tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19358444424192021082011-07-28T08:12:14.451-07:00A forum for discussion of craft beer advertising, promotion and brand building, generally, and the Oregon Brewers Festival, particularly.Marknoreply@blogger.comBlogger301100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-35095551185066108992010-02-15T16:05:00.000-08:002010-02-15T16:05:13.692-08:00

Please go here to read and download the guide to all things sponsorship related at Oregon Brewers Festival. 2010OregonBrewersFestival_MediaKit

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-14524177570824075712010-02-15T16:03:00.000-08:002010-02-15T16:03:03.519-08:00

This is yet another shout out to Jeff Alworth at Beervana for his ongoing series of "dissections" of local beer brands. I don't always agree with his analysis, but he is certainly doing interesting work. His usual focus on beer styles and reviews now has a business-oriented complement.

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-16410692949903391382009-10-29T11:49:00.000-07:002009-10-29T11:49:58.512-07:00

If Gilbert and Sullivan were to write a musical about brewers festivals, it might reference the recently concluded Skamania Lodge in house beer fest. Jeff Alworth over at Beervana has an extended write up. Go there if you want to know about the beers and the setting. An issue that he raises is the nature of beer festivals. He rightly notes that the Oregon Brewers Festival was started to promote

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-10051755065180213862009-09-29T12:34:00.000-07:002009-09-29T12:44:17.034-07:00

The following video represents one of the more ambitious and expensive ways to create a unique beer. It is also a publicity stunt worthy of P.T. Barnum. I say that with great respect.Here is a very limited release of a beer that sells for the equivalent of $26 USD, though most folks will never have the opportunity to spend that much on it. With just 960 bottles produced, don't look for it in the

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-61910019170365359372009-09-21T16:35:00.000-07:002009-09-21T16:51:56.585-07:00

GABF may be open and running. Biketobeerfest has come and gone. But, the progenitor of all things beer festival(y) kicked off, or tapped on, this past Saturday. Oktoberfest started pouring beer and the oompahs and prosts can be heard nearly across the Atlantic. Thanks to the web, we can experience it visually or virtually or whatever. For some fine, iconic photos of the event, go here.

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-865804994882792642009-09-20T13:02:00.000-07:002009-09-20T14:05:55.383-07:00

Hopworks Urban Brewery put together two wonderful crafts: brewing and bicycles. The event, held at the brewery on Saturday, September 19, was well attended without being overrun. No problems getting a beer, unless you spent the extra time in the line where the beer was being served from the Hopworksfiets mobile tap. (See the Photostream and links).The official blurb can be found here, but the

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-50530757444627773872009-09-16T16:18:00.000-07:002009-12-30T16:38:56.917-08:00

It has become commonplace for chefs to write cookbooks. The routine goes something like this: chef opens restaurant, chef builds loyal clientele, chef "writes" cookbook that expands upon or documents his or her recipes enjoyed by customers. Rinse and repeat. While my tone may be somewhat flippant, there are many examples of this practice. I am staring at Coyote Cafe by Mark Miller right now.

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-4679856802933398452009-08-04T10:18:00.001-07:002009-08-05T23:07:49.397-07:00

A combination of ideal weather, excellent event management and the charms of a well-established festival made this year's Oregon Brewers Festival a success. Record crowds meant that festival advertisers got more than their money's worth. For those 14 or so sponsors, our promise of 50,000 program guide readers worked out a bit better than expected. Actually, the size of the crowd from an

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-23221383421689503372009-08-04T09:29:00.000-07:002009-08-04T10:53:50.427-07:00

Here for those who want to see a complete digital version of the Oregon Brewers Festival Program Guide. 2009 Oregon Brewers Festival Program

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-84946192055279805752009-07-22T06:31:00.000-07:002009-07-22T06:42:38.260-07:00

The Oregon Brewers Festival is a massive undertaking, certainly for the organizers but also the guests. It takes nearly a year of planning and preparation. For festival guests, it can be a challenge to get to the taps of their favorite brews. This year, with 81 beers featured and a "Buzz Tent" with even more beer, the task of finding what you want can be daunting.That's where we come in. We have

