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This week in 1999, INSIGHTS noted humor in beer ads and young male stress might be more connected than you would think after reviewing a report in American Demographics. Stress is "most prevalent common denominator" in "typecasting American males, wrote AD. "That's one reason everyone wants to use humor in their ads," according to sr exec at Coors' main ad agency. "It speaks to a need to escape. But humor alone won't do it. Plain old product quality is more important than most marketers give it credit for." Beer marketers had the "largest male demo of any of the largest TV spenders," wrote mag. Quoted AB veep Tony Ponturo that key question was: How do you "attract the (younger) consumer to your product without turning off your 35-plus consumer?" AB was trying to encourage networks to "think of the male consumer when developing their nonsports programs" rather than just 18-49 yr old females. This week in 2005, Bud was doing "Better Than You Think," headlined Deutsche Bank report after surveying 25 Bud distribs. Analyst Mark Greenberg found that following "aggressive spend, innovation pipe and discounting&hellip; the signs of a volume pickup are clearly there." A similar survey of distribs from Off the Record also found aggressive AB pricing led to improved STR performance in May. The "preponderance" of discounting, Mark wrote, is "at the low end," which "most respondents expect to be the major battleground" this yr. But Bud Select cannibalization "lower than expected." AB was getting into riskier new product terrain with planned intro Hurricane High Gravity malt liquor that summer and was encouraging bartenders to mix Be (Budweiser Extra, a caffeinated beer AB sold at the time) with spirits; most popular concoction at time was Be Bomb. This was just before last big price war started in summer of 2005.This week in 2009, there were more signs of trading down and changing habits among alc bev drinkers. Reviewing recent survey of US consumers, Nielsen exec Danny Brager found that 24% of wine drinkers on-premise were "opting for cheaper bottles, while about a third of beer, wine and spirits consumers are ordering fewer drinks," per Financial Times. Then too, consumers were "ordering draft beer instead of bottles, shifting from wine by the bottle to the glass and from calling for a specific brand name of liquor to letting the house decide," Danny said at Nielsen conference. Survey showed too that 37% of consumers were going to bars/clubs less often, 28% buying domestic over imports and 25% choosing local products, Progressive Grocer reported. "Alcoholic beverage manufacturers and retailers would be well served to focus on value, and provide products in a range of price categories, in order to appeal to the range of consumers, including many that are now financially strapped," Danny said.This week in 2014, it was announced that long-time chief economist for Beer Inst, Lester Jones, was leaving BI but staying in beer. He took same position with NBWA, with whom he'd collaborated for years on industry economic impact studies and other issues. "Lester's long been an invaluable resource for INSIGHTS and everyone else interested in US beer trends. We missed his annual review of the numbers at last week's BI mtg, not on agenda for 1st time in memory. And we'll miss quoting his monthly estimates. But we look forward to continuing our relationship and getting new insights via his work with beer wholesalers," wrote INSIGHTS. Hear from Lester along with current BI economist Andrew Heritage at our upcoming Spring Conference, June 2-3 at the Four Seasons Chicago!This week in 2015, AB told distribs it was finally dropping born-on-dating on its Bud brand in conjunction with new packaging at end of summer. AB was moving to industry standard stating "Freshest Before" which was a "clearer way to communicate freshness to consumers." Distribs had been saying that for a long time, noted INSIGHTS. A couple mos prior, at meeting in Las Vegas, AB let it be known it was considering this change.This week in 2016, at our INSIGHTS Spring Conference, a wide-ranging discussion with Constellation Beer Chairman Bill Hackett, Boston Beer founder Jim Koch and HUSA prexy Ronald den Elzen showed each viewed high end with broad lens. Biz needs "bigger definition of what beer is and can be," Jim suggested, when asked whether FMBs "hasten move away from beer." For example, cider defined as wine because it's made with fermented fruit, but "if it brings people to a product made in a brewery and sold thru a beer distributor, sold on draft in a craft bar&hellip;. I'll take it." Ronald believed FMBs attracted more consumers to beer and remained a "true believer" in cider, which he thought in long term would get to 3-4 share in US. Bill noted that to reach CBBD goal of being #1 player in high end meant it "had to get into craft" and had to "play beyond where we are." That's why CBBD was exploring FMBs, tho its "hair is not on fire to do anything aggressively." Bill and Ronald spoke about importance of focusing on "occasions" to build per capita consumption, recover share from spirits and wine, because consumers were occasion-focused. Each of these leaders clearly saw continued oppy/growth in high end, possibly getting to 50 share long-term, Jim suggested, if the "high end addresses that need for the majority who want refreshment when they open a beer." Hi-end segments did in fact surpass 50% of beer volume in the last few yrs and continue to gain share this yr.

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