In the commercial, a woman enters a bar alone only to be pleasantly surprised to find the large group of patrons singing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” in unison. 

The campaign is supplemented by social media posts with similar messages, like this Instagram image accompanied by “Here’s to old friends. And new ones. #PeopleAreGoodForYou.”

If you’re looking for creative ways to market your alcoholic beverage, focus on telling a story rather than selling a drink. If you flesh out your target persona and are clear about the image your brand wants to convey, you can reach – and convert – more customers.

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