Beer is a category that has long been defined by the tastes great less filling debate. As a result, it’s easy to think that disruption would be nearly impossible to achieve through product alone.
In the last several weeks, I’ve discovered several new product examples that the opposite is true. I’m a beer drinker. I’m also a marketer. And the story of the rise of these three beers in particular can teach you some very interesting and useful ways you might rethink your marketing, no matter what category you work in.
Here’s a look at each one along with a summary of what you can learn from their approach to marketing.
Beck’s 70+ – A beer for the senior palate.
Marketing Lesson: Rethink your target audience.
Our taste buds change as we age. Even though that’s widely known, there are surprisingly few products that are specifically made to take advantage of that fact. This truth makes Beck’s 70+, a bitter beer specifically “made for advanced palates” a gamechanging product that speaks to an underappreciated consumer segment.
Launched with an anti-ageist advertising campaign, the beer seems inspired by the “pro-aging” culture movement happening now and is an early example of an entirely new category of food and beverage formulated to appeal to the more mature palate. In a crowded category filled with shades of sameness, this is a clever way to stand out.
Tokyo Rococo – A Japanese luxury beer.
Marketing Lesson: Create a new ceremony.
In the finest restaurants in the world, beer is rarely served. The reason isn’t because beer couldn’t pair well with great food, but because a beer that chefs and restauranteurs would serve with pride didn’t exist, according to the makers of Japan’s first luxury beer known as ROCOCO Tokyo WHITE. The beer is described with the same sort of loving language usually reserved for fine wine:
“We brew ROCOCO Tokyo WHITE in Shizuoka, Japan from the naturally purified waters of Mount Fuji. With its silky luxurious texture, fruity aroma and sharp finish, ROCOCO Tokyo WHITE is described as having the delicate texture of champagne and the depth of a fine wine or nihonshu.”
The pitch is working. Since launching last year, the beer is served in over 100 Michelin starred restaurants across Japan and has been expanding to other countries as well. The beer is meant to be served in a wine glass and the bottle design as well as their gift packaging is so popular, people are even selling used bottles on eBay.
Rupee Basmati Rice Lager
Marketing Lesson: Find unexpected pairings.
Many beers are too carbonated or heavy to go well with spicy world cuisine. Rupee Beer is designed exactly for those pairings. Their flagship Basmati Rice Lager has carbonation lower than industry standards and offers a lighter, smoother finish that pairs better with spicy foods.
The beer is getting quickly adopted in Indian and Asian restaurants of all kinds and already has widespread distribution at Whole Foods and Trader Joes locations across the US.
These are just three of what is probably many beers that are breaking the usual traditions of the industry and doing something different. Any others you have seen that you might add to the list along with a marketing lesson?
