If you brew an excellent beer, but nobody hears about it, does it still make a sound?
Ok, that doesn’t translate super well, but you get the idea. If you don’t make some marketing noise around your brand, nobody’s going to know about you. And if they don’t know you, they certainly aren’t going to remember you.
Some might argue that quality speaks for itself, and if you’re brewing tasty beer, it’ll sell itself. While that’s great in theory, it just isn’t the case. At least not anymore.
Why?
According to the results of a recent survey conducted by Nielsen and presented by the Brewer’s Association, “the time is now for craft beer to advertise.” This fifth annual Craft Beer Insights (CIP) survey showed that only 21% of craft beer drinkers often buy a craft beer that they haven’t heard of, and that number has been steadily declining over the last 5 years. Now more than ever, it’s important that your brand is memorable.
To do that, you’ve got to get your brand in the minds, and the hands, of both current and potential customers. You’ve got to send the right message. Every brand has its own identity, its own set of adjectives it tries to convey — bold, adventurous, earthy, rustic — but there’s one in particular that should be part of every beer brand’s identity: quality.
“We have had great experiences with the glassware we have selected from Grandstand,” says Midge Howe of Urban South Brewery in New Orleans. “The quality and unique styles reflect our brand in the market and also create extra revenue from customers having interest in the unique glassware to take home.”
Quality glassware is your beer and your brand’s best friend. Custom printed with Full Color Digital Printing, glasses become bold, multi-color billboards for your brand, capturing fans’ attention and piquing their interest. They’re no longer simply a drinking vessel, they’re a sought-after piece of merchandise. And they’re totally Instagrammable (don’t @ us, it’s absolutely a word).
The right glass also adds to the drinking experience. When your customers are served fresh, tasty suds in a beautiful, quality, sensory enhancing glass like our favorites from Rastal, they’re definitely going to think and feel positively about the experience. If you serve the same beer in a basic water glass, the experience isn’t nearly as impressive or memorable — and they certainly won’t experience the full range of aroma, color and flavor. Whether or not they understand that glassware affects the way a beer smells and tastes, people do associate beer-appropriate glassware with quality.
And boy, do folks love a limited-edition glass! Especially one with awesome upgrades like a precious metal halo or a rad full color design.
“[We use] metallic rimmed and full color glasses,” says Howe, Urban South’s Digital Marketing & Office Administrator. “Those options add to the value of the glass for customers to purchase.”
A little something extra goes a long way in upping the value, and the ISO rating of a custom printed glass (ISO = “in search of” and yeah, we may have made that rating up).
A good marketing plan shouldn’t feel out of your reach. Custom printed glassware can be extremely powerful tools that earn you free impressions on social media (the Rastal Teku glass hashtag #Teku has more than 52,000 likes on Instagram alone), sparks excitement in your events and new product releases, and shapes a positive perception of your brand and your beer experience. Glassware gets you seen (awareness), known (perception), and best of all, remembered (loyalty).
We’ll drink to that.