Challenge
Under the CANarchy umbrella, Oskar Blues is one of the nation’s largest craft brewers. Responsible for bringing craft beer in a can to the masses through products like Dale’s Pale Ale, the team looked to continue diversifying its product offerings. Venturing outside of the beer category was the ultimate goal of Oskar Blues and the obvious choice was spirits. Before investing in all the equipment, the hope was to test the market and build additional distribution channels to support new product lines. With that in mind, a strategic approach to building a new extension was needed before bringing the products to consumers.
Solution
ITUATIONAL ANALYSIS Oskar Blues needed a brand that continues its irreverent banter while communicating the products it carries. The launch flavor was a 7.3% ABV Moscow Mule made with real vodka and ginger beer. Moscow Mule is produced on site and sells at $12.99 a 4-pack. KEY ISSUES Although there’s a clear familiarity with the beer industry, Oskar Blues had no prior spirits experience. Communication on what the product was to distributors and consumers was a “must” for launch. Ultimately our research led us to lean on the existing brand equity of Oskar Blues to help ease the sales process and establish familiarity with retailers. That led us to find ways to incorporate the Oskar Blues name into the product while adhering to its existing brand voice of irreverence and dry humor. We created Spirits by Oskar Blues, or SOB, to communicate the products produced and provide a cheeky abbreviation to be used in marketing materials along with branding/marketing elements to support it. Creative: Take “big beer” head on with a humorous spin to marketing terminology used to sell products in the category (e.g., Clean. Crisp. Refreshing.). Packaging: Separate the brand from Oskar Blues so consumers don’t associate it with beer and clearly communicate what’s in the cans. Website: We designed and built mobile first to engage consumers on the go/at retail with enough motion, movement, and interesting content to keep them engaged. Advertising: Scripts were written to make Oskar Blues’ employees uncomfortable while reading bad marketing lingo. Employee reactions were used to create six ads which truly capture authentic, genuine reactions to the new brand.
Results
5,000 unique users visited the website within the first two weeks of launch with an average of two pages visited. Visitors spent close to a minute engaging with content. The videos launched in Colorado and received 500k views in the first month helping bring more awareness to this new product. The implementation of all these assets has helped SOB crank through 350 cases a week.
Agency Squid
We're an ambitious agency for ambitious brands. Agency Squid is an independent creative brand agency full of listeners, creators, and entrepreneurs. We’re skilled. We’re effective. We’re impactful. And we might be the most valuable partner you’ll ever meet. To us, building brands is about making people feel, and feelings build...
Want fresh marketing stories in your inbox?
Get the weekly email that makes you a marketing genius.
Stay informed and inspired, for free.