Pink Beer

Faced with declining sales, U.K. breweries are trying to make “a world where women love beer as much as they love shoes,” reports Aaron O. Patrick in the Wall Street Journal (8/19/08). It’s a tall order, given research showing that women tend to prefer wine or vodka to beer, which they view as both stinky and fattening. Coors has created a special unit, called Eve, “to develop beer brands and marketing techniques appealing to women.” An early effort involves a pub push with its Blue Moon label, “with touches like serving it with an orange slice to accentuate its fruity taste.”

Funny thing, Blue Moon has long been promoted the same way in the U.S. — to men. And even though women say they don’t like beer because it’s fattening, one pub is coating its oranges in brown sugar. A 209-year-old brewery called Greene King meanwhile is introducing “a beer for women called St Edmunds.” Its twist is that it is “stored colder than most beers, giving it a crisp taste that appeals to women.” And then there’s Guinness Red, which “tastes sweeter and doesn’t have as strong an aroma as traditional Guinness.” Frank Donlon, a pub manager, says the only problem is that women haven’t been informed of the difference.

“Advertising would help explain that it’s like a watered-down Guinness,” says Frank. “A TV ad would be good.” Diageo, which makes Guinness Red, says it is indeed advertising it in some local markets. Despite such efforts, analysts say “it is unlikely that brewers can reverse the decline in beer sales” simply because women “don’t consume the volume … that men do.” As it now stands just “13 percent of U.K. women regularly buy beer, compared with 25 percent in the U.S.,” according to Taylor Nelson Sofres. “And overall, beer sales fell about 4.5 percent in the second quarter to 7.85 million barrels” versus a year ago, reports the British Beer & Pub Association. ~ Tim Manners, editor