Booze Business

A modern problem is society is alcohol abuse: binge drinking. Consumptions have gone up a third in a decade. The government wants the booze business to put their house in order. They need to perform serious action to tackle this issue. The spirit based shots have become very popular and increased sales a lot. The girls did not notice any signs that the industry wants them to drink less. The program investigates the drive for responsible drinking. The program follows 4 girls: Laura, Kim, Vicky and Sarah. Customers spend up to 15,000,000 pounds in the whole UK. In Newcastle alone they will spend up to 3,000,000 pounds. This is a lot. The girls find alcohol only one essential ingredient for a good night out, they care about good atmosphere and good music. The aggressive behaviour caused by drinking is causing a hang over for the drinking industry. A third of 20-something females in the UK are binge drinkers. The government ordered the industry to get it in order or face a clamp down. Some drinking industry companies agree with this. One solution is to extend licensing hours next year to give a more continental approach to drinking. The second solution is to give the police and local community the powers they need to deal with a irresponsible minority. Thirdly to involve the drinking industry in trying to solve the problems of binge drinking.

Among Diageo moves are responsible drinking commercials, educational programs and a strict marketing code. Customers are not getting the message that drinking industry wants them to drink less, because it costs them profits. Bars are doing long 150 minute happy hours. Cheap drinks. Happy hours gets a lot of customers in and to drink a lot, in a otherwise dead part of the day. Happy hour incentives the idea of drinking more. The industry are heading for a vicious circle where they have to sell more for the same amount of money. Happy hour is traditional and you don’t hear many problems of binge drinking at 17:30 in the evening. They assume that most customers drink responsibly. Marketing people get bonuses if they sell more than usual. 20% of the customers count for a 80% of the sales. Women drink a lot: ladette culture. Women would rather do drugs than get drunk, so the industry needed something new. 2 dogs and hooch became the gate-way to the spirits market. Alcopops were targeted for young people. People were offended by this.


Diageo’s team came up with a more grown up version of the Alcopops. 5% alcohol, a fruity taste and some carbonation. They experimented with flavours and acid levels and came up with Smirnoff Ice. They called it a RTD: ready to drink. After this came Vodka Kick. (Steve Perez, global brands ltd). Within 3 years RTD sales tripled and was favoured by women. The government increased the tax rates by 46% on RTD’s to put it out of the price range of young customers. This happened at the peak of the RTD sales. They killed the goose that was laying the golden eggs. Wetherspoon has Rock bottom prices lure the customers in. The girls like that it’s quiet so they can talk. Wetherspoons does not support binge drinking, so they don’t encourage people to buy more drinks. They cut the number of shots in cocktails and reduced the prices of soft drinks. Wetherspoons' actions had a negative effect on the sales, but will be better in the long run. The government has another option: a minimum pricing scheme. Wetherspoon thinks it’s a price fixing scam and would be a bad deal for their customers. They don’t think it works against binge drinking. Drinks adverts shouldn’t imply sexual success, but a Bacardi commercial featuring a cat going out on a party did. In the last Bacardi commercial they have a party with lots of vodka, and the hero gets the girl. They have a sign saying to enjoy it with moderation, but it’s hardly visible.

Diageo has a training for bar tenders to encourage responsible drinking. But they mostly teach how to pour their products. (Kenji Jesse) Some bars put cash machines in the house. This is dangerous because you don’t have to go out and get money, but can stay inside. Shots are drunk in one go. They are promoted in a responsible way. (Gerard Hastings) Vodka shots have become popular and ales have gone through the roof. Corky have a product that allows customers to keep alcohol with them on a belt. It’s called loading up the ammo. They have them in lots of flavours like bubble gum, white chocolate and butterscotch. The message does not encourage temperation at all. Diageo (Don Goulding) does not support fast consumption of alcohol. Steve Perez does not think it’s about getting drunk but about telling your mates about flavours. If the actions of the drinking companies against binge drinking are not enough, then the government will have to take actions.