Millennials: Fishing the $1.62 trillion pond

By Andrew Catchpole

Published: 24 August, 2016

Millennials are the key to wine's future fortunes, but we need to know how to talk to them.

With the latest Kantar Worldpanel data revealing that year-on-year household spend on wine is down -2.2% per transaction, the necessity of engaging a younger generation of would-be wine drinkers is clear.

But, as consultant and Harpers contributor Christopher Cooper outlined in his Generation Wine masterclass at Think Indie, Drink Indie event last month, the much-discussed millennials now holding a significant chunk of the nation's disposable income are talking a different language to that of the trade, with wine subsequently losing ground.

"Who are these millennials?" opened Cooper, before going on to describe a group that: "Love it or hate it, are not a fad, but people of 18 to 30 year olds that have come of age in this generation, and are a very different group of people to those that we would talk to every day in the drinks industry."

This is a generation, having reached young adulthood around 2000 and beyond, that have information at their fingertips 24/7, tend to the narcissistic, are non-conformist, individual, but are "a rather powerful group of people because US$1.62 trillion was spent worldwide by this particular generation in 2015."

Cooper continued: "Thirty-five per cent of the UK workforce is comprised of millennials and it will be 46% by the end of the decade ... they are the next generation of restaurateurs and entrepreneurs, maybe even our bosses in a few years time."

The crucial question, of course, is how the trade can better communicate with and capture the attention of this generation and, argued Cooper, social media is key.

"The wine industry needs to catch up, spirits are all over it, craft beers have interactive websites, use social media, but wine needs to embrace this new norm," said Cooper.

"Millennials can spot an advert coming from a mile away - they want to know your personality, your brand," he continued. "Your wine may taste nice, someone else's wine may taste nice, but they want personality and they want quality - they are surrounded by MacBook Pros and iPads, they want similar quality in their drinks."

The Millennial Mindset: Key points

"Just be honest - they have a pretty strong bullshit detector!"

"Fish where the fish are swimming - use social media."

"Millennials can spot an advert coming from a mile away."

"They want to know your personality, your brand and the story, and they want quality not quantity."

"There is no brand loyalty - if your offer is rubbish, they will go off and speak with someone else."

"Millennials can be your social megaphone ... they are the ones that are going to let everyone else know about how cool your product is."

"You need to give them the information and if they like it they'll interact with it and share."

Be honest

Cooper's advice to the assembled indies was first up to "just be honest, because they have a pretty strong bullshit detector", but he then added a more in-depth assessment of how to manage communication.

"You have to fish where the fish are swimming, use social media, but if you are not social media savvy and good at communicating with 18 to 30 year olds then get them to do it for you," suggested Cooper.

"Millennials can be your social megaphone ... they are the ones that are going to let everyone else know about how cool your product is. You need to give them the info and if they like it they'll interact with it, they'll be all over it."

Returning to the theme of quality, Cooper advised that while millennials may be drinking less - and often far less - than their baby-boomer forebears, they will spend up on quality, so long as a given drink comes with a story, has provenance and sense of place, and is made with regard to social responsibilty.

"You're not their best friend any more, they are no one's friends any more, there is no brand loyalty - if your offer is rubbish, they will go off and speak with someone else," cautioned Cooper.

"Learn to speak 'millennial', immerse yourself in their vocabulary, their interests ... and be the best you can, because if your offer is rubbish, no one is going to buy it."

Printer friendly version