Brief:

• Mike's Hard Lemonade, the brand of flavored malt beverages, partnered with alcohol-delivery app Drizly on a new campaign aimed at millennials. The "Drink on the Bright Side" campaign features a sweepstakes to win a house party hosted by rapper and comedian Lil Dicky, the company announced in a press release. 

• The brand kicked off the sweepstakes by surprising a Drizly user in Brooklyn, N.Y., with a visit from Lil Dicky, who accompanied a driver from a Drizly-affiliated store to deliver a few cases of Mike’s products. The "Deliver the Unexpected" sweepstakes will run through August 24.

• The campaign, which also includes a video on YouTube chronicling the Brooklyn delivery, is in the same spirit of celebrating fun and happiness that has defined Mike’s efforts to reach millennial males this year. The beverage company in May shifted its marketing to reach 25- to 29-year-olds with the slogan “Drink on the Bright Side.”

Insight:

Mike’s Hard Lemonade clearly recognizes the power of mobile apps to reach millennials who rely heavily on smartphone devices and spend a significant amount of time in popular apps.

The popularity of bars has declined, which opens an opportunity for apps like Drizly to reach people who would rather drink at home. One in six neighborhood bars have closed since 2004, according to Nielsen. While alcohol delivery startups like Drizly were early to see an opportunity to meet the needs of younger consumers brought up with on-demand services, the space is now attracting some big brands. MillerCoors and IPG recently teamed up to launch a beer home-delivery service, while Dom Perignon rolled out one-hour delivery last month. 

Drizly’s expansion into 70 U.S. cities among 25 states has given the company up-to-the-minute insights on consumer buying patterns of beer, wine and spirits. The company in July opened its database of transaction information compiled from the past four years to the public. The Drizly Data Distillery provides insights into buying patterns that can help marketers to assess the effectiveness of their promotional campaigns.

Beer is the most popular category among millennials, making up 30% of alcohol consumption for the 21 to 34 age group, ahead of wine and spirits, according to Nielsen data. 

Men are also more likely than women to drink beer in bars.  Forty-four percent of women surveyed said they drink beer in “on-premise” settings, compared with two-thirds of men. Nearly 25% of 21- to 25-year-old women haven’t been out for a drink in the past three months, Brewbound reported, citing Nielsen data.