It has been pretty well established that it is the Millenial cohort who are driving consumer demand for craft beer. According to Michael Dimock of the Pew Research Center, Millennials are those individuals born 1981 and 1996; making them between the ages of twenty-two and thirty-seven. We know quite a lot about Millennials. Thanks to market research firms,  public opinion researchers, and fact tanks such as Nielsen, Gallup, and the Pew Research Center, we have a lot of data and information about Millennials as citizens, voters, and consumers. Research on Millennials often compares them to preceding generations – Generation X (born 1965-80), Baby Boomers (1946-64), and the Silent Generation (1928-1945). And what we have learnt is that each generation has unique values and perspectives.

One study that I read recently, was published by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). It was titled, How Millennials Are Changing the Face of Marketing Forever. The study report included a number of interesting graphics, including the one below (Exhibit 1). The graphic shows the relative importance that Millennials and non-Millennials attach to a number of different factors. These include patriotism, professional success, spirituality, and working out.

As I perused the findings of BCG’s research, I tried to identify connections between craft beer and Millennial values. Here is what I think I identified.

Status

BCG identify status as a value that is important to Millennials. A number of scholars have suggested that craft beer is a high status product. These include my good friend Tom Bell and his colleague James Baginski who, in a 2011 paper published in the Southeastern Geographer, refer to craft beer as a “high order prestige good”. Similarly, in a book chapter published in the same year, Victor and Carol Tremblay talk about the  “prestige factor” of drinking craft beer. In a 2012 paper published in British Food Journal, Douglas Murray and Martin A. O’Neill, published in the British Food Journal, suggest that the craft beer drinker is “sophisticated” and “discerning”. The same observations have been made with regard to real ale drinkers in England, where Karl Spracklen, Jon Laurencic and Alex Kenyon, in a 2013 paper in Tourist Studies, note that drinking “real ale is seen as a marker of good taste and distinction”.

Luxury

According to BCG, luxury is another characteristic valued by Millennials. Craft beer, I would argue, is a luxury product. More specifically, it is an affordable luxury. To the French-American author, Mireille Giuliano, luxury means ”premium quality and that doesn’t always equate to known brands or mascs marketing”. Speaking specifically about the Millenial cohort, Max Montgomery defines affordable luxury as “achieving quality, tailored to our taste, at a price we can afford.” Craft beer, it would seem, qualifies as an affordable luxury. Compared to mass produced beer,  craft beer is relatively expensive. Of course, the price you pay for beer depends upon where you live. In 2017, the cost of a case of Bud Light or Miller Lite varied from $14.62 in Michigan to $21.98 in Pennsylvania.  In comparison, the average cost of a case of craft beer, nationwide, in 2017 was $32 – that’s $1.33 a bottle – definitely what I’d call an affordable luxury.

Excitement/Adventure/Travel/Fun

MiIlennials like excitement, adventure, travel, and fun. All four can be experienced in the consumption of craft beer.  In 2013, A. J. Carpenter and his fellow students completed a term paper for their Marketing 6069 class (Buyer/Consumer Behavior) at University of Colorado, Denver. In it, they identified four types of craft beer drinker – novice, loyalist, enthusiast, and explorer. According to Carpenter et al’s study, Most craft beer drinkers are either enthusiasts or explorers. While there are some key differences between enthusiasts and explorers, one trait they have in common is their desire to try lots of different craft beers and to visit lots of different craft breweries. In other words, drinking craft beer is an exciting adventure; an adventure that takes the craft beer from tap room to tap room to taste the beer at its point of production. This idea that craft beer drinkers are excitement seeking adventurers is supported by the growing popularity of craft beer tourism. Annually, more than ten million Americans go on a brewery tour. Ale trails are increasingly common and help beer tourists strategically navigate a city or region’s craft breweries. The term ‘beercation’ has entered the lexicon of the craft beer drinker. Craft beer festivals (literally dozens of them occur every year across the United States) attract the craft beer aficionado and allows her to sample a wide variety of beers within the time frame of an afternoon, evening, or weekend. At the same time, the highly popular app Untappd enables the craft beer drinker to log the beers he consumes, while enjoying the fun of earning badges along the way.

Charity

With one of two exceptions, craft breweries are owned by people living in the community in which they are located. As a result, craft brewery owners tend to very committed to the well-being of their communities. To this end, they tend to be very supportive of local charities. The media is replete with specific examples of  craft breweries giving to and/or supporting good causes. Brian Yaeger refers to craft brewers as “liquid philanthropists”.  And craft breweries tend to be more generous in their charitable giving than the macro-Brewers. In 2014, craft breweries gave $3.25 for every barrel of beer brewed. In contrast, AB InBev, through its charitable organization, gave only $0.35 per barrel. As the motto of one of my local craft breweries in Toledo, OH (Black Cloister Brewing Company) proudly states – “Brew Good, Do Good”.

Change and Optimism

Change and optimism are Millennial values. Both are abundant in the craft brewing movement. Craft breweries are agents and representatives of change. From a handful of craft breweries in the mid-1980s, the number of craft breweries in the United States now exceeds six thousand. Craft breweries account for 12.7% of the American beer market by volume and 23.3% by dollar sales. These numbers represent change; dramatic change. But the change is not just found in the numbers. The change can be experienced with our eyes, our ears, our noses, and our taste buds. I experience  it ever time I walk into the taproom of a craft brewery and see it filled with young people; men and women, enjoying a beer that has been carefully and lovingly crafted by the brewmaster. I hear it every time I listen to two or more people discussing the finer points of an IPA or debating which craft brewery is producing the most innovative brews. I smell and taste it when I lift that an IPA to my lips and I smell and then taste the aroma and bitterness of the hops. More than anything, I would submit that craft beer’s success happened because its early pioneers had optimism – an optimism that hinged on the belief that there were enough Americans out there who wanted better beer. It is an optimism that resurfaces every time a new craft brewery opens it doors.

There are a couple of values that appear in the upper left hand (non-Millennial) quadrant of Exhibit 1 that surprised me. Surprised me in the sense that I would have perhaps expect them to be values that resonated with a Millennials. Two in particular are authenticity and craftsmanship. Authenticity is a particularly slippery concept. And I really don’t want to get into any of the authenticity debates here. Suffice to say, that at the 2017 Craft Brewers Conference, Brewers Association Bob Pease identified the four pillars of the craft brewing  movement – independence, spirit, community-mindedness, and yes, you’ve guessed it, authenticity.  As for craftsmanship, one might have also expected that to be more important to Millennials, than indicated by the BCG study.

Further Reading:

Barton, Christine, Lara Koslow, and Christine Beauchamp. 2014. How Millennials are changing the face of marketing forever. Boston: The Boston Consulting Group.

Dimock, Michael. 2018. Defining generations: Where Millennials end and post-Millennials begin. Pew Research Center FactTank, March 1.