CASE Study: SUNTORY

Understanding drinking when alcohol is optional

scenarioDNA used Culture Mapping to help Suntory understand changing drinking behaviors in the United States. Research across Gen Z and other generations informed a cultural platform for alcohol and non-alcoholic beer, grounded in more intentional social choices.

Key Insight: The social occasion could remain important while the choice of alcohol became more flexible.

The question: What counts as drinking now?

Suntory needed to understand how changing behaviors were reshaping the roles of alcohol and non-alcoholic beer. The strategic question concerned the occasion as well as the product: what happens when drinking alcohol becomes a choice people make rather than an assumption built into social life?

The research: From habit to intentional choice

Our Culture Mapping examined Gen Z alongside cross-generational drinkers. It revealed a shift from drinking as habit toward choosing alcohol or non-alcohol as an intentional social decision. This gave Suntory a framework for understanding evolving drinking rituals without reducing the change to a single generation.

The application: Planning around flexible occasions

We translated the findings into a cultural platform for repositioning Suntory's alcohol and non-alcohol portfolio around changing behaviors and rituals. The work helped frame future growth around flexible drinking occasions in which alcohol is increasingly optional. It gave portfolio strategy a shared cultural context for thinking about participation and choice.

Explore our approach: Culture Mapping · Cultural Research & Intelligence