Since becoming CEO of Molson Coors last fall, I’ve thought a lot about the need to champion not just beer — a cultural staple of conviviality for thousands of years — but the occasions where beer has played a role in bringing people together.
And indeed, the beverage industry thinks in terms of “occasions,” but it’s obvious that we’re in the middle of something culturally and economically, broadly thought of as strain on Americans’ wallets mixed with what some have dubbed a “loneliness epidemic.”
Grabbing a drink with friends after work, that’s an occasion — a moment that’s different from whatever else someone might do during their day. Going out to dinner with your significant other, that’s a different sort of occasion. Cosmic bowling on a Friday night? A very fun occasion. The list of occasions can go on and on, ranging from universal (football and concerts) to local (ice fishing in northern Minnesota and crawfish boils in Baton Rouge).
Companies like ours think in terms of occasions because, simply, that’s when we do our business — when people come together, it’s often a moment for a tall, frosty beer, whether with or without alcohol.
But what if the occasions slow, or even stop? What if people choose not to grab that drink with friends after work, if date nights slow to a trickle, if the bowling balls stay on the racks on Friday nights?
