Alcohol Policies Across the Country:

Transcription

1 Alcohol Policies Across the Country: Implications in Michigan James F. Mosher, JD Alcohol l Policy Consultations ti November 6, 2008 Presentation to: Michigan Alcohol Policy Conference: Burning Issues in Prevention: 2008 Michigan Prevention Association

2 Captain Morgan maintains its relevance with consumers entering the drinking age because they can associate with the icon. Chief Marketer,, November 2005

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5 Philadelphia Inquirer, The (PA), March 1, 2001, Page: A01 MARDI GRAS MELEE PROVOKES OUTRAGE AND CALL FOR CHANGE The Mardi Gras celebration Tuesday night on South Street brought a hangover to Philadelphia yesterday as officials, merchants and residents assessed the drunken melee that ended with 81 arrests, numerous injuries, and businesses scarred by vandalism.

6 Diageo: The Innovator of the Distilled Spirits Industry Formed in 1997 when Guinness and Grand Metropolitan merged, becoming the largest distilled spirits company in the world. Determined to expand the U.S. market, which has been dominated by beer.

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8 Total Marketing Combines all the key marketing elements into a single orchestrated thrust. August A. Busch, III

9 4 P P s Exercise

10 Diageo: Competing with Beer Beer has significant marketing advantages over distilled spirits particularly for young drinkers: Advertising on network television; Lower rtax rates (for Michigan, $.20/gallon instead of $1.87/gallon for distilled spirits); More retail outlets (Michigan has 7, beer off-sale outlets compared to 4,000 distilled spirits off-sale outlets).

11 The Answer Create a malt-based, low-alcohol beverage erage with distilled spirits branding that is appealing to young drinkers, particularly young women, and regulated as beer.

12 Developing Brand Loyalty at an Early Age Diageo rolled out Smirnoff Ice in the US market...it suddenly put the once-stodgy Smirnoff name on the tips of millions of echo boomers tongues (Impact Impact,, May 15, 2003) Echo Boomers: Americans born from years old in 2003

13 Apple

14 The beauty of this category is that it brings in new drinkers, people who really don t like the taste of beer. Marlene Coulis, Director of New Products, Anheuser-Busch Co. Advertising Age, April 22, 2002

15 Who are New Drinkers? Age of First Use of Alcoholic Beverages among year olds, 2004: years old. Every day young people under 16 years Every day, 5,400 young people under 16 years old started drinking.

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17 Alcopop Advertising Expenditures Four Top Advertisers (millions of dollars) Smirnoff Bacardi Mike's Skyy

18 Television Advertising Placement: Youth Audience Overexposure 35% 30% 25% 20% Alcopop ads Distilled spirits 15% Beer 10% Industry average 5% 0% 2006 Source: Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth

19 Bitch s Brew, Girlie Beer, Cheerleader Beer A third of all girls older than 12 have tried alcopops. Companies market these starter drinks to appeal to girls and young women. Don t be taken in. AMA 2004 Study

20 Beverage Choice for 12 th Grade 25 Female Binge* *D Drinkers % binge dr rinkers Liquor Beer Wine *5+ drinks in one setting

21 Alcopops aka Flavored Malt Beverages Flavored malt beverages exhibit little or no traditional beer or malt beverage character. Brewers remove the color, bitterness, and taste that are generally associated with beer. This leaves a base product to which brewers add various flavors, which typically contain distilled spirits, to achieve the desired taste profile. Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) Description of Flavored Malt Beverages (Alcopops)

22 Michigan Definitions "Mixed spirit drink" means a drink which contains 10% or less alcohol by volume consisting of distilled spirits mixed with nonalcoholic beverages or flavoring or coloring materials and which may also contain 1 or more of the following: (a) Water. (b) Fruit juices. (c) Fruit adjuncts. (d) Sugar. (e) Carbon dioxide. (f) Preservatives. Mich. Comp. Laws s

23 Michigan Definitions Beer means any beverage obtained by alcoholic fermentation of an infusion or decoction of barley, malt, hops, or other cereal li in potable water. Mich. Comp. Laws

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25 What alcohol industry commentators say about Minott Wessinger One of the most successful innovators in industry history He is a risk taker The guy has the Midas touch

26 He has an uncanny knack for creating brands that tap into consumer trends and demand.

27 [Wessinger] kept close tabs on popular culture and consumer trends in everything from music to art.

