“Covid-19 may achieve what pressure groups, lawmakers, strikes, depressions, and terror have all failed at. Change British drinking habits. This could have a dramatic effect on how booze brands advertise in the future.”
On the evening of the 4th of June 2017, a group of terrorists attacked London’s, Borough Market. A popular location for nighttime eating and drinking. It was a warm summer night and the area was packed with drinkers thronging the streets. As news of the attack quickly spread, panicked revellers suddenly dropped everything and began sprinting away from danger out into the London night. Of all the many terrible images from that evening, one stood out as it raised a smile in amongst the pain. It was flashed around the world as a symbol of British fortitude in the face of danger. In a crowd running for their lives, one man stood out. He was carrying a full pint of beer, managing to both run for his life yet not spill any of his precious drink. To many, this came to symbolize a nation refusing to admit defeat come what may. Many on social media made the same point. It didn’t matter whether it was a Nazi, IRA, or ISIS bomb nothing would come between a Brit and his pint.
Yet Covid appears to be doing just that. Widening an already emerging split between those enthusiastic drinkers and the growing majority of occasional and non-drinkers. The knock-on effects in everything from popular culture to brand advertising could be profound.
“From the 1884 Fenian bombing of Londons Carlton Club onwards, misguided fools have attempted to change the behaviours of the country by striking at the core of society. Our drinking culture. ”
Popular culture in the UK is so often linked to drinking themes. Whether it’s popular TV soaps and films set in iconic British pubs or issues of binge drinking. The latter a net result of generations being brought up in a society conditioned to drinking between narrow set hours of opening and closing. It was hoped the 2005 relaxing of Britain’s arcane 1914 licensing laws would help ease our speed drinking culture. However, even the Governments own think tank said the results have since been shown to be ‘mixed’. Professor David Nutt, One-time government chief drugs advisor. Said alcohol was cumulatively the country’s most harmful drug, yet at the same time, in societal terms, it’s most beneficial.
But time really was called on bar culture this year. When for the first time in history, Britain’s pubs closed their doors for months on end. Lockdown has now forced a re-evaluation of everything from the ‘when’ and ‘how’ we drink to the type of venues we want to do it in. This year has been about adapting our culture in ways that may never go back to what was before. Crisis coping like virtual pub nights over video links will certainly fade. However, a number of surveys point to the reluctance of the majority to return to all of the behaviours of the past.
“Through strikes and famine and war and peace Englands never lost its thirst for a pint”
There have been some temporary social distancing measures that may be hard to back away from. Cities with centuries old street layouts. Seeking to reopen bars, have had to consider pedestrianising some streets and set aside bans on outdoor drinking. Something campaigners have urged for years. Westminster Council in London who look after the vibrant streets of Soho. Have long resisted all attempts at opening up the area to street drinking. Now they have been forced into embracing such moves to help save the economy of the area.
Data from Nielson shows Brits consumed 1.3 billion litres of alcohol during the first 5 months of lockdown, which was almost half the 2 billion we drank at the same time last year. While the volume has gone down, the value has gone up. Brands in the standard categories have had pretty much no increase, especially beer. Premium brands in all drink categories however have seen a disproportionately strong rise in sales. That is except champagne, which saw a £9 million decline for the same period last year. Clearly a nice bottle of wine for tea is ok, but cracking open a bottle of bubbles is not fitting in with lockdown living.
There has also been a huge rise in alcohol delivery services. Often in bulk; boxes of 48 330ml cans and 5-litre mini-kegs suddenly popular. Often by suppliers who have never been in the market before. Many craft breweries have pivoted from trade sales to direct to consumers to keep their businesses afloat. While just after the start of lockdown, searches for beer delivery increased by 100% by the time some bars started to reopen in early July searches had dropped by 50%. It’s interesting that the highest increase in searches was from Northern cities, areas not traditionally served by delivery start-ups. So again in a post Covid world, there will be a huge new body of consumers very adept at home stocking premium booze without recourse to the grocery channel.
“But this was more a reflection of changes in the values of society rather than a rejection of the pub.”
In the past decades, British drinking culture had seen changes. The Office of National Statistics reporting that the number of pubs had declined from 52,500 in 2001 to 39,135 in 2019. But this was more a reflection of changes in the values of society rather than a rejection of the pub. Many of those venues closing served bland drink selections, in pretty grim suburban environments to a mainly older, white, male-dominated audience in parts of the country with a rapidly changing demographic.
Within large thriving urban centers like Manchester and Liverpool. Bars and cafes with drink licenses were thriving. Serving an egalitarian audience seeking a wide choice of drinks especially embracing new and upcoming brands. This to include a selection of low-and-no-alcohol options. A category currently seeing huge innovation and a large number of product launches from 0% beers to spirit and wine alternatives. CGA insights last year published a report into the UK’s low-and-no alcohol sector. Pointing out a sales rise of 48% with one in three adults ordering such a drink in a bar during the last 12 months. Valuing the UK market at £60 million.
Before lockdown began it had already been reported that for various cultural triggers; social shaming, the cult of the body, etc., we had a new generation growing up who did not uniformly seek alcoholic intoxication in public as a right of passage. Indeed health care professionals were much more worried by increases in at home drinking amongst the over 50s. Brands were worried by the under 25s lack of regard for the drink choices of previous generations.
“1 in 5 now said they were drinking less. Countered by the 1 in 3 drinking ‘slightly’ more.”
Lockdown has galvanised many casual social drinkers, those who said they only drink when out with friends. To either greatly reduce or stop altogether choosing alcohol. Backed by insights from the charity Alcohol Change UK who said 1 in 5 now said they were drinking less. Countered by the 1 in 3 drinking ‘slightly’ more. The latter group pretty much exclusively in the +45 age bracket.
So Covid has indeed accelerated both an age and behaviour split across the nation. Will these new habits continue? The Health Behaviour Research Center at UCL published a study in 2009 that showed it took from between 18 days and 8 months to embed permanent new routines into people's lives. Depending on the complexity of the task. The researchers found that most new habits like going to the gym took just 2 months of repetition to change long term behaviour. The British public has been adapting to their new drinking behaviours for coming on to 5 months now.
From the 1884 Fenian bombing of The Carlton Club in central London onwards, misguided fools have attempted to change the behaviours of the country by striking at the core of society. Our drinking culture. Through many, many bloody incidents of carnage in the decades since. Very little changed. But an invisible virus has spread across the population and appears to have broken a link in the heartland of the nation's psyche.
For brands seeking to engage consumers by reflecting society's values and interests, this is troubling. It will take bravery, innovation and great creativity to overcome. Sadly something that the advertising industry, following Covid led historic levels of redundancies, has in short supply right now.
