Authentic Interactions

If you read my site and DON’T read what the fellows over at craftbeer.us are writing, make sure you go visit their site. Founded by a couple of industry insiders, they have a great perspective on marketing for breweries. A line in one of their recent articles really struck a chord with me, so I thought I’d mention it here. They were writing an about sponsorship events (specifically how NOT to execute them) and while the article holds up on its own quite well, it was the last line of it that I’d be interested in seeing an entire post dedicated to. Here it is:

Save the money (on a poorly executed sponsorship) and go buy some consumers a beer at a bar where they will actually know who bought it for them and what they’re drinking.

I love this idea, and I’m sure there are some breweries out there doing this now, but why aren’t there more? By getting out and connecting with their consumers, they can create a unique experience for a few people each time. The costs and barriers to entry are relatively low (not many folks will turn down a free beer.) For casual beer drinkers who haven’t heard of the brewery or don’t feel like chatting with a random stranger, it will be a good introduction to the brand and in a low pressure environment.

However, breweries need to be careful in execution or else it will come across as a sales pitch. Too many bar goers are numb to brand reps or the ever-popular attractive woman at the bar secretly working for the vodka company. It has to be an honest, straight forward approach where the customer is not held hostage by the free drink while the salesperson makes his/her pitch. Instead, it should be understood that the customer can take the beer and choose to chat about it on their terms. Worst case, the brewery spends a few bucks on a beer, creates a little favorable exposure, and quickly parts ways with the customer. Best case, the brewery could create a new fan who talks about the free beer experience and the great chat they had with the brewery employee.

This strategy would probably fare better with newer, smaller breweries in and around their hometowns – the behemoths wouldn’t benefit as much. Additionally, smaller breweries could have their brew masters or founders out talking to the people. While it might be interesting to talk to Joe Schmoe from the marketing or sales department of one of the larger breweries, talking to the person who brews the beer at one of the smaller breweries would be a much more authentic interaction.

Have you ever had an interaction with a brewery rep (or any alcohol representative) at a bar, restaurant, or liquor store before? If so, tell me what it was like in the comments.

Getting Crafted.

AC Golden is a brewery in Colorado with two primary offerings in the market now: Herman Joseph’s Private Reserve and Colorado Native – their newest offering made from ingredients sourced locally in Colorado. But who is behind the AC Golden brewery? A closer look reveals that they share an address with the Coors Brewing Company and that the ‘AC’ in AC Golden likely stands for Adolph Coors, the founder of the original brewery. They market these beers like craft beer (much in the same way their ‘Blue Moon Brewing Company’ markets Blue Moon) but they aren’t. They’re made on the same premises as Coors Light, Keystone, and other MillerCoors beers. Serious craft beer consumers won’t be duped by their efforts. First of all, no brewery makes their name so insignificant in their advertising. Looking at this sixpack, can you tell which brewery makes this?

Second, no craft brewery could ‘sneak’ onto the scene have their banner advertisements in bars across the metro area and their product in 600 area liquor stores. Within a month of its release, Colorado Native was ubiquitous on the Colorado beer scene. Real craft breweries have to grow slowly through a grass roots movement.

Being a craft brewery doesn’t just mean making flavorful beer. For all I know, this beer could be fantastic. But the ideal behind it means I won’t likely purchase it. Instead, I have a suggestion for the big boys who keep insisting on trying to get into the craft beer game: start a true craft brewery. Don’t create a craft beer look-a-like in megalithic proportions. It will not have the soul of a craft beer. Find your young, entrepreneurial employees who are willing to work hard enough. Give them a shoestring budget yet unconditional support for new ideas and pushing the envelope. Let them experiment. Have them serve in multiple roles across the new company. Let them negotiate for shelf space and tap handles at area bars. Have them learn how to run their new small scale bottling line. Allow them to hire employees and purchase more equipment when they’ve earned market share and developed a demand for their beer that they can no longer supply. Let them go through the trials and tribulations of starting a brewery, providing minimal guidance when necessary. Also, don’t try to hide the fact that a big brewery is behind it. AC Golden, The Blue Moon Brewing Company, and others make no mention of their true parent companies on their labels. It is dishonest and can breed contempt when people feel like they’ve been duped.

InBev (Anheuser Busch) and SAB (MillerCoors) are extremely innovative companies with many talented employees, and I’m sure this would be a dream job for many of them. From this pool of employees, I’m sure they could find a few who would thrive and succeed at running their own small scale breweries. Even though the final product will still be from one of the big breweries, it will have the soul akin to craft beer. If one of the big breweries took this approach, would you drink the beer?