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-52274182941802548072009-06-23T11:58:00.001-07:002009-06-26T05:55:57.068-07:00

Synergy is an often misused term, or at least it was in business a few years ago. But, I think this qualifies for synergy and where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Portland is certainly known for its brewing. The city is a leader in the craft brewing scene with more than 30 breweries within the metropolitan area. The Oregon Brewers Festival, one of the largest festivals of craft

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-69211836164612818952009-06-07T10:18:00.001-07:002009-06-07T11:06:41.575-07:00

The prolific Jeff Alworth at Beervana posts what appears as good news for the craft beer industry in these dark hours of recession. Indeed, if you are in the brewing business, you want to be in the craft segment. I agree with Jeff that this is good news and I also support his contention that craft beer sales are partially the result of a rise in average price for a barrel of craft beer.Because

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-34680665873654872812009-05-15T16:11:00.001-07:002009-05-18T11:40:53.129-07:00

Summer is, naturally, the time for festivals. We're talking about beer in this blog, but it goes far beyond that, of course. I've just spent a bit of time at Beervana, perhaps Portland's most incisive beer blog, and saw what I thought fit very well with the whole notion of promoting a brewers festival. Through the use of social media and with a well produced, though amateur, video, one comes away

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-72241497676352361622009-04-16T23:14:00.000-07:002009-04-17T11:19:16.740-07:00

A day that begins with tropical fruit and ends with a pint of local beer is a day that is bound to be a bit odd. In my case, not odd so much as disparate. And, the distance between tropical fruit and local beer is not as great as some of the other activities, but let's look at the beer side of things.Bridgeport Brewing re-launched their Hop Czar product this afternoon in fine fashion, though

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-71052816521403604262009-04-13T10:01:00.001-07:002009-04-13T10:01:24.182-07:00

PORTLAND, Ore. – April 13, 2009 - It’s the event that brings together 80 craft breweries, 2,000 volunteers and 70,000 beer lovers for a four-day summer celebration of American craft beer. The 22nd annual Oregon Brewers Festival, one of the nation's longest-running and best-loved craft beer festivals, will take place July 23 through July 26 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland.

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-16516033570618486982009-04-08T10:03:00.000-07:002009-04-08T10:31:49.855-07:00

Here it is. The official guide to the guide. Advertising rates and specifications for this year's Oregon Brewers Festival.2009 Oregon Brewers Festival Media Kit Publish at Scribd or explore others: Brochures & Catalogs advertising portland

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-73435860532204906892009-03-31T10:06:00.001-07:002009-03-31T10:38:11.036-07:00

From a tweet this morning came this link to beer packaging. In early November, I had an opportunity to visit Copenhagen, which inevitably led to a visit to the Carlsberg Brewery. Carlsberg is an enormous brewery with a global reach and not the sort of brewery that would find its way into a blog on craft brands and local festivals. However, Carlsberg stands out in packaging because of their

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-77395596170094162912009-03-30T10:08:00.000-07:002009-03-30T10:22:56.435-07:00

Designer, graphic artist and cake-baking maven Holly Koons O'Leary has created package designs for prominent local brands of food and consumer products including Bob's Redmill, The Oregon Dairy Council and Oregon Scientific. She has recently turned her attention to coffee packaging. Her craft beer expertise developed from consumption, an honest approach. 1. Describe the process for developing a

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-42504425526064909782009-03-24T11:20:00.000-07:002009-03-24T11:30:17.419-07:00

Dean Lindsay, Dean Lindsay Design, provided these answers to the questionnaire posted earlier. This is the first installment.1. Describe the process for developing a good package design. What steps do you take with a client and in what order?First, let me say that there are different kinds of package design: specifically, structural design and graphic design. Second, although the design process

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-63936166480309106432009-03-19T14:42:00.000-07:002009-03-19T14:51:07.905-07:00

The Oregon Brewers Festival made changes to their pricing scheme this week that will result in far greater reach for advertisers. Here is the post on the Facebook page:-------------------------------Admission into the festival grounds if free, as always. In order to taste beer, you must now purchase a taster package. Taster packages are available in $10, $20 and $50 increments. All packages

