The Bev-Alc Guide to Dry January Marketing

While the first month of the year carries an air of possibility and new beginnings for most, the feeling is a bit less optimistic for alcohol brands.

The emergence of Dry January has brought about major concerns for bev-alc suppliers and distributors: How do you promote alcohol products when people are staying sober? Is marketing in January even worth the ad dollars? Will sales suffer because of this trend?

Let’s put some of these fears to rest.

Consider this your guide to marketing during Dry January.

Dry January is a month-long challenge that encourages participants to abstain from drinking alcohol for the entire month of January. While this campaign was first created by Alcohol Change UK back in 2013, Dry January has skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, with 25% of adults participating in 2024.

The idea of Dry January was conceived by Emily Robinson, who decided to give up alcohol in preparation for a half marathon and observed many benefits, such as:

• Weight loss
• Increased energy
• Better sleep quality
• Fewer health risks
• Improved mood
• Money savings

These benefits, paired with increasing community interest in Robinson’s alcohol fast, led Alcohol Change UK to launch Dry January.

Let’s get one thing straight — marketing during Dry January isn’t a way to pressure people into drinking. It also isn’t a waste of money. Rather, January promotion is a way to keep your brand relevant, maintain customer loyalty, and stay top-of-mind when people resume alcohol consumption again in February.

While you should keep your marketing efforts going in January, you’ll want to consider switching up your strategy to account for Dry January participants. Here are some tips to fuel your Dry January marketing.

How do you maintain support from consumers who are abstaining from alcohol? One word: mocktails!

If your products are featured in bars or restaurants, consider providing your retailers with non-alcoholic cocktail recipes they can offer on their menus. Implementing non-alcoholic substitutions is easy and inexpensive, plus you ensure Dry January participants stick around your establishments (and hopefully come back again in February for more spirited sips!).

To cater even more heavily to the dry audience, consider offering non-alcoholic cocktail flights, suggest mocktail pairings, and ensure dry options have visibility on menus. You can even launch an NA happy hour! 

Just because it’s Dry January doesn’t mean you have to stop promoting alcohol completely. After all, there are plenty of consumers who will disregard the trend altogether.  

However, Gen Z likely won’t be among these consumers.  

Gen Z has substantially reduced alcohol consumption in recent years. In fact, Gen Z drinks 20% less alcohol than older generations, so it makes sense that these consumers are most likely to participate in Dry January.

Among Gen Z consumers, 75% of those aged 21-24 said they were likely to participate in Dry January, followed by 68% of consumers aged 25-29.

Needless to say, Gen Z consumers probably aren’t your target audience this January. Instead of marketing to younger buyers, consider shifting your focus toward Gen X and older Millennial consumers. These individuals are significantly less likely to participate in Dry January, with 69% of consumers aged 55 and older saying they were not at all likely to take part in the trend, followed by 45% of those aged 35 to 54.

Giving up alcohol “cold turkey” isn’t easy for everyone, nor does it necessarily appeal to all individuals. So, some parties choose to participate in Damp January instead.

Damp January encourages participants to drink alcohol in moderation by cutting down on alcohol consumption rather than giving it up entirely. Many people use it as a way to bounce back from the overindulgence of the holidays. Others begin participating in Dry January but don’t successfully stay alcohol-free for the entire month. However, many of these individuals still manage to reduce their overall intake or adopt healthier habits during this period.  

To continue promoting your brands in January, consider hopping on the Damp January train. By focusing your messaging around the concepts that gave rise to Damp January — fostering a healthier, more balanced lifestyle — you can position your brand as a part of the equation. Framing moderation as a win is also uplifting for those who don’t make it through the whole month without drinking. 

If your brand has any non-alcoholic beverages in its arsenal, now’s the time to push these products. For consumers who are participating in Dry January but still crave the taste of their favorite wines, beers, and spirits, NA drinks will have all the appeal. Plus, Dry January is the perfect focus for NA campaign messaging.

The functional beverage market has become more popular than ever, so if any of your brand’s NA products also have functional benefits like added vitamins, fiber, or probiotics, January is the perfect time to promote them.  

Dry January won’t last forever — so focus your campaigns on post-Dry January enjoyment. Get consumers excited to break the month-long fast and sip on their favorite spirits again!

Here are some messaging ideas to get the creative wheels turning:

• We’ll be waiting for you
• See you in February
• Rehydrate after the Dry January drought
• For when you reach the Dry January finish line
• When you’re ready to cheers to the end of Dry January
• We’ve got your February brew waiting for you
• For after you’ve crushed the Dry January challenge

Your Dry January messaging doesn’t have to disappear the second February hits. Celebrating the end of an alcohol-free month is a great way to get a drink in consumers’ hands again. Consider launching content that welcomes customers back after completing the Dry January challenge. 

Some messaging routes you can take: 

• The wait is over 
• Cheers to the end of Dry January 
• You made it through Dry January! Reward yourself 
• Dry January is over — and you deserve a drink   
• You completed the Dry January challenge! Take your reward on the rocks 

When marketing during Dry January, focusing on your brand alone isn’t enough — you need to market at the hyper-local level to ensure your campaigns reach consumers across all your distributor, retailer, and on-premise locations.  

And remember, when marketing hyper-locally, it’s vital to implement an omnichannel approach that spans a wide range of mediums, such as paid search, social media, and out-of-home. When you leave no stone unturned, you can meet customers at every touchpoint. 

While Dry January marketing is important, your reps need to be ready to promote your brand year-round. Empower them to take your marketing to the next level with Ansira, the distributed growth platform made for the beverage alcohol industry.

Get in touch with one of our experts to learn more.