Millennials not buying Dos Equis new “Most Interesting Man”

Ted MarzilliCEO YouGov Direct
June 12, 2017, 3:33 PM GMT+0

Millennials seem to have lost interest in Dos Equis’ new “World’s Most Interesting Man,” enough for parent Heineken USA to switch ad agencies from Havas Worldwide to Droga5 this past week.

YouGov BrandIndex noted possible campaign problems in our December 2016 analysis: “Since re-introducing the iconic advertising character at the end of October in a younger version played by 41-year-old Augustin Legrand, Dos Equis’ purchase consideration with millennials dropped by more than half.”

This year, millennials showed more consistent and better purchase consideration numbers with the exception of March, when for the third time in several months, it dropped significantly enough to take it below the average for the beer sector. This pattern was mirrored in ad awareness falling steadily through the first two months of 2017, remaining low for March, and then slowly heading back up leading to its Cinco De Mayo promotions.

Digging down, on November 3rd, 18% of millennials said they’d consider purchasing Dos Equis the next time they were buying beer. By December 8th, that percentage had fallen to 8%, the lowest it’s been for this age group in nearly four years. The purchase consideration average for the beer sector on December 8th was 13%.

This year showed a marked improvement, with Dos Equis rebounding to 20% purchase consideration with millennials in January and February, down sharply to 9% in March, and back up to 20% by the time of Cinco De Mayo.

Millennial ad awareness soared from 21% of millennials aware of Dos Equis ads at the end of October to a peak 33% on January 3rd. Two months later, that number was down to 15%, remained there for 30 days, then worked its way up to 28% by the time of Cinco De Mayo. The current level is 20%.

Ad Awareness: Dos Equis and Beverages: Beer Sector

Consideration: Dos Equis and Beverages: Beer Sector

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