Two advertising intiatives coming out of Colorado beer companies:

- New Belgium Brewing’s Follow Your Folly campaign. Check it out. I’ll wait.

Welcome back. This photo (which I’ve posted before) shows a mini-shrine hanging on one wall of the hospitality area at the brewery in Fort Collins. Call it beer folk art.

No need for further comment on the campaign, other than to let you know that the brewery is publicizing this new site by running ads in 15 national publications - including Outside, Esquire, Paddler, Mother Jones and Utne Reader.

- Coors’ “Catch the 4:53 to Happy Hour” train that will race across news and sports web sites frequently visited by the brand’s core audience of men ages 21 to 34.

The New York Times (free registration) detailed Coors’ efforts in a story about the big three brewers’ approach to advertising beer and “the growing importance of the Internet for marketers.”

The train’s brief onscreen appearance will be followed by an invitation to “Catch the 4:53 to Happy Hour” and a “Happy Hour Countdown” clock, both in onscreen spaces devoted to advertising. Other elements of the campaign, by the Portland, Ore., office of Avenue A/Razorfish, part of aQuantive, may include maps displaying the locations of nearby bars and lounges serving Coors Light.

And it chose the train because …

“It’s getting back to the roots, back to a brand promise of cold refreshment,” said Sean McGrath, whose advertising company created the spots.

Ad Pulp seems not to be impressed. Its headline: Gimmicks Don’t Sell Beer.

Fact is, it’s pretty easy to argue both brewing companies understand their markets.

We just happen to get a little closer look at Coors. As well as the Times story, Molson Coors (the official name) was mentioned in an article in BusinessWeek, also online. The piece profiles Steve Stoute, whose company, Translation Consultation & Brand Imaging, intends “to imbue brands with a combination of hip-hop ethos and practicality to help reposition products.”

From the story:

Still, not all of Stoute’s ideas fly. Some companies view them as just too far out. When he tried to help Coors overhaul its brand, he suggested less emphasis on the brand’s “rugged” image or its brewing processes and more effort to create a new high-end aura. Says Stoute: “We were attempting to make Coors an arbiter in the renaissance of sophisticated beer drinking.”

That would have been some campaign, don’t you think?

Posted: March 20th, 2007 under Beer culture.