Drinks PR Strategy: How to earn media coverage beyond product launches

For any brand building a year-round drinks PR strategy, launching something new gives an obvious reason to spark the interest of the media. A new flavour, format or range can provide a strong hook, but what happens when there isn’t a launch or any product development in the pipeline?

The brands that consistently earn attention don’t rely on a stream of new products to stay visible. They create relevant stories around the world their brand exists in, finding fresh reasons to contribute to cultural conversations, consumer trends and the wider drinks sector.

For a successful drinks PR strategy, the question shouldn’t always be “What are we launching?” but “What do we have to say?”

Here are some of the ways drinks brands can build a stronger year-round media story.

Turn consumer behaviour into a story

Some of the strongest media opportunities start with understanding how, when and why people are drinking.

Changes in socialising, moderation, flavour preferences and drinking occasions can all provide useful territory for brands – particularly when there is genuine insight behind them.

Edinburgh Gin used consumer research to tap into the growing spicy cocktail trend, revealing that 58% of Gen Z and 55% of millennials had become more adventurous with food and drink. Combined with expert commentary and recipes from Sunday Brunch’s Portia Freeman, the research allowed the brand to tell a much bigger lifestyle story around the launch of its Spicy Chilli & Lime Liqueur, rather than relying on the new product alone to generate interest.

The principle applies beyond launches too. Understanding what consumers are doing differently can give brands a reason to enter a conversation even when there is nothing new on the shelf.

Good data gives journalists something interesting to talk about – and gives brands a credible reason to be part of the story.

Have an opinion on your category

Many drinks brands are sitting on expertise they rarely use externally.

Founders, distillers, winemakers, brewers, bartenders and other experts can provide informed commentary on everything from changing drinking habits and emerging flavours to sustainability, hospitality and the future of the category.

This can create opportunities for:

• Reactive commentary and newsjacking
• Thought leadership and opinion pieces
• Trend predictions
• Expert interviews
• Trade media features

The important part is having something meaningful to say.

Generic commentary rarely cuts through. A clear viewpoint backed by genuine experience and evidence gives journalists a reason to come back to your brand when the next relevant story lands.

Find your place in culture

Drinks are inherently social, giving brands a natural connection to culture – from food and music to sport, travel and major events.

The strongest opportunities come when that connection feels authentic.

The key is to identify the cultural spaces your brand has a genuine right to play in – and create stories and experiences that strengthen that connection over time.

Create occasions rather than waiting for them

Christmas, Valentine’s Day and summer may offer obvious drinks media hooks, but the calendar is full of smaller opportunities too. Brands can also create or own occasions based on changing consumer behaviour.

Waitrose shopping data showed an unexpected surge in wintry comfort food at the height of summer, with sales of cottage pie up 110% and chicken & ham gratin up 68%. We used the trend as an opportunity for Faustino to champion ‘roast-ready wines’, giving the brand an ownable occasion that tapped into what consumers were already doing.

Rather than waiting for a traditional summer wine hook, the data gave Faustino permission to create a new one.

Think about the other occasions surrounding your consumer rather than simply the established marketing dates. Could a brand own a particular type of dinner party? A Friday night ritual? The first barbecue of the year? A sporting occasion? A particular cocktail moment?

Creating an ownable occasion gives brands something they can return to year after year – and potentially build into a recognisable piece of brand behaviour.

It also moves the story away from “here is our drink” towards “here is an interesting way people are drinking it.”

That is a much more useful proposition for lifestyle media.

Use partnerships to open up new audiences

The right collaboration can take a drinks brand into media spaces it wouldn’t normally reach.

Chefs, restaurants, fashion brands, artists, musicians, sportspeople and creators can all provide opportunities to introduce the brand to a different community.

But a logo swap isn’t enough.

Successful collaborations need a strong creative idea and a genuine reason for the two worlds to come together. Does the partnership reveal something interesting about the brand? Will it create something people genuinely want to experience or share? Does it give journalists a story they wouldn’t otherwise have? And can it reach audiences beyond traditional drinks media?

When the answer is yes, partnerships can create both immediate coverage and longer-term cultural relevance.

Make your existing assets work harder

Not every media story needs to start from scratch.

Brands often already have potentially valuable PR material sitting within the business: heritage, production methods, unusual ingredients, founder stories, archive material, customer behaviour or specialist expertise.

The challenge is finding a new lens. Sometimes the strongest story is already there – it just needs rediscovering.

A year-round drinks PR strategy: be interesting, not just new

A new product is only news once. A brand with a distinctive perspective – and the ability to contribute to or create relevant conversations – can earn attention all year round.

Treat earned media as an ongoing brand-building tool rather than something switched on whenever there’s another bottle to launch.

We help drinks brands uncover the stories, insights and cultural opportunities that keep them relevant beyond launch day.

Want to build a drinks PR strategy that keeps your brand in the conversation? Get in touch with our team.

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