What began as a simple idea to get people into their newly launched neighborhood brewery is now a 7-years-strong promotion that has put well over a thousand OMF glasses in the homes of loyal fans. As of March 2020, they're on glass design #66 with no sign of demand from their customers slowing down. Brandon Proff, Managing Partner of Our Mutual Friend in the River North district of Denver, CO, recently gave us the back story on their super successful Keep The Glass program.
“When we started in 2012 there was kind of a pretty standard approach to how a brewery looked and felt, and it tended to lean more toward the industrial side. My background is in the music industry and so I figured we would just go with that approach and try and bring in more of an emphasis on artists and art at large, and ‘how can our taproom be a space for creativity?’ That’s really kind of been the north star for our approach to anything that we do at the brewery.”
And that’s exactly what guided them right to their Keep The Glass program. When they first opened, Proff says, they were trying to figure out how to get people in on Tuesdays, their slowest business day. He was remembering a trip to Austin, TX that he made years ago, when he says it was still illegal for Texas breweries to sell their beer at their taprooms.
“They were doing a workaround where they were selling a glass and saying ‘We can’t sell you beer, but we’ll sell you this glass for a certain amount and we’ll give you some pours of our beers in it' and that was kind of the way that they made it work [so] that you could go to a brewery and get to drink their beers. I just thought well, this is a perfect idea... Even though we didn’t have that as a challenge, it made sense to me that we could have this as a marketing program in place to get people excited about coming to the brewery on a day that was a bit slower.”
It was the perfect way to work with different artists and support the art community in which OMF resides. With the idea for a Keep The Glass night in motion, the next step was to execute it. They began working with local artists in Denver, giving them a different canvas for their art as well as exposure to a larger audience. By debuting a unique glass with an original design from a new artist every month, the program stays fresh and keeps people coming back for the latest release. And rather than just give the glass away, they came up with a promotion that provides customers with a packaged deal, while also encouraging them to try more beers: 3 small pours and 1 take-home glass for $15 every Tuesday.
"It’s a simple idea that’s easy to communicate to people. And it also gives this chance for customers to say ‘Not only do I get to have this collectible thing but I get a chance to try a few beers...’”
Listen to us chat with Brandon Proff on our Podcast and get inspired below by some of OMF’s awesome Keep The Glass drinkware.
Why Start A Keep The Glass Series?
- Increase customer traffic on slower days
- Build brand recognition and loyalty
- Cultivate relationships with your community
- Grow revenue
Keys To A Successful Keep The Glass Promotion:
- Entice your customers by keeping the glasses and designs fresh
- Reach out to your community of local artists for design submissions
- Align Keep The Glass events with new beer releases or other events