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Should Anyone Advertise Alcohol?

8/27/2022

24 Comments

 
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by David Hagenbuch - professor of Marketing at Messiah University -
​author of 
Honorable Influence - founder of Mindful Marketing 

Drive slower, pay taxes, vote — While we expect governments to tell us to do those things, we wouldn’t imagine they’d urge more alcohol intake, yet that’s exactly what one of the world’s leading nations is doing.  Why a country would encourage sipping more sake is an interesting question, but it begs a much bigger one:  Is it possible to promote alcohol responsibly?
 
The nation imploring intoxication probably isn’t one you’d expect — Japan.  The world’s third largest economy and a leader in culture and industry has uncorked a contest called “Sake Viva” that asks citizens in their 20s and 30s for new ways to make and market alcoholic beverages.  The term sake refers to both a Japanese rice wine and to alcohol in general.
 
Most of us are familiar with the risks of excessive alcohol consumption, which can lead to everything from disease (heart, liver), to poor mental health (depression, dementia), to social problems (broken relationships, unemployment), to DUI accidents (serious injury, death),  all of which enact high financial and other costs on a country.  So, why would Japan intentionally invite these expenses?
 
Ironically, the answer is money.  As many governments have experienced, Japan is dealing with decreased tax revenue, partly because of an aging population and shrinking tax base but also because consumption of one of its most highly taxed products, alcohol, has been declining.
 
In the mid-1990s, alcohol consumption in Japan averaged over 26 gallons per person — a number that by 2020 dropped by about a third.  What’s more, as younger Japanese are drinking less than their elders, the sobering trend seems likely to continue.
 
In only one year, from 2019 to 2020, tax revenue from liquor sales fell by $813 million, which was “the largest decline in three decades — and a cause for alarm for a government facing broad fiscal challenges.”
 
Given that in many countries, alcohol advertising is commonplace – on television, in magazines, and on billboards – why have many taken issue with Sake Viva on social media?  The backlash seems to be based not so much on the message but who’s delivering it.
 
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Ryo Tanabe, a Japanese man in his 30s, expressed this sentiment in an interview with NPR:  “The fact that the National Tax Agency is doing this makes it a different story. I feel something is wrong with it. I understand they need the tax revenue, but I don't think they have to go this far.”
 
Tanabe’s reticence about his government advocating more alcohol consumption is easy to appreciate, especially given the increased individual and collective costs excess liquor can levy and the fact that we expect our governments to protect us, not put us in harm’s way.
 
But, if promoting alcohol is bad, should anybody be doing it?  Claiming it’s okay for some to advertise alcohol but not others, seems a little like saying certain people can lie or cheat, but others shouldn’t.  If something is wrong for one, shouldn’t it be wrong for all?
 
I have to admit that alcohol advertising is a difficult issue for me to approach objectively.  My personal choice is not to drink, and I work for a university that maintains a dry campus.  Over the years, I’ve also written several pieces about potential alcohol abuse by marketers, including:
  • Natural Light Imitates Art
  • Alcohol Ads and College Athletics Don't Mix
  • Coopting Commencement
 
Still, I have friends and family members who drink, and I respect their choices.  I also remind myself and other Christians that Jesus’s first miracle was turning water into wine.  There were likely then and there are now many people who subscribe to different worldviews and drink responsibly, in moderation, posing little or no risk to themselves or others.
 
There’s also scientific evidence that small amounts of certain alcohol, e.g., a glass of wine, hold some health benefits.
 
So, it’s possible to argue that it’s moral to consume alcohol in moderation, which suggests that it’s also acceptable to produce it for others to consume.  But does this moral leeway also mean that alcohol producers can advertise their products?
 
As I’ve considered advertising, which is paid-for mass communication by an identified sponsor, I’ve often thought that if society allows production of an item, it should also permit its promotion, within reason; otherwise, a moral contraction handcuffs the producer — it’s very difficult for most products to succeed without advertising.
 
That doesn’t mean, though, that any advertising goes.  A product like alcohol, in particular, shouldn’t be promoted to the wrong people (e.g., children), in the wrong places (e.g., near schools), or in the wrong ways (e.g., associated with athletic performance).

Another wrong way to promote alcohol or any product is to suggest its excessive use.  Whether it’s food, or clothes, or entertainment, too much of even a good thing can cause people harm.
 
As suggested above, alcohol poses greater risk when consumed in excess than do most products, which brings us back to Japan’s Sake Viva campaign: Encouraging people to drink more, is tantamount to promoting drinking in excess, given that for most people the middle ground between current consumption and intoxication is likely very narrow at best.
 
On the other hand, alcohol producers can advertise their individual brands without necessarily encouraging consumers to drink more.  The reason lies in the difference between primary and secondary demand, or demand for a product category versus demand for a particular brand.
 
In this comparative ad for Miller Lite, for instance, the beer claims to have “more taste and only one more calorie than Michelob Ultra.”  Miller Lite isn’t encouraging people to drink more alcohol, rather it’s asking them to switch their beer purchases from its competitor.
 
Given my personal consumption preference, I wouldn’t choose to promote alcohol, but I can understand how others might in order to support demand for specific brands.  I can’t comprehend, however, how a country, tasked with protecting its citizens’ well-being, can promote more drinking.  Encouraging excessive consumption of any kind equals “Mindless Marketing.”
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Are There Rules When Everyone's an Endorser?

