October: More Than a Change in the Leaves

As fall jumps into full swing and the temperature starts to drop, a noticeable change takes place with the beer labels that stock the shelves in stores. Unlike most changes that I've discussed concerning beer labels, this change is more than exclusively aesthetic. Fall, especially the month of October, is a favorite time for numerous beer companies to release some of their specialty beer options. One of the more noticeable companies to participate in this trend is Blue Moon Brewing Company out of Colorado.

Blue Moon is usually considered one of the better beers that is sold on a large scale. The company also isn't a novice when it comes to limited edition beers. It seems to have a seasonal beer for basically every season to go along with its traditional 'Belgian White' ale. For the fall season, this beer is the 'Harvest Pumpkin' ale. The beer features an assortment of fall colors with an emphasis on orange. The picture on the label is also edited to feature a pumpkin patch at night illuminated by a large, blue moon.

To go along with the seasonal special, Blue Moon takes to social media in an effort to promote the beer and get people excited about its availability. Since the seasonal beers have been a tradition for many years, the company doesn't need to do as much to get the attention of customers. Instead, there are a few promotional posts on each of the company's social media platforms. From there, the customers who are familiar with the beer will promote it for Blue Moon, spreading word of mouth to more people and reinforcing how great it is. By building a loyal customer base, Blue Moon basically has social media marketing done for the company by those customers.

The Quest for World Cup Gold

As you know, Budweiser has been an often discussed topic within this blog. As far as changing can designs for special occasions, Budweiser seems to be the Oregon Football of beers. Just like the Ducks on the field, the ever changing can designs seem to have translated into more publicity and more money for Budweiser. Another example of this comes in the form of the company's World Cup cans that were released over the summer.

While Budweiser is typically more of a domestic brand and seems to focus marketing on sales within the United States, the World Cup presented a great opportunity to expand that focus and bring in some sales from foreign markets. The primary tool used in this process was a special edition can that was completely gold and had a shiny picture of the World Cup trophy on it. Saying the cans stood out would be an understatement. They looked like something designed by King Midas.

On the social media front, Budweiser used TV and billboard advertisements that encouraged people to look online or follow them on Twitter. When photos of the cans were first posted on Facebook, the received huge amounts of interest with people clamoring to figure out when and where they would be available. By emphasizing the rarity of the cans, Budweiser was able to make their beer seem much more valuable. Just by comparing likes on Facebook and favorites on Twitter, it is very apparent that the World Cup cans drove huge volumes of traffic through Budweiser's social media sites and really helped to build interest in new markets.