So after just receiving an email from Johnnie Walker to participate in a local event they are having to promote their hooch, I decided I’d check out the site. First thing I notice: age related “filter” to keep out the youngsters (although I’ve never heard of an under-21 year old dumb enough not to know how to figure out how to get around this…). Anyway, this gave me an idea: why don’t these alcohol companies use this data to customize the output of their sites? So if you’re in the coveted 21-25 year age group, you’re more likely to drink X type of alcohol, so why not customize the site to appeal to your current visitor?
This baffles me as to why they aren’t doing this already (and if they are, then kudos to you web team at big booze company). They could also use this technique to pitch new products aimed at that demographic. Now imagine they take it one step further, and figure someone from a zipcode in Alabama in the 30-40 age range is likely to drink Jim Beam instead of Blue Label Johnnie (fair assumption, no offense), now you’ve got an entirely new level of targetting. Anyway, I’m not going to rant much more on what is essentially A/B testing and optimizing their ROI, but it would be a wise decision.
P.S. if you’re from any of these companies, my contact info is on the site, feel free to send me a case of….
I work with alcohol and pharmaceutical companies on web work daily, their legal teams are pretty crazy about such things. Most want to know if you’re of age and are extremely careful about storing any data.
They definitely target their marketing as you touch on above, but largely when someone visits an alcohol site, it’s for a specific brand. Consumers rarely visit the distributor site such as Diageo, unless driven there by some other means.
I’m waiting on some of the higher end alcohols and wines to build online communities for discussing a particular year of wine, batch of whiskey (single barrel jack bottles come with a unique number), etc.
I work with alcohol and pharmaceutical companies on web work daily, their legal teams are pretty crazy about such things. Most want to know if you’re of age and are extremely careful about storing any data.
They definitely target their marketing as you touch on above, but largely when someone visits an alcohol site, it’s for a specific brand. Consumers rarely visit the distributor site such as Diageo, unless driven there by some other means.
I’m waiting on some of the higher end alcohols and wines to build online communities for discussing a particular year of wine, batch of whiskey (single barrel jack bottles come with a unique number), etc.