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-40884323622188401562009-03-18T09:17:00.000-07:002009-03-18T14:17:01.035-07:00

Marketers like to wax philosophic about the value of doing the difficult, but necessary work of understanding the audience, defining the brand characteristics, messages, etc. before ever associating an image with a product. In the often compressed time frames of product development and product launch, one has to work quickly. Or, there are times when the right image just plain suits the product

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-20330033845072528962009-03-16T11:35:00.000-07:002009-03-16T11:46:54.530-07:00

Several acquaintances, friends and relatives have agreed to provide you with their insights into package and label design. Perhaps more broadly, their experience can lead to even greater value for those seeking a differentiated brand in the growing craft beer market.I have invited three designers and artists with diverse backgrounds to comment on the following questions. I will let them speak for

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-15620257578804292442009-03-16T10:00:00.000-07:002009-03-16T14:49:25.697-07:00

The New York Times reported on efforts to reduce binge drinking and the fallout from those efforts. While there is no reasonable argument to increase alcohol problems, the illustrations of beer coasters from the article is humorous.

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-9743599250625163042009-03-12T10:23:00.001-07:002009-03-12T10:50:55.394-07:00

Today's post is really a place holder. Draft Magazine just posted an article about Penn Brewery's label update. Since I spent my formative beer drinking years at nearby Bethany College (a good decade or so, really, before craft brewing existed), the article merited a post. Iron City was the brew of choice for me and its brand has remained strong in the Steel City, and not because of label art.

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-71913580428913503422009-03-11T13:05:00.000-07:002009-03-11T13:16:14.599-07:00

Folks who ply their wares in the brand and marketing realms are careful always to point out the "The Brand" is not simply your logo and typeface. It is, depending upon the source, the entire experience of a consumer with your product and company. But, we're trying to sell beer, here. We just want to stand out from the crowd on crowded retail shelves. We want our tap handles to scream, "Try Me!" I

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-7451891295260559352009-03-09T13:00:00.000-07:002009-03-09T13:25:44.875-07:00

Scouring the interwebs for beer marketing so that you don't have to, I came across a campaign for Sea Hag Ale from New England Brewing. They were profiled two years ago in a Fortune magazine article for developing a mythology about their beer. This led to a campaign with interaction among customers and the like. In itself, this is not especially new. The Republic of Tea accomplished this on a

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-52244486027526619782009-03-06T08:06:00.000-08:002009-03-06T13:01:38.898-08:00

Visitors to the Oregon Brewers Festival have had the opportunity to purchase and use this program guide each year. We settled on a booklet size after several tries with larger forms. Guests told us they wanted a program that could be carried easily and, perhaps, fit in a back pocket. This size and style has been the standard since 2003.What do you think? Too much? Too little? Does it need more

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-54454796569696986642009-03-05T08:23:00.000-08:002009-03-05T08:41:36.875-08:00

Don't expect this beer to be featured at the 2009 Oregon Brewers Festival. However, it's a good lesson in brand development, or redevelopment, and by one of the experts at brand revival, Pabst.The craft brewing phenomenon in this country, at least in this writer's opinion, grew from a desire to actually taste what the drinker had in front of him or her. In some ways, the growth of craft brewing

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-9169863079496545152009-03-04T09:39:00.000-08:002009-03-04T10:06:51.405-08:00

The Oregon Brewers Festival serves the world's oldest beverage, beer. That's old school. Promoting the festival and serving the interests of the brewers that make it possible relies on traditional communication channels from word-of-mouth to printed display advertising. The festival waded into the rising waters of new media and social networking with Facebook and Twitter. Now, the advertising

Marknoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1935844442419202108.post-165096770816424382009-03-04T09:15:00.001-08:002009-03-04T10:10:18.158-08:00

The Oregon Brewers Festival is revamping its approach to advertising this year. We recognize that beer marketers are looking for more ways to build their brands and create communities that support their products.We are not abandoning our commitment to the festival program, though. It remains a vital part of the festival guest's experience and an indispensable guide to "what's on tap."Look for new

Marknoreply@blogger.com0