THE RISE OF BETTER FOR YOU ALCOHOL

IS THE INDUSTRY BORROWING TOO MUCH FROM WELLNESS CULTURE?

Alcohol branding has entered its wellness era.

Not explicitly, of course. Most brands are careful not to position themselves as ‘healthy’ to adhere to tight rules and regulations around alcohol marketing. But they’re becoming increasingly savvy leaning into visual cues and lifestyle aesthetics that do the heavy lifting.

There’s a rise in the use of healthier ingredients to draw consumers in – electrolytes, low sugar and functional ingredients to name a few. Sleek cans that are designed to look more at home in a gym bag than behind a bar. Branding rooted in traditional sports performance culture, hydration aesthetics and feel part of active lifestyles.

Scroll through social media and you’ll notice drinks brands like Super Lyte, Surfside and Mom Water look increasingly like wellness ones.

And honestly? As a drinks strategist working in a creative drinks agency, I can see the logic behind these visual and aesthetic decisions. But as a consumer, it feels a little uncomfortable.

Now, I’m going to call out the fairly obvious elephant in the room: alcohol fundamentally isn’t healthy. Lower calorie, electrolyte fuelled options don’t really change that fact. Yet we can see more alcohol brands are positioning alcohol around cultural shifts aligning with fitness, self-optimisation and wellbeing.

From a commercial perspective it makes a lot of sense. Today’s Gen Z consumer drinks less, adopts a Zebra Stripe approach to drinking and is far more health conscious than my generation was a decade ago. Traditional party culture advertising doesn’t speak to 18-25 year olds the same way it did to Millennials. With alcohol sales plummeting, brands are taking a new direction and embracing new identities to drive sales and be socially accepted.

What I find particularly interesting, is that none of the messaging is ever direct. Brands aren’t saying ‘drink us, we’re better for you,’ The implication is always subtle. It sits in the colours, typography, carefully considered influencer partnerships and lifestyle content that evokes the feeling of hydration, movement and wellness wrapped around a product that ultimately works against those things. Have you tried going to the gym with a fresh head after a night of vodka sodas? Adding a dash of electrolytes doesn’t make that decision feel any less painful.

THE VAPING PARALLEL

In some ways, it mirrors the cultural shift from traditional cigarettes to vaping. Not in terms of health impact equivalency but showcasing how branding fundamentally reshapes perception.

Vaping became socially accessible, partly because people were told it was better for their health than smoking cigarettes but also because it distanced itself from the harshness of smoking. Portable, softer aesthetics, sweeter flavours all reframed a behaviour for an entirely new generation.

The same kind of reframing feels like it is creeping into the alcohol industry.

When drinks feel linked to wellness culture, they begin to feel emotionally different to the consumer. More aligned with their values – even if a brand never explicitly makes those claims.

CATEGORY EVOLUTION, OR JUST A REFRAME?

Now, I don’t necessarily believe this means these products shouldn’t exist. One could argue that in many ways it reflects a positive shift in consumer behaviour. People are drinking more intentionally, seeking moderation and moving away from binge drinking culture. That can only be a good thing, right?

But it does raise an interesting question about where the line sits between a category evolution and reframing its perception. Because whilst people are becoming more health-conscious, alcohol itself hasn’t fundamentally changed. But the drinks branding that surrounds it has.

As the two worlds continue to overlap, it’ll be fascinating to see how far brands push this positioning and ultimately how it will shape the creative briefs, campaigns and cultural conversations landing across the drinks industry over the next few years.

Written by our very own Creative Strategist, Megan Keith

At Wonderworks, a creative drinks agency and London drinks marketing agency, we spend our days decoding cultural shifts like this one for drinks brands around the world. For more of our thinking on where the drinks category is heading, explore our latest insights and opinions.