I created Cold-filtered Miller Genuine Draft for Miller Brewing when management flailed away trying to create a "dry beer." The promise of dry beer was less beer aftertaste. I asked, "Have you EVER met a heavy Budweiser drinker who has a problem with the aftertaste of beer?"

I worked with Anheuser-Busch to examine the development of "beer for women" two times. In both instances, "dry beer" and "beer for women" were solutions looking for problems.

Great advice for the beer companies!

I think that women who DO like beer like the same sort of beers men like. Not some pseudo girly beer.

In fact, I know women who out beer me -- that is, going in for porter, etc.

Nicely said. I'm amused at these big beer companies trying to solve the perceived problem that women don't like beer. Plenty of women like drinking beer and always have. If some women today are a little turned off by some beer brands perhaps it has to do more with a lifetime of seeing beer marketed with scantily clad women to lager slobbering oafs than the beverage itself.

Just like any product - there are people who will use/buy it and there are people who don't - and those people who don't are not your market. Ideally, the people who do use/buy your product will nudge others into also becoming customers, but why, why, why mess around with the good thing you've got brewing to make lame attempts at convincing non-beer-drinkers to drink something sort of like beer? Glad so many of you are in agreement. Male and female beer drinkers of the world unite!

Bryce,

I think you are on to something, there, a lot of beer marketing is directly offensive to women.

I live in Portland, OR, and you would have to be a fool here to make a beer ad for a craft micro brew that offended women.

Premium product = no tasteless ads. Thank God.

I saw the announcement for the new beverage as well.

Heineken is a national past time out here!

It is a much different drinking culture here than in the US.

Drinking is much more evident as there are no "open bottle" laws - you can drink anytime and anywhere. What is remarkable is that it doesn't get out of hand. (Lax the drinking laws in the US and you'd have drunken rumbles in the streets).

If I have the opportunity to try the product, I'll let you know what it is like... (although *that* is not what this post is about).

Finally... as a marketer I find it interesting that - in targeting women - instead of the traditional macho 'phallic' tap, they've chosen a sexy 'yonic' tap.

Where is Heineken's source for their Charli ad stat: "63% of women don't like beer"? I'm one of the so-called 37% of women who do. I'm a New Yorker now, via San Francisco; born and raised in Arkansas and the Midwest where women drink beer. Living in Northern California for 15 years, land of great micro brews, I became sort of a beer snob. So in NY, when everyone else (regardless of gender) is fussing over the wine list, I'm annoyed that most places don't have an extensive micro-brew selection (they usually have none). My non-scientific analysis is that at least 63% of women in Northern California like beer (and those women who can afford specialty beers are, presumably, Heineken’s target market). Of those guesstimated 63% of females / beer aficionados, roughly 99% would turn their noses up at sampling Charli. I’ve never tried sparkling [hard?] cider, and believe me--the Charli campaign won't entice me to switch teams. The ads make Charli "beer" look like a watered-down, sickeningly sweet, tasteless, pinked-down product. The campaign was probably spawned by a bunch of old guys who refer to accomplished women of all ages as “girls” (no offense to the majority of men who know better!). If anything, after having been made aware of the Charli campaign, I'll institute a personal boycott of Heineken products. Debra Condren, Women’s Business Alliance

Debra,

A pint of a good micro brew costs maybe $3.50 or so. It is a bit more than Bud or whatever but not too expensive. Your idea that it is the same demographic that Heineken would want seems correct to me.

I'd like to know what their sample size was and how random it was? Or was if of a specific demographic(s)? More details needed.

Debra,

To add further wait to your demographic argument, Heineken (Greenie) has been in the preppy lexicon for a long time. There is considerable overlap between micro brew drinkers and those who would order a Greenie.

And some women probably don't have access to good micro brews and would love to order a Greenie if someone would speak to them. But is it the same woman who would order a Bud or a girly, pseudo beer? I doubt it.

Paul,

How is the drinking culture of The Netherlands different than the U.S. other than the open container laws.

