8 Trends That Will Drive Summer Alcohol Marketing
From tequila to hemp, what’s hot at beaches, ballparks and bars-and how brands are pitching new offerings
The summer drinking season may not officially begin until Memorial Day weekend, but alcohol brands have already set their lineups-and their marketing plans. This year there will be plenty of variety among hot categories that range from tequila interpretations to packaging innovations, and a lot of fruity but flat ready to-drink options.
5. Beachy RTDs
Led by the phenomenal success of Gallo’s High Noon, spirits-based ready-to-drink products continued to gain popularity last year, with U.S. sales up by 26.8%, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.
One of last year’s biggest winners was Surfside, a vodka-based hard tea and lemonade brand from the Pennsylvania vodka company Stateside. A deal to be the official RTD vodka iced tea of the Philadelphia Phillies helped spread word “down the shore” as cases sold grew by 563% in 2023, the company said.
Now the company is adding five new flavors and has expanded availability to 48 states-up from 20 at the beginning of this year and eight at the start of 2023. It’s also made new stadium deals with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Guardians, Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates, and has been named the official RTD Vodka Iced Tea and Vodka Lemonade of Minor League Baseball.
Among those looking to get in on that growth is Sun Cruiser, a new vodka-based iced tea from Boston Beer Co. Like Surfside-and High Noon-Sun Cruiser evokes a beachy feel and promotes four flavors in an easy drinking 4.5% ABV with 100 calories per can.
