Motivations & Emotions of customers

In this part we will focus on the customers, in order to understand who are these beers drinkers and to really understand what are their motivations and emotions. Also, we will see that they can have different habits, they won't drink beer the same way, at the same time, at the same place etc. But above all: what kind of emotions they are looking for?

Of course, beer drinkers are very different from one to another, but we still can link them thanks to some relations, emotions, they share.

What are their habits?

It is really important to understand when and where people are more likely to drink a beer. Most of them are drinking beer in a bar or at home with friends. So we can see here that we have beers in order to share a moment with friends or relatives, which is becoming a part of our social activity. They are looking for long talk with friends, to feel well surrounded with them, in a nice area where they feel comfortable. Also in many cases we can highlight that some consumers can be influenced in making their own choice, if a group of people that you are going to join is drinking beer, most of us will tend to drink beer as well, rather than other kinds of drinks. The habits we described are the same when you join friends at their place, how easy is it to brink a 6-pack? You can find it in any supermarket, you can handle it easily, and last but not least, it is cheaper than a good wine or hard alcohols.

So it is fair to say that beers are more favored than other alcohols in the mentioned moment. That is why, many brands will communicate on it, they will show this aspect of community, friendship, good time, etc. (1664 for instance)

When and how they drink it?

Also, for the consumption, French people, contrary to other people, don't really have this habit of drinking beer during lunch. That is why, the consumption will mainly be after work, or during week-ends in a bar or at home. Most of them will also drink beer by watching game on TV, in a bar or at home. Here again we can see that beer is really related to social links and the fact that a group of people is enjoying a moment. The example of watching game on TV with a beer seems to be really manly, but that should not let us leading to think that only men drink beer! More and more women are now assuming that they like beer and drink beer regularly! Many brands understood it really soon and created beers to target more women, such as Light Beers (Heineken), White Beer (1664) or no-alcohol beer!

What kind of emotions are the customers looking for?

We will all agree saying that drinking beer is an experience: customers are looking for a special moment to share. Deeply they want to create social links. In the customer's mind, having a beer, it is saying "cheers", it is the promise of spending the next 20 minutes drinking a not too strong but tasty drink, it is the promise to spend this time with people that you like, to talk about different subjects etc. When people buy beers to bring to someone's place, it is the knowledge that it will always be a right choice compared to other alcohols (ex: you can buy a wine that nobody likes, poor quality etc.). During an interview given to Bloomberg TV, Alexis Nasard, chief commercial officer of Heineken, while they were sponsoring the UEFA League, said that they sold 60% of emotions and 40% of beers. They are aware of the fact that people, depending on the occasion, will consume beers because it is related to an emotion, a feeling, as we have seen before. Here the video is showing that Heineken understood very well that people share beers, that there is this social link that is made by beers, so they decided to create an App dedicated on it, here is the video explaining the concept of the Heineken BFF (Beer For Friends): click here