For decades now, beer has been marketed to men as the social drink necessary for relaxation after a hard day’s work. But women want to relax and socialize with their friends when they’re off the clock, too. They like to have a drink after work or after dealing with the kids all day, yet when you think about it, there’s not really a drink that is the female equivalent of beer.
Wine maker Chateau Ste. Michelle is leading the charge to make wine the woman’s beer, so to speak. A recent Gallup poll already suggests it’s a good idea. Women account for more than 58 percent of wine buyers, and 52 percent of women prefer wine as their drink of choice over beer or liquor. By contrast, only 20 percent of men said they drink wine most often.
You may say “See? the stats say wine is most certainly the after-work drink of choice for women.” However, if you really think about it, how often do you see advertisements depicting wine as a drink that helps you unwind after a stressful day? Most wine ads seem to depict people having a glass at a cocktail party rather than portraying a group of women in professional attire socializing while sitting at a bar, each with a glass of Chardonnay in front of them.
In order to advance this idea that wine should be the preferred post-work beverage, Chateau Ste. Michelle is taking a bit of a different approach to its advertising campaign. Instead of buying ads in what some may consider “guilty pleasure” media, such as gossip magazines, it will market to women in periodicals they read more for their informative qualities and less for entertainment purposes. For example, Chateau Ste. Michelle will buy ads in Parents as opposed to People.
Chateau Ste. Michelle knows women are the market it needs to pursue, and it should be interesting to see how this campaign marketing to women pans out.
FletcherPR is a national communications firm that specializes in reaching women through the power of media. Headquartered in Knoxville, TN with staff in Nashville & Los Angeles, we are a full-service agency providing strategic public relations, social media and marketing communications services to our clients throughout the U.S.