Hi, Isaac. I’ve been in the beer industry for over forty years now.

My focus has always been consumer insights and brand strategy. I spent a lot of that time with Miller Brewing, but for the last ten years I’ve been with First Key Consulting as Senior Advisor, Marketing Insights and Strategy. In that role I’ve worked with breweries of all sizes, particularly independent craft brewers. I’ve also been studying transitions between generations and their impact on both beer and culture for most of that time.

I think Gen Z is in some ways still figuring out their relationship with alcohol. With the caveat that generalizations must always be taken with a grain of sale, many Gen Zers deal with a lot of anxiety and stress, and as such staying in control is important to them—not just when it comes to alcohol, but in life in general.

I don’t have “apples to apples” data, but there’s enough data available to convince me they are drinking significantly less than previous generations at the same age. They’re also less likely to say that beer, wine, or liquor is “in” than previous generations.

RTDs and FMBs are clearly on the rise in this generation, although the totals are clearly still behind those for beer, wine, or spirits. They claim to drink less of all three than do Millennials. But they do seem to be continuing the Millennial-led trend of drinking less beer relative to spirits.

There are conflicting reports on cannabis-related questions. I’m not sure about Gen Z’s consumption relative to that of Millennials, but it will clearly be growing. Some studies have found cannabis replaces some alcohol consumption and others that have concluded it complements drinking. It almost certainly does both under different circumstances.

Buying from companies that support their local communities is important to Gen Z, but the key word there is “support.” Just being physically located down the block doesn’t motivate Gen Z to buy from a company in the same way it may have with Millennials. Gen Z wants to know you’re involved with and support the community through investment of time and money. I’ve been saying they want companies to be “proactively local.” 

The effectiveness of cause-based marketing is always a tricky thing to demonstrate. With that said, I feel it is more motivating to Gen Z, although I suspect supporting a cause will do more to reinforce an existing customer’s loyalty than to recruit new customers. And it may seem obvious, but I think it helps to be visible—for example, organizing and participating in a park clean-up.

Well, if chasing Gen Z means changing your values, your personality, or your brand’s reason for being, that in my mind is the only way you’re likely to lose your traditional audience—and those sorts of things are always, always, always a bad idea anyway.

To court Gen Z you may be able to evolve some aspects of your brand, and this is tricky, because many efforts to evolve only end up diluting what the brand stands for. For example, craft beer has always had a rebellious aspect to its collective personality, but rebellion doesn’t seem to be very salient to Gen Z. In that case you can still be a rebel, but you may be able to reframe what you’re rebelling against.  

Beer has always had a role in what marketers call “emotional transitions,” and that includes ideas like relaxation and work reward. But while these are relevant to any generation, as you said there’s reason to believe these are particularly motivating to Gen Z.

Is it as simple as portraying someone relaxing with your beer in hand? Creatives may balk at something so literal—and I don’t blame them—but there are in fact certainly more creative ways to communicate this.

I don’t think “cynical” or “pessimistic” are the right words. I’d say they’re pragmatic. I think they place a lot of value on making a successful transition to stable adult life, possibly more so than Millennials did at the same age. In many cases they’re not there yet, but in my view they’re well-equipped to do it.