Saturday, July 30, 2016

Crouch: "The craft brewing industry still suffers from a serious cleverness deficiency."

File under "classic elegance."

Telling it like it is. Is anyone paying attention? Earlier in the week at my public affairs blog, I indulged in conjecture.

ON THE AVENUES: An imaginary exercise tentatively called The Curmudgeon Free House.


It can't help being noticed that the list of European classic beers suggested therein for the most part contains beers with names simple and direct: Brewery name + style.

Schneider + Weiss.
Bell's + Two Hearted.
Samuel Smith + Oatmeal Stout.

Not a penis innuendo to be found, although this isn't a one-method-fits-all suggestion. It's merely an observation. At the end of the day, it's all about the beer, isn't it?


Time to Grow Up: Beer Branding’s Cleverness Deficiency, by Andy Crouch (Beer Advocate)

... Despite the clear value in welcoming outsiders and newbies, our behavior and messages often send signals of exclusion. The first way many potentially interested consumers interact with beer brands is through labels, tap handles, and point of sale materials. Slogans, imagery and appeals joking about breasts, dicks, vaginas, crapping, bestiality and ejaculation are awesome if we’re trying to sell beer to seventh-grade boys. But I’d like to think that even the most immature of fan boys, after a quick chuckle, think such attempts are pathetically juvenile.

If craft brewing wants to extend its audience beyond the traditional market of youngish, wealthy dudes, then it should encourage its more adolescent-obsessed elements to grow up a bit. To call out any particular brewery or beer here would only give it greater attention, which is perhaps the point of these efforts. But we all know such brand immaturity is rife in the industry.

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