Midsize brewers shake up marketing strategies as Americans drink less
The article examines how midsize and craft beer brewers are adapting their marketing strategies in response to declining alcohol consumption and shifting consumer preferences. With Americans drinking less and the craft beer industry experiencing mixed growth, these smaller brewers are exploring new tactics to reach consumers and maintain market share.
Original reporting · marketingdive.com
Read “Midsize brewers shake up marketing strategies as Americans drink less” at Marketing Dive →How this was written. Gosling Marketing Studio wrote this article with a language model from Marketing Dive’s reporting (model: @cf/ibm-granite/granite-4.0-h-micro); it describes that reporting rather than adding to it. The original, linked above, is the full story.
Key points from Marketing Dive’s report
- Advertising expenses for Boston Beer, the maker of brands like Truly and Dogfish Head, rose 16.4% year-over-year in Q2 2026, while the company's revenue fell 3.3% to $568.3 million.
- 20.7% of the off-premise nonalcoholic beer market is held by Athletic Brewing, which has increased its national media spend by 120% and partnered with Metlife Stadium.
- Among craft brewers, 54% reported volume growth in the first half of 2026, up from 40% when considering operations producing over 10,000 barrels, indicating a slight recovery in craft beer consumption despite overall volume declines
From the source
Nonalcoholic beer is on an upswing, while midsize and craft breweries are feeling the effects of a changing consumer landscape.