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29 The Sparks Formula Build on the energy di drink market Alcohol + caffeine = enhanced partying

30 Youth/Adult Energy Drink Consumers 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% Youth (12-17) 10% Adults (18+) 5% 0% Regular Users Heavy Users (10+/month)

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32 Which Energy Drink Contains Alcohol?

33 At One San Diego Middle School Teachers checked the campus during lunch to see how many young people were drinking energy drinks. They found that 12 of the 43 students with energy drinks were drinking alcohol. (Oct 2007)

34 Alcoholic Energy Drink Marketing Strategies Viral Marketing The early adopters of Sparks were spending a significant amount of time on the Internet. We saw that and embraced it. We invited consumers to comment on the Website and post comments without editing them, creating a community of Sparks users who shared ideas and experiences." Minott Wessinger

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36 Miller goes under the radar; Guerrilla marketing of [Sparks] targets Generation Y Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 2007 Generation Y: Those born between 1980 and 1995 (13-27 year olds) Advertising Age

37 Sparks on Facebook Chat Groups Drink Sparks Die Young Sparks Addicts Anonymous Sparks baby! I drink Sparks every day of my life Sparks energizes Bermuda

38 Sample Web Postings by High School Students i Sparks luv sparks plus because any night.. it has or that day... yummy classic is flintstone what i first vitamin tried on taste, like gets prom me night drunk or and gives something like it and i was hooked then plus came around that extra and it engery was love i need at first to get sip through a nite of partying!

39 Sparks: The Party Drink a life-saving i invention.i i i can start drinking i luv sparks at noon, because,g get wasted it has that and tired yummy by 7pm flintstone and then vitamin drink taste, some gets sparks me drunk and and it starts gives all me over that again. extra i love engery you i sparks. need to that...and get through it's a nite of partying! cheaper than cocaine.

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41 Alcohol Brands Cost Less

42 Alcohol + Energy Drinks = Increased Risk of Injury Stimulants cause a reduced subjective feeling of intoxication The result: Increased risk taking and increased risk of injury A Wide Awake Drunk Alcohol effects on motor skills, judgment and mental acuity not affected by stimulants S. E. Ferreira, Marco T. de Mello, S. Pompe ia,& M. L. Oliveira de Souzap Formigoni 2006.

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44 Sparks Energy Drinks Total Sales (gallons) Sparks

45 The Jackpot Mi tt W i ith Minott Wessinger with rapper DJ Pooh Wessinger s s company sold Sparks to SAB Miller in 2006 for $220 million four years after its introduction.

46 State Attorneys General Investigation Anheuser- Busch agrees to remove stimulants t from Tilt and db Bud Extra

47 Alcohol Problems Prevention Changing the Paradigm INDIVIDUALS POPULATIONS

48 Prevention Paradigms Individual Behavior and behavior change Relationship of individual id lto alcohol l problem Short term focus on program development Environmental Policy and policy change Social, physical, political and economic context of alcohol problems Long term focus on policy development e and implementation

49 Prevention Paradigms Alcohol Industry Individual choice and free market Cultural traditions used to promote consumption Profit is motivator Industry controls policy agenda through h elite politics Environmental Policy change and social context Cultural traditions integrated into policy Public health and social justice is motivator Communities control policy agenda through h grassroots action

50 4 P s from Public Health Perspective

51 Place Matters Overconcentration: A link to youth violence

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53 Implementing Prevention Strategies Individual Environmental Individual seeks self Individual seeks improvement community improvement Individual is audience Individual is activist Professionals Professionals assist make decisions for communities in individual creating policy change

54 Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation, are people who want crops without t ploughing the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without t the roar of its many waters. The struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, or it may be both. But it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; d it never has and it never will. Frederick Douglass