4 Beer Companies with Social Media On Tap

Beer is all over social media. From Facebook and Twitter, to YouTube and beyond, beer has staked its claim in the social media and digital world. There are blogs about beer and blogs about the people who drink beer. There are beer forums, beer groups, beer meetups and even beer dating sites. The list goes on and on. And, why not? After all, beer is social.

But what about the beer companies and brands? How are they embracing new technology and empowering the droves of beer fans to engage and be social on their behalf? We took a look around the social web and mobile landscape to get a snapshot of who is doing what, and more importantly, who is doing it right. Here are four beer companies that are doing their part in spreading the bubbles around.

Narragansett

For smaller breweries without the resources of its larger counterparts, the ability to activate and harness a local, grassroots movement can be the key to finding growth. With new technology and readily available social media tools, the process of engaging and empowering fans has become much easier. Narragansett is a shining example of a brand that is showing success using these methods.

In the late 1800s, and throughout much of the 20th Century, Narragansett was considered the New England beer. At its peak, the brand had a 65% market share and was the official beer of the Boston Red Sox franchise. The fame and fortune of Narragansett, however, quickly disappeared when the brewery was purchased in the 1970s and moved to Indiana.

In 2005, a team of New England investors purchased the brand and brought its soul back to Rhode Island. The new owners set out to re-invigorate the brand by focusing on social media and non-traditional, grassroots marketing tactics that embraced the brand’s longstanding tradition in the region.

Narragansett’s online strategy is at the heart of their marketing mix, and it ties together everything they are doing both offline and online. The Support The Cause campaign is a great call-to-action effort that is a central point in their online fan engagement strategy. This campaign has set a goal of selling 7.5 million cases a year, and building a brand new brewery in New England if it succeeds. Fans are asked to take part in the movement by doing three things: sign a petition, buy a case, and report any stores or bars that don’t sell Narragansett. Thus far, the campaign site has received over 1,100 comments. They also provide a slide presentation on the new brewery plan.

From a content standpoint, its blog is leagues beyond the norm when it comes to the beer industry. In addition to useful content such as recipes, videos and event invites, they also run contests on a regular basis, highlight the ‘Gansett Girl of the Week, and showcase user-generated pledge videos. Their content is also used to generate engagement on the brand’s Facebook Page, which has an active following of nearly 17,000.

In an industry where smaller breweries can be overshadowed by big brands and flashy campaigns, Narragansett is showing how effective beer marketing doesn’t have to be about the big bucks. More importantly, they are showing how embracing tradition and empowering fans locally through digital media can start moving a lot of cases.

Budweiser

As one of the largest beer brands in the world, Budweiser could have easily stuck with traditional mass media advertising to drive home their lead sponsorship role in the FIFA World Cup. That’s why it was nice to see them step out of the comfort zone and bring social media into the mix in a major way. Central to Budweiser’s World Cup activity was BudHouse, an online reality show that might be described as Big Brother meets the World Cup. Residing in the house for the duration of the tournament were 32 soccer fans, each representing one competing team. As the World Cup unfolded and teams got knocked out, so did that country’s representative.

A dedicated YouTube channel displayed the developing action from the house on a daily basis. Viewers could also keep tabs on their favorite BudHouse fans via Facebook and Twitter. When the last goal was scored and Spain was crowned king, BudHouse had amassed over 4 million views on the YouTube channel, as well as nearly 1 million “Likes” on Facebook. Budweiser very successfully managed to capture a significant population of the World Cup audience through their social media channels. And, unlike a TV ad campaign that airs and is gone, the audience that did wind up on Budweiser’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitter pages will surely provide incremental value for the brand for a long time to come.

As an additional viral element to the World Cup social media experience, Budweiser also released a virtual face painter. The Facebook application allowed fans from around the world to “paint” their face with the flag from any nation participating in the World Cup. It was a fun and simple idea that embraced pride and patriotism, and drove fans to show and share their colors with Budweiser branding.

Although smaller beer brands may never be able to sponsor a major sporting event, there are some general lessons that can be learned from Budweiser’s campaign. First, by supporting traditional and offline advertising through social media, Budweiser created the opportunity to reach their audience again and again at little incremental cost. Second, by casting a net across multiple social media channels, Budweiser increased their overall reach and played to the different online communication preferences that their audience is bound to have. And third, by providing tools to broadcast pride and passion, Budweiser enhanced viral spread and increased the chances of having their message organically broadcast to a much wider circle.

