Selling Millennials Through Myths & Lies (Final Part 3)

Millennials Are Normal People?

This is the third of a three part series: Part 1, Part 2

If millennials are narcissistic, lazy, and entitled as described in our last post, you will need to quickly come up with some new marketing tactics. So instead of giving them a toaster for joining the wine club (a boomer era tactic), maybe you could give away a free mirror with every new account? Oh I know! What about giving away a tiara for the self-absorbed, and some Red Bull for the lazy ones?

The 2016 Wine Market Council's Findings Are Wrong

      WMC: "Millennials Consume 42% of all wine in America"

The Wine Market Council presented their annual 2016 roadshow in New York in January, and using the above slide announced with fanfare that Millennials are now the largest wine drinking population in America, consuming 42% of all wine and surpassing the boomers with 30% of total consumption. They also said Millennials were consuming 160 million cases compared to 114 million cases consumed for boomers (below right chart). 

To many of us in the business the facts appeared grossly exaggerated, but the media ran with the story because it was such a senstational headline. The long-awaited ascendance of the millennial had finally come we were told, and the articles proclaiming the fact hit the wires in waves:

• Millennials Top U.S. in Wine Consumption (CBS News)
• Millennials Come out on Top in U.S Wine Consumption (S.F. Chronicle)
• Millennials are Drinking More than Boomers (Fortune)

     WMC: "Millennials and Boomers Consume the Same Amount of Wine."

Inexplicably, six weeks later at their Yountville presentation, devoid of any supporting facts or charts, the WMC offered the following totally contradictory statement in their presentation:

"Boomers and Millennials today account for nearly the same amount of wine consumption and Millennials will soon account for decidedly more consumption."