8/13/2022

6 Comments

 
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by David Hagenbuch - professor of Marketing at Messiah University -
​author of 
Honorable Influence - founder of Mindful Marketing 

There was a time when only celebrities and aspiring actors were spokespeople.  Now the friend you’re having lunch with tomorrow may, unbeknownst to you, have an endorsement deal.  It’s nice that company sponsorship has been democratized, but with so many people pushing products, how can consumers survive the promotional onslaught?
 
The great expansion of spokespeople hit home for me a few months ago during a discussion about personal branding in our university's capstone marketing course.  As we considered the notion that those present might be future endorsers, a student in the front row spoke up, “Do you know Rachel Delate?  She’s already endorsing products.”  A classmate quickly added, “Yeah, she has a deal with Body Armor.”
 
A year earlier, Rachel was in my intro to marketing class where she distinguished herself as a strong student.  She’s also a very good lacrosse player, e.g., first team All-Conference, first team All-Region, third team All-American.  After the NCAA’s recent relaxation of rules involving name, image, and likeness (NIL), that talent put her in a position to accept endorsement deals.
 
Besides Body Armor, Rachel also has enjoyed sponsorship experiences with TreadBands, Barstool Sports, and LiquidIV, which have provided her with a variety of branded gear.  She says the experiences have been very worthwhile, as she summarizes in a sentence, “I’ve had the opportunity to connect with awesome brands and people and receive cool stuff!”
 
Knowing Rachel, I’m confident she’s a responsible influencer, but what about many others who have suddenly become spokespeople and might be looking to make quick money, not caring much about what they’re selling or to whom.  How should they see their roles?  But first, how did we get to this point of influencer inundation?
 
The rapid rise in number of endorsers has been the result of a perfect storm of at least three interwoven social trends and economic incentives.
 
First, over the last several years, new ecommerce platforms and tools have made it relatively easy and inexpensive to operate online shops, which has encouraged many people to start, run, and promote their own businesses.
 
Second, there’s been a steady increase in influencer marketing due mainly to the seismic shift from traditional media to social media.  Advertisers have always needed to be where consumers are, which has recently meant firms moving money from the likes of NBC and the New York Times to an up-and-coming influencers’ TikTok and YouTube channels.
 
Third, crypto currencies and NFTs, two new categories of virtual products that were virtually unknown a few years ago, have offered an array of endorsement opportunities not only because they’re new but because many people still don’t know exactly what they are and, therefore, lean on endorsers to guide them.
 
It’s this third trend that recently grabbed product endorsement-related headlines, but not for good reasons:
  • Bloomberg described “the disastrous record of celebrity crypto endorsements,” such as that of actor Matt Damon who plugged cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, only to see Bitcoin’s price plummet by 60%.
  • BuzzFeed News reported that the watchdog group Truth in Advertising warned Jimmy Fallon, Gwyneth Paltrow, and fifteen other celebrities that they violated Federal Trade Commission guidelines by failing to disclose on social media their money-making connections to certain NFTs.
 
The proliferation of new and experienced influencers playing fast and loose with their referral power, makes me wonder:  Have we entered the Wild West of product pitching where laws are lacking and consumers must take their protection into their own hands?
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Hopefully, most influencers will have the conviction to self-regulate.  For those who are so morally and professionally inclined, here are four best practices for product endorsement:
 
1. Know the product:  An endorsement is basically a recommendation.  People want recommendations because there’s something they don’t know well, and they’d like someone who’s more knowledgeable to guide them.
 
For that reason, every endorser should be very familiar with the product and/or company they’re recommending; otherwise, they’ll fail to offer value or worse, they might mislead the people who are trusting them for help.
 
2. Believe in the product:  Although information is very important, head knowledge is only half the product-endorsement equation.  Spokespeople should also believe in the merits of what they advocate.
 
Several years ago, a reporter asked basketball great LeBron James how he had improved his game and physique over the off-season.  James unwittingly replied that he stopped eating at McDonalds, which was one of his main sponsors at the time.  James’ slip underscores the fact that knowing about a product is not the same as believing in it.  Endorsers shouldn’t recommend to others products they wouldn’t want for themselves.
 
3. Ensure the product is a good fit for the target market:  Notwithstanding the previous point, there are instances in which endorsers don’t use the products they’re recommending because they’re not in the target market.  In those cases, it is especially important that influencers understand the needs of those who do use the product.
 
For example, doctors often prescribe pharmaceuticals they’ve never tried.  They can recommend them with confidence, however, because they’ve read the drug studies and believe in the companies that provide them; then, knowing their patients’ medical histories and symptoms, they can project with some certainty that their patients will benefit from them.
 
4. Disclose your relationship with the organization:  From native advertising to salespeople acting as if they’re customers, one of the greatest deceits in business occurs when marketing promotion tries to pretend it’s not.
 
Advertising and personal selling are useful tools from which consumers can gain very helpful information; however, people need to know when the information source is objective (e.g., a fellow transit rider) versus compensated by a company (e.g., an online product reviewer who receives the items for free).  It’s difficult for anyone to be unbiased about an organization that’s paying them, which isn’t necessarily a problem provided consumers know the relationship.
 
Developments in areas such as deepfake video, the metaverse, and NIL, give reason to be both excited and anxious about the future of marketing influence.  Endorsers who see their roles as involving both individual opportunity and social responsibility will likely be promoters of “Mindful Marketing.”
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Subscribe to Mindful Matters blog.
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 and Vote your Mind!
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    David Hagenbuch,
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    Mindful Marketing    & author of Honorable Influence

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