In short, not a bad play from one of the largest beer brands in the world.

New Belgium Brewing

The beer industry is not what it used to be. A primary reason for this is the growth of microbreweries and overall consumer preferences shifting toward a smaller-batch, handcrafted beer experience. New Belgium Brewing out of Fort Collins, Colorado is one of the breweries that has taken full advantage of this trend and has bolted to the front of the pack. Best known for their popular Fat Tire Amber Ale, New Belgium is perhaps the only true craft brewery to have over 100,000 fans on Facebook. It is also one of the very few crafts that has started to take advantage of everything that Facebook and other digital media channels have to offer.

From the “bike yourself” application on Facebook to “skinny-dipping for a cause,” you can tell that there is never a dull moment at New Belgium. They like to have fun and they aren’t afraid of showing it. But at the core, the brewery knows that it’s about engaging and empowering fans to take part in the brand experience. And they have implemented a lot of ideas, events, communication channels and opportunities for doing so.

Online content is one of the major ways that New Belgium is communicating with, inviting in and energizing their fan base. They blog a lot, and through this digital channel, they create a warm welcome for their fans to share in the experiences of life at the brewery. New Belgium also produces the Clips of Faith tour, a fantastic example of how they are empowering fans to create and share videos and become more tied to the brewery they love. The nationwide tour celebrates the best of the video entries, and also ties in the brewery’s Lips of Faith beer series. These tiny batch “playground” brews celebrate innovation and experimentation within the brewery and subsequently provide fans of New Belgium a unique opportunity to participate in the experimentation process with them.

New Belgium has also given their fans the chance to participate and get involved on the local level, which, as previously discussed, is essential to driving grassroots growth. The “Beer Ranger” application on Facebook directs people to the local chapters around the country, each with their own Facebook Fan Page. Within each of these local pages, fans can connect with other fans in their area and find out about events and opportunities that are geographically relevant.

MillerCoors

Most of us don’t drink our beer in front of a computer. Double-fisting a beer bottle and a mobile device, however, is an entirely different story. The goal of mobile applications in the beer world thus far has tended to fall into four categories: pretend that I’m drinking beer, keep track of the beer I drink, find beer, and remind me to drink a particular brand of beer. The latter of these is particularly relevant to beer companies like MillerCoors, which have figured out that mobile is a great way to stay relevant.

There are a number of important lessons that can be learned from the way in which MillerCoors has approached the mobile space. First and foremost, mobile is an increasingly important part of our everyday lives, and brands have to be there to take advantage of all that it has to offer. MillerCoors has at least seven apps currently in the iPhone App Store and, aside from Heineken, is well in front of the competition.

The second lesson to learn from MillerCoors’ approach is that beer apps don’t have to be useless. The MGD64 app, for instance, takes a utilitarian approach to the brand’s low-calorie, active-lifestyle message. Pedometer 64 allows users to track steps, miles traveled and calories burned, while also providing a platform for connecting users via Facebook to other MGD64 Pedometer fans. In a marketing landscape that is moving more and more toward the “productizing” approach, this app is running in the right direction.

Mobile is connected to the entirety of our digital lives, and, as such, it should be treated as part of the overall mix. With the majority of MillerCoors’ apps, they allow social sharing and encourage connections between users through Facebook and other platforms.

All in all, MillerCoors has taken an active approach to embracing digital and empowering social connectivity in the mobile realm. With over 10,000 customer ratings on the iPhone App Store, it’s pretty clear that their fans are embracing this approach as well.

Time For a Drink

Beer is social, and beer companies should be creating their digital and social media marketing strategies with that in mind. The beer companies discussed above –- both the big boys and the up-and-comers -– are embracing this notion. They have each found their own ways to stay relevant to their audience. They have created tools and strategies to empower their fans to share, communicate and get involved. And with that, they are experiencing the benefits of having an active and engaged fan base.

What have you seen? Are there other beer companies that are embracing social in their own unique ways? Tell us about it.

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Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Nikada

More About: advertising, Beer, branding, budwiser, facebook, millercoors, narragansett, new belgium brewing, social media, twitter, youtube

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