Toolbox notes marketing trends at the Great American Beer Festival
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Oct 9, 2008
Toolbox notes marketing trends at the Great American Beer Festival
DENVER, CO — Toolbox Studios Food and Beverage Account Director, Mark Broderick, and New Business Director, Carrie Cunningham, recently attended the Great American Beer Festival in Denver to scout industry trends and opportunities. Featuring over 1,800 beers from over 450 breweries across the country, the festival is heralded as “the granddaddy of all U.S. beer festivals” and is the American brewing industry's top public tasting opportunity and competition for 27 years running.
Toolbox noted that trends at the festival tended to follow larger retail patterns, including the use of cause-related marketing and green marketing. Popular causes included local humane societies and environmental non-profits. In many cases, the cause was correlated with the beverage’s brand message; for example, Dundee Honey Brown Beer donates a certain percentage of profits to an organization focused on saving bees.
Another industry trend focused on the rising demographic of the female beer drinker, which currently accounts for a fourth of the total market. Broderick and Cunningham noted that a growing number of packaging designs appealed to health conscious female consumers by emphasizing fresh, natural and often organic ingredients, as well as fruit inspired flavors including pomegranate, apricot, blueberry and the seasonally relevant pumpkin. Broderick commented, “The Festival represented the best of hand-crafted breweries, but even the most serious brewers tended to have light hearted themes and clever positioning. They’re having fun with it, but, they’re doing it in a way that isn’t irrelevant or irresponsible by tying in to important issues like donating to charities and trying to be more environmentally friendly.”
Toolbox noted that trends at the festival tended to follow larger retail patterns, including the use of cause-related marketing and green marketing. Popular causes included local humane societies and environmental non-profits. In many cases, the cause was correlated with the beverage’s brand message; for example, Dundee Honey Brown Beer donates a certain percentage of profits to an organization focused on saving bees.
Another industry trend focused on the rising demographic of the female beer drinker, which currently accounts for a fourth of the total market. Broderick and Cunningham noted that a growing number of packaging designs appealed to health conscious female consumers by emphasizing fresh, natural and often organic ingredients, as well as fruit inspired flavors including pomegranate, apricot, blueberry and the seasonally relevant pumpkin. Broderick commented, “The Festival represented the best of hand-crafted breweries, but even the most serious brewers tended to have light hearted themes and clever positioning. They’re having fun with it, but, they’re doing it in a way that isn’t irrelevant or irresponsible by tying in to important issues like donating to charities and trying to be more environmentally friendly.”
