Project Y-ine: Millennial Drinking Study takes to the Road
The drinking habits of millennials are about to be examined with the kind of minutia that only Web 2.0 can provide. Shana Ray and Ashley Routsonare about to hit the Road for an extended, soup to nuts examination of what, when, where, how and why millennials drink what we do. Project Y-ine is going to get its kicks on Route 66.
When the Road Trip call went out, Ray and Routson (The Beer Wench) were quick to answer. Wineries, breweries and distillers around the world understand that Generation Y is where the money is. We’re the love child of the Baby Boomers. While we may be the most sought after consumer market in history, we are also the most condescended. Our stereotypes are legendary. Tell us you love us. “We need to hear how loved and adorable we are and Sorry, can you repeat that, I was updating my Facebook status.” Thank you Dan Mascai. Needless to say, the research that the girls are going to bring in will undoubtedly have suppliers curious.
We think the Project Y-ine road trip is brilliant. Facebook status and Tweets from two girls on a mission like this are bound to be pretty special. It’s retro Lavenre and Shirley with a contemporary dose of Raoul Duke and his attorney thrown in for good measure.
Seriously, how much fun is this going to be? Mobile upload here we come. This is exactly why we were so excited to reach out to them for the interview.
The concept is off the charts creative. What inspired you to make this a road trip about millennial drinking preferences?
This idea has been marinating in my heard for a while now. A few years back I worked at a marketing agency on an account for a large winebrand. I was put in charge of creating their yearly marketing plan, including suggested promotions for each quarter and extensive research into their target, Millennial (or Generation Y) women who are online (note, this was before Twitter was a household name and Facebook had just opened to the public).
I noticed that much of the research I found contradicted itself (including paid market reach sites) as well as with how my own Gen Y friends felt about wine. Though, growing up in Sonoma County, where some people come from winery families, I knew that we were not the typical consumers of wine. My job, as an Account Planner at the agency, was to get into the heads of consumers and as an atypical consumer of wine, I could attempt to do this, but never be as successful as I would be if I ventured out and talked to consumers outside of the wine country.
This is where Project Y-ine was born (well not the name, but the idea). One of the promotions I wanted to do centered on traveling around the United States, conducting interviews with members of Generation Y about what goes through their minds when they purchase wine. The idea was to create educational yet humorous YouTube videos appealing to the target and sponsored by the brand. The information gathered would also be used so that everyone working in the marketing department could easily get into the mindset of the target audience.
It didn’t work out at the time, which is great for me, because now I am a freelance consultant and have the bandwidth to venture out to do this study on my own.
Why you and the Beer Wench?
After years of blogging about life in Sonoma County and wine, I decided this past March to start talking to people about my idea. I told a few people here and there to find out what they thought and all agreed that this could be an amazing study that could change the way brands market themselves.
Then the Murphy Goode job search was announced…. So I decided to wait on pursuing the study, while all attention in the wine world was on this promotion.
All along I knew that this was not a project that I could do alone. During the Wine Bloggers Conference a few weeks ago, I met up with Ashley Routson and I told her more about the idea.
It just so happened that she planned on moving from her home in Tampa, FL to the San Francisco Bay Area. She and I decided that if we did not jump on the chance to start this project when she already was going to drive out here, that we might not have the opportunity to do so in the future.
Thus Project Y-ine became a reality and Saturday, August 15, 2009 I will be flying out to Florida to start our first trip of the project. We will be traveling across the country for two weeks from Tampa, FL throughout the South (New Orleans, Houston & Austin, the Southern Wine Region of New Mexico, Phoenix and Los Angeles) back up to San Francisco, CA.
The Wench, Rob Bralow, Shana Ray
Project Y-ine will be the first social media exposé on this generation and their wine and beer preferences, concerns, habits, issues, desires, etc. The research and findings will be documented in an interactive, social media based journal of the experience, utilizing several online platforms to capture the experience – including blogging, video-blogging, tweeting, facebooking, twitpic’ing, etc.
Another aspect of the project will be a Road Rules style trip, where Ashley and I will be visit breweries, wineries and retail establishments along the way and have them to put us to work for a day or two.
Ashley is also much more than a Twitter addict and beer lover. She holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees (Psychology & Criminology) from Ohio State University, has worked in the marketing food, beverage & hospitality industries and is a beer writer at drinkwiththewench.com. She is a smart, savvy woman and has no problem asking anyone to take a survey.
She also added another aspect of this study. While I originally started wanting to just focus on wine, she wanted to broaden the spotlight to both wine and beer. Being that she is the “Beer Wench” and the fact that while wine is increasing in popularity, beer is still the alcoholic beverage of choice for twenty-something’s, I happily agreed.
Do you see this as some Jack Kerouac meets Thelma and Louise fueled ode to millennial drinking habits and what do you hope those of us who are following take from it?
Because we are both very energetic, passionate and can be a bit rowdy, we have heard the Thelma and Louise reference many times, as well as the Harold & Kumar reference (I think that was actually you), but never Jack Kerouac.
To even be mentioned in the same sentence as him is an honor. He was an inspiration for an entire generation and here I was thinking our trip was more like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas or perhaps Forrest Gump when we ran back and forth throughout the United States?
In all seriousness, I want this trip to be an honest attempt at getting to know other members of my generation and the creation of a real study on what goes on in a Millenials head when they purchase wine and/or beer.
I understand, my generation especially, that we are all individuals who cannot be thrown into a generalization, but many of the studies I have seen attempt to do just that. Having two Gen Y’ersconduct interviews in the interviewee’s own backyards, bars or wherever else they hang out and drink with friends. I believe it will lead to more honest answers.
It won’t be another generic survey online or in the mall where some people either give answers that they think the interviewer wants to hear, or the complete opposite. I have also worked for a market research company and I know that people are not always “themselves” in a focus group or during an interview.
My hope for anyone who reads or watches the social media exposé will be for them to use the information gathered to create better promotions that go past traditional clichés when reaching out to Generation Y. Three years ago when I first had this idea, wine brands were just starting to talk about Generation Y and how to connect with them. The landscape has definitely changed, but some of the same old insecurities still remain. Traditional efforts will simply not work the same way. I hope that this study will create a larger conversation on what works and what doesn’t and lead to change in traditional ways of marketing.
This is drinking and Tweeting on a grand scale. Will you plan other epic journeys like this?
Twitter is the main reason that this idea works so well. I met Ashley on Twitter and it is also how we communicate with the people that we will be staying with, as well as getting the word out about the events that we will be hosting.
Twitter is about creating a community. Everyone I have talked to about this project has been very supportive of this project and Twitter will be used as a real time connection to anyone following. We can be found tweeting on @ProjectYine or through our own accounts @sharayray or @TheBeerWench.
Drunk tweeting is the new drunk texting, though tweets never are fully erased from the internet, no matter if you happen to sober up and realize that you tweeted out your un-dying love to your latest #Twittercrush.
Some negativity about this trip revolves around the concept that this project is just an excuse for us to travel around the United States and hang out in bars. Someone also commented (in a joking manner) about drinking, driving and tweeting. I want to go on the record to say that this is not the case, and in fact, some of the questions we will be asking deal with the very subject of driving under the influence.
Project Y-ine will not be complete until we interview Gen Y’ers in most areas of the United States and be able to create a geographic study on Generation Y and their drinking habits. So yes, a few more epic journeys are planned.
Though, for now, we are concentrating on making this journey as epic as possible to make the other trips a reality.
