Everywhere you look, the drinks industry is talking about sales. Falling sales. Flat sales. Missed sales targets. Entire conferences dedicated to \u201cunlocking growth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The assumption is clear \u2013 people are drinking less alcohol, so brands must scramble harder to squeeze the last drops of profit out of a shrinking category.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s get one thing straight: your brand isn\u2019t failing because people are drinking less. It\u2019s failing because it\u2019s boring.<\/p>\n
Stop blaming the category slump for your slump. People aren\u2019t bored of drinking. They\u2019re bored of you.<\/p>\n
Safe design. Predictable campaigns. Copy-and-paste launches. Another line extension nobody asked for. Another pack redesign that looks like the one next to it. Another ad that could belong to any brand in the category.<\/p>\n
We tell ourselves it\u2019s a sales problem. But really, it\u2019s a bravery problem.<\/p>\n
The truth is, drinks don\u2019t just compete with drinks anymore. They\u2019re competing with fashion drops, gaming culture, TikTok trends that catch fire overnight. Attention is the currency. And you don\u2019t earn it by playing it safe. You earn it by being distinctive, surprising, and bold enough to cut through the noise.<\/p>\n
Most briefs don\u2019t inspire creativity. They come wrapped in cautious language: \u201cpremium cues,\u201d \u201cauthenticity,\u201d \u201cyounger audiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019re written to avoid mistakes, not to spark ideas. They aim for safe middle ground and end up in creative no-man\u2019s land.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the uncomfortable truth \u2013 the safest brief is the most dangerous one. It produces wallpaper branding. Campaigns nobody talks about. Shelves full of products nobody remembers. If we want growth, we don\u2019t need more briefs. We need braver ones.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve seen the difference.<\/p>\n
At Thirst, we\u2019ve been lucky to work with clients who don\u2019t just nod along to bravery but demand it. Bruichladdich is one. They\u2019ve never asked us to play it safe. They\u2019ve asked us to break convention, to provoke, to make whisky feel alive again.<\/p>\n
Together, we created Not Your Classic<\/em> <\/a>\u2013 work that didn\u2019t just win attention, but delivered a 29% year-on-year sales increase and helped the brand secure new supermarket listings across the UK and Europe. Proof that when brands back bravery, results follow.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve taken the same approach with our own concept, Res. We saw a whitespace nobody in drinks was bold enough to claim \u2013 protein fruit punch for gamers. Unapologetically loud, vibrant, and different. No safety net, no \u201cmaybe later.\u201d Just an idea to prove that bravery doesn\u2019t have to wait for permission.<\/p>\n At Thirst, bravery is our default. What kills it isn\u2019t lack of courage \u2013 it\u2019s briefs pre-loaded with half-baked \u201csolutions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPeople aren\u2019t bored of drinking. They\u2019re bored of you.\u201d<\/p>\n Clients \u2013 bring us the problem. Or bring us the big vision. Just don\u2019t bring us the answer, because chances are, it\u2019s the wrong one.<\/p>\n People connect to brands that move them. That make them stop scrolling. Stop talking. Stop drinking the same thing they always drink, and feel something new. Bravery is refusing to be forgettable.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s another myth: if we pump out enough innovation, people will come back.<\/p>\n Innovation matters. But if your brand doesn\u2019t mean anything, your innovation won\u2019t either. That\u2019s when launches turn into clutter. Another flavour. Another \u201clite.\u201d Another \u201c0.0.\u201d None of it sticks if your brand doesn\u2019t stand for something.<\/p>\n Consumers don\u2019t count SKUs. They count memories.<\/p>\n They remember the brand that stood for something. They share the campaign that made them laugh, or cry, or double-tap. They talk about the story that made them feel like part of something bigger than just liquid in a glass.<\/p>\n If your innovation pipeline is full but your brand is empty, you\u2019re just adding clutter to the shelf.<\/p>\n It means impact. It means focus. It means culture.<\/p>\n Write briefs that scare you. If it doesn\u2019t feel uncomfortable, it isn\u2019t brave enough. Stop briefing categories. Start briefing culture. People buy into ideas that mean something in their lives.<\/p>\n Measure impact by feeling. One campaign people talk about a year later beats ten they forget in a week.<\/p>\n When brands bring this kind of energy, agencies can push boundaries, challenge conventions, and create work that lives beyond the trade press. And when the work resonates emotionally, the sales follow.<\/p>\n We have to stop blaming consumers. They haven\u2019t abandoned us. We\u2019ve abandoned them with bland ideas, beige campaigns, and briefs that aim low.<\/p>\n The good news is that it\u2019s fixable. We don\u2019t need more dashboards. We don\u2019t need more cautious \u201cWhat if?\u201d meetings. We need bolder briefs, braver agencies, and clients willing to say yes to ideas that scare them a little.<\/p>\n Because here\u2019s the thing: safe is already broken. Safe isn\u2019t working. Safe is why we\u2019re in this mess.<\/p>\n The drinks industry doesn\u2019t have a sales problem. It has a bravery problem. And the brands bold enough to admit it will be the ones people actually want to raise a glass to.<\/p>\n Matt Burns is founder and executive creative director at Thirst<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\nBravery isn\u2019t permission<\/h5>\n
People don\u2019t need another SKU \u2013 they need a reason to care<\/h5>\n
The brief for bravery<\/h5>\n
The end of safe<\/h5>\n