Things I learned reading Advertising Age coverage of the National Beer Wholesalers Association meeting in Las Vegas:
* Beer Industry Looks to Rebuild ‘Brand Beer’
I would not apply for that job.
* The “Here’s to Beer” website still works, although the copyright is 2009 and the third of three Twitter posts is date 02.25.2009 (or 25.02.2009 if you wish).
I looked because National Beer Wholesalers Association president Craig Pursor says “there’s got to be some refocus and some collaboration.” Collaboration by exactly what brewing entities isn’t clear.
* “The brands that are growing are the brands the rich people drink,” said Harry Schuhmacher, editor of Beer Business Daily.
Thank goodness you don’t actually have to be rich to drink them.
I have one of those “Here’s to Beer” DVDs… still in its shrink wrap. I got it at some random tasting by some Bud reps.
“The brands that are growing are the brands the rick people drink”… hmm maybe if they keep raising the price of Bud/Coors/etc more people will drink it then. That must be it!
I just read the article and it seems that all those ad folks might be over thinking their product, a bit. Like this line:
“Maybe not enough beer commercials are talking about the relevance of the beer and what the beer is about …”
Really? The relevence of the beer? Good beer sells because it’s good, not because it’s relevent. There’s an increaseing amount of competition for big beer, be it from wine, spirits or craft beer. Could it be that people are catching on that big beer is just okay, and there might be a tastier alternative?
Schumacher’s quote is just a stupid thing to say.
I guess HTB site is proof that nothing dies on the internet. I’d like to see what is there, but I don’t want to give them my email address and other information.
rick = rich
“the relevance of the beer and what the beer is about…” my mind has been blown.
@Peter H: you can use a “http://mailinator.com/” email address, or possibly something completely made up, they don’t send a “verify registration” email. Be prepared for video with sound though.
* “The brands that are growing are the brands the rich people drink,”
Wow. Do they really believe that?
One of the things that was often noted on RealBeer.com’s chat forums was that members would see people buying very high-end bottles of wine and then dropping a Miller or Bud 12 pack into their cart — and not as an afterthought.
When queried, the shopper would usually answer along the lines of “I love wine, but don’t care about beer.” Now this may sound like a wine vs. beer argument, but note that I said “high end” bottles of wine. The reports usually stated $20 or higher bottles. Rich to my perspective.
Over the years I’ve heard a lot of industry talk about how the “romance” has been taken out of the beer category. While it is true AB-I’s and M-C’s products are intended for a mass-market audience, 10-years of marriage have taught me that “romance” and sophomoric humor rarely go together. Consumers are defecting to craft beers, wine, and spirits because of a more sophisticated emotional interaction with those products…in part driven by product diversity, but also driven by the story-telling behind those products.
Dos Equis is demonstrating that conventional advertising can be funny and engaging while simultaneously not low-brow. And the problems that AB-I and M-C face are 1) largely a result of their own marketing, and 2) irrelevant to craft beers and specialty imports, which keep on growing.