Heaps Normal, the Australian non-alcoholic beer brand, defines its audience by psychographics rather than demographics, and that understanding comes from inputs most businesses already hold: reviews, DMs and comments, observed behaviour across site visits and purchases, social sentiment, and the language customers use about their own challenges. Its “Do Your Best” Dry July campaign is what that produced.
Heaps Normal is a brand that knows its audience. When brands know their audience, not just their age or location, but their beliefs, behaviours, and motivators, they’re able to create marketing that feels like a conversation, not just a one-way campaign. Heaps Normal, who you’ve no doubt heard of, is an Australian non-alcoholic beer company and a standout example of a brand that truly understands its audience.
So… who are they?
In case you haven’t heard of Heaps Normal, they are a non-alcoholic beer company. With that said, they don’t just sell non-alcoholic beers, they’re selling a new kind of social norm. One that says it’s perfectly normal to want a beer without the booze. Their brand is playful, relatable, and proud of its place in the growing mindful drinking movement.
Why do they understand the importance of going beyond just demographics
Heaps Normal doesn’t define its audience by just age or income.
“We tend not to talk about our audience in demographic terms. The Heaps Normal audience are all hustlers (in the positive sense) – who have something in their lives that’s too good to be wasted” Andy Miller quoted in Guts, by Kara Sullivan.
They place a real focus on values, not labels. They have identified their audience as people who are chasing goals, building businesses, raising families, creating art, or simply prioritising their mental and physical wellbeing. Their audience may look wildly different on the surface, but what brings them together is a shared mindset:
- They’re intentional.
- They’re self-aware.
- They’re done with the all-or-nothing approach to alcohol.
From where I’m standing and the research I’ve done, Heaps Normal as a brand targets psychographics over demographics. The *chefs kiss* approach to targeting, and truly understanding your audience. This shift changes everything about how you market and speak to your audience. This approach changes everything about the way content strategies and messaging are created.
Let’s take a look at Heaps Normal’s campaign, Do Your Best (Dry July) as an example
Most Dry July campaigns ask people to go all in. All or nothing. Zero drinks for 30 days. But Heaps Normal took a different approach.
Their message… “Do Your Best.”
It was simple, human, and full of empathy. It gave their audience permission to try, without the pressure to be perfect. It spoke to those who might not want to quit drinking completely, but who want better options and a shift that fits their lifestyle.
From the merch to the venues they partnered with, every detail said, you don’t have to get it ‘right’ to make a better choice. This wasn’t about strict rules or guilt trips. It was about progress over perfection. Mindful decisions over marketing pressure.
This resulted in a campaign that resonated deeply because it didn’t push people into change. It invited them in. That’s what happens when you truly know your audience. When you listen, observe, and build content, messaging and campaigns around what matters most to your audience, not what the industry, service or product says you should say. It was customer-centric in every sense of the word.
And that kind of clarity, that kind of knowing your audience so well you can market to them instead of at them, it starts with content analysis, audience insight, and listening to the data and information that’s already rooted in your business. The reviews, the feedback, the conversations. The patterns in what people say, ask for, and come back for. It starts by defining who your audience really is, not just on paper, but in real life (and this will evolve the more information and data you collect), and using that to shape the way you show up, create, and connect with your audience.
Let’s dive into the role of data and behavioural insights
This campaign wasn’t built on guesswork. From where we’re standing, it was built on knowing their audience, deeply. Heaps Normal likely tapped into:
- Real conversations happening in their community (reviews, DMs, comments)
- Observed behaviour across channels (site visits, purchases, venue preferences)
- Social sentiment and feedback across past campaigns and customers
- Broader cultural shifts around alcohol and identity
- Listening to their audience’s language and challenges
- Using customer feedback and reviews to understand customer sentiment and guide messaging that attracts more of the right people.
This kind of campaign and approach to marketing doesn’t just come from looking at what your audience has bought. They focused on what their audience believed, how they talked, and what they needed.
They likely used a mix of qualitative data (language, emotion, patterns in feedback) and behavioural data (trends, touchpoints, and triggers) to shape a message that resonated, while also defining their brand voice.
That’s the difference between targeting an audience and knowing them.
What makes Heaps Normal so smart in this space?
- They see their audience clearly, beyond the data, into the why
- They appear to turn feedback and behaviour into smart creative decisions
- They build with their audience, not just for them
- They make the option of not drinking feel… normal
When brands can tap into this type of marketing, it’s all grounded in simple, practical marketing analysis. You can do it too.
What can we all learn from Heaps Normal’s approach
You don’t need a huge budget or a full-time data team to follow Heaps Normal’s lead. You just need to:
- Talk to your customers.
- Listen to what they say and how they say it.
- Watch how they interact with your brand online.
- Analyse the content and campaigns that resonate most.
Then, use those insights to refine your messaging, shape your content and create offers and products that meet real needs.
Because when you understand your audience’s why, you create marketing that matters.
During the Marketing Review Room, we show you how to:
- Understand your own content and insights to better define your audience, as well as define a content strategy that supports speaking to this audience
- Use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to see what’s working
- Use AI tools like ChatGPT to extract and apply audience insights
Marketing doesn’t have to be guesswork. Join the Marketing Review Room