I've been to Amsterdam (and other places in The Netherlands) several times and don't see a dramatic difference but, then again, I was just a visitor.

Re: "Where is Heineken's source for their Charli ad stat: '63% of women don't like beer'? And Neil's comment: "I'd like to know what their sample size was and how random it was? Or was if of a specific demographic(s)?"

Perhaps it was 63% of women employed at Heineken (?).

There IS something here - as I bet there are a lot of women who haven't commented (thanks Debra!) who feel the same way. Men and women who like beer, especially if that is $3.50 or more level beer, as you point out, Neil, will likely drink a lot of the same beer and if they drink different beers, it is personal taste and NOT GENDER that influenced that choice. And, Paul - I did notice that ridiculous "female" tap mentioned in the Charli news story. You are dead on. Who was the marketer that thought that one up...? Oh brother...

It's interesting to see the responses here from women who love beer. The reaction seems to be, "I like beer, therefore most women must like beer." It's simply wrong.

As a man who loves beer, I've often tried to convince the women in my life to learn to enjoy the beverage. It's not that I don't know any women who love beer--in fact I've know some hardcore female beer snobs.

Here's what I've noticed about the women who don't like beer:

Many of them DO like "girly drinks" and will say so openly, with an ironic laugh. A lot of them liked Smirnoff Ice. They say they don't like beer's taste. They simply prefer something sweeter-tasting.

However, I've noticed that when I can convince some of these women to try a beer, just like me what they enjoy is something with TASTE, not NECESSARILY a sweet beer. Then again, anything remotely bitter is out.

Remember that beer is usually an acquired taste, and I think the macho stereotype goes a long way to helping men acquire it. I had my first taste of beer when I was five years old and my dad offered me a sip. He insisted I wouldn't like it, but I grasped instinctively that it was a sign of manhood, and convinced myself that I loved the taste. It was only years later that I began to really appreciate good beer, but it takes enough first trials to make most people enjoy beer.

As a *product* I think this new drink might have a chance. As I saw from the introduction of Smirnoff Ice, there's always a market for something you can order like a beer, but isn't. The other advantage is that they're not going to cannibalize their real beer--this will appeal to a demographic they're not reaching (the "63% of women who don't like Heineken").

The marketing is another story. I don't think the tap would work here in Canada; then again, I'm not sure anyone would really notice. As for the marketing as a "girly beer," it's really hard to say. As I said, the women who like beer don't want it. The question is whether the women who openly prefer "girly drinks" can be convinced to buy a beer at all. The other problem is that it's not just women who don't like beer. By marketing it as a women's drink, they're alienating all the guys who might enjoy a lighter drink.

Byron, as man who loves beer, I have had the opposite experience: a lot of women enjoy a good pint as much me.

However, I have noticed that women seem to tend more toward the sweeter mixed drinks than men.

I like dry wines and drinks not sweet.

Wow. I had not even noticed the tap until now. How blatantly sexual.

Well, I guess that is how beer has been marketed to men, too.

In all cases, it seems like we are looking at our own anecdotal experiences about who we know to drink/like beer. I happen to know a lot of women who do and, as you say, Byron, you tend to know a lot of women who do not. So, to your point - and to Neil's.. some people (of both/all genders) like sweeter drinks. It may not be safe to assume anything gender-specific here, for example: that "most" women like sweet drinks or that most men prefer non-sweet drinks. If such research has been done, its interpretation likely goes whatever way the brand/industry that paid for it wants it to go. I'm 100% with you, Byron, in that by making Charli overtly a "girly" drink, any guy who might want a lighter/sweeter drink is excluded. Back to anecdotes for a minute - very few women OR men I know personally, even if they liked sweet drinks/lighter beer, would actually be caught dead drinking or ordering such a thing as Charli in public.

So, this Charli product may more likely be alienating a fair number of female beer drinkers as well as a number of male drinkers along the way. Will it be worth it for Heineken?