Diageo rocks the boat with mid-strength launch ⛵

It’s been interesting seeing the backlash to Diageo’s mid-strength launch this week… For the past few years, the industry has been excessively talking about moderation, consumers changing drinking habits and offering people more choice. Now one of the biggest drinks companies in the world is putting real weight behind a trio of mid-strength ABV products from the behemoth brands that are Smirnoff, Captain Morgan and Gordon’s, and it’s being met with harsh criticism.

You don’t have to be a fan of the product to see what Diageo is trying to do here, mid-strength drinks offer people another way to enjoy familiar brands and serves, but just with less alcohol. That feels quite different from simply telling people to drink less (which generally speaking, people are less inclined to do!).
We’ve already seen how spritzes, RTDs and low & no have responded to changing occasions, so mid-strength feels like another step in that direction of putting mid-strength firmly into the mainstream conversation.

From our side, it’s good to see big drinks companies leading the category in this direction, which will give more opportunity to already established, smaller mid-strength brands.

We’ll be watching the space closely to see what happens next and of course getting our hands on a few bottles for a future hashtag#SlurpOrSkip.