This report compares and contrasts the four different generations, with specific reference to their relationship with what they drink and how the drinks industry is talking to them. It explores the different personality and behavioural traits of each generation and looks at the best ways for drinks brands and retailers to engage with and talk to them. • We might be defined by our different generation groups, but each group contains a number of subcategories, based either on age or behavioural traits, that all need to be understood if your brand is going to be relevant to them. • Different consumer age groups now have very different expectations and relationships with brands. Understanding what those are, and developing ways to influence them, is becoming increasingly crucial to how successful drinks brands are going to be in the future. • Connected technology has changed the rules of engagement. Consumers, particularly younger age groups, now have the power to use social media platforms to share information that they curate, and which big brands are not always accepted or relevant for. • Smart and connected technology is making it harder, not easier, for brands and advertisers to be truly relevant to people's lives. • The more connected and personalised people's lives become, the more disconnected they are becoming from brands (Kantar TNS). • As consumers grow up and move from one generation to another, they mostly take on the characteristics of that next group. So although they are very different, consumers become similar at each stage of their lives. • To really understand the key behavioural traits of each generation it is important to look outside the drinks category. • What food different generations eat, what music they listen to, the films they watch, books they read, clothes they wear, or even how they vote, all now have an influence on the drinks they buy. • Brands can use those personal preferences around food, music, films, news or politics to create products that are more relevant to different generations. • Different generations are choosing to spend money across different formats, with Generation Z and millennials open to e-commerce and mobile shopping. • The successful drinks brands of the future will be those that find a way to seamlessly connect and engage with their target consumer or generation group by truly understanding all their likes and dislikes. • But, as the recent EU referendum vote and US presidential election have shown, the normal rules of engagement, and being able to predict trends and consumer behaviour, have become increasingly difficult. Trendsetters are harder to define or even see. • There are also new beliefs and mindsets common to all generations, seen in the rise of the artisan and craft movement, the sharing economy, farmers' markets, a rise in localism, the revival of community clubs, street parties, and the return of home baking and knitting. • The big challenge for drinks brands across all age groups is that 84% of people trust peer-to-peer recommendations over any form of advertising. Word of mouth drives 200x more sales than one paid media impression (Maxus). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]