Boston Beer Takes a Big Hit

America’s drinkers are putting down their Sam Adams. Its brewer, Boston Beer Co., which has gotten a bit of press recently for putting in a trademark request for Boston Strong 26.2 Brew in the wake of the bombings at the Boston Marathon, announced its quarterly earnings Wednesday and they were not good. The company earned 51 cents per share in this year’s first quarter, “down almost 9 percent from a year earlier and well below the 62 cents a share expected by analysts,” CNN reports.

That news sent shares of the country’s top craft brewer down almost 11 percent Thursday. Their spot at the top of the heap is hurting them, the company said, as consumers are turning their tongues to other smaller craft brews that are on their way up.Continue reading...

Newcastle Gets Real

Newcastle has taken a new tack in its advertising and it’s all about turning old beer advertising on its head. Beer marketers love to throw “heritage” imagery at consumers to make beer drinkers feel like they are part of something bigger, so Newcastle decided to go back to its roots, the English town of Newcastle, where residents—known as Geordies—are filled with humor and realism. The result? Newcastle’s “No Bollocks” ad campaign.

“If you look at the Geordies, they’re very friendly, down-to-earth; they don’t take themselves too seriously, and tell it like it is. We figured that is a really interesting space for us to be in," says Newcastle Brown Ale Brand Director Charles van Es, according to Fast Company's FastCoCreate blog. "We wanted to use that wit and dry sense of humor as our brand voice. We want to be transparent about the fact that we’re marketing to you and the fact that our beer comes from England.”Continue reading...

Pernod Ricard’s recent "Responsib'All Day" action mobilized employees on five continents in its second annual day of service dedicated to education about responsible drinking. Its "mentor and messenger" efforts reached 18,000 employees worldwide in major cities including Sydney, Shanghai, New Delhi, Tokyo, Johannesburg and São Paulo, and UK-based staff from subsidiaries the Absolut Company and Premium Wine Brands.

"We have been promoting responsible drinking for more than 30 years. At Responsib'All Day, all of our employees are mobilised to help make things change. As a company, we are resolutely dedicated to strengthening our engagement with public authorities and NGOs to fight inappropriate drinking habits," stated Pernod Ricard CEO Pierre Pringuet in a press release.

Pernod Ricard USA’s Facebook platform, dubbed Here’s To Tomorrow, “will attempt to spark a social movement through a platform that encourages parents to take an immediate positive approach in discussing drinking with their underage children today in order to effect a better tomorrow.” With only 115 likes on its campaign Facebook page since launching a week ago, however, it's clearly not as easy to spark a social movement as the French alcohol brand purveyor may think.Continue reading...