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Mcmenamins has spent the last 30 years building a local empire in Oregon.

Starting out with brew pubs and moving onto hotels, wineries and a distillery. The brand remains true to its roots and exhibits a wonderful, infectious and quirky character that helps it to stand way apart from the boring franchise chains.

You find character in the names of its beers- Terminator and Hammerhead, in the design of its pubs and hotels and in its graphic design and in hotel rooms named after and dedicated to local musicians. Even its events pack the same quirky feel, from UFO festivals to acoustic sets from local musicians played in an eight-seat capacity bar.

Great stuff.

Mcmenamins is a testament to what nurturing and sticking to your personal vision can create for a brand. It also shows that you can build a little empire without going national with VC cash and do it all in your own locale.

Thankfully, the brand hasn't taken a bucket load of cash from an international brewer to expand the concept globally because it would kill its charm. McMenamins remains Oregonian and in that lies its appeal.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to stay in the brand's Hotel Oregon, deep in the heat of wine country. I took some local quality pictures on my iPhone, which can be seen below.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Posted by Ed Cotton A well-known British actor gets his dream assignment, the chance to make a program about the perfect pint of beer.

Nice work if you can get it, but there's even more upside because the show is all about creating beer that actually makes it into production.

Apparently, leading grocery chain Sainsbury's is interested in carrying the new brand.

The integration here is fantastic, no bolt-on or add on association, but a deep education in the form of programing that becomes a three hour ad for a new brand.

Although, it will be tough for this fledgling brand to compete against the established players, the rich level of content and the emotional journey that the programming will take viewers on, will be so much deeper than any ad campaign from one of the leading brewers.

The challenge will be building and maintaining the momentum after the initial wave of coverage and PR.

However, it does show an opportunity for a new way to think about branded content.

What if Bud was to develop a new brew with a programming idea like this, rather than simply attach its name as a show sponsor or have featured product placement?

Obviously Anthony Bourdain, is the one guy who could do this in the US- let's see what he does next after the success of No Reservations.



Posted by Ed Cotton Most brewers focus their innovation around new taste, flavor and lightness profiles.

They focus on the beer itself, Heineken has done the same, but it's also created some interesting innovation in packaging and product delivery; the keg can and the draught keg are two breakthrough ideas.

In March of this year, the will launch take the delivery innovation a step further with the Beer Tender.


It's a home draught beer system developed in conjinction with Krups and others.

It's a great move on so many levels; it elevates the brand, it provides interesting interaction and engagement for the consumer, it has talk value and provides an entry point for dialog with the older segment of beer drinkers, who mainly drink beer at home.

It will be interesting to see how other brewers respond to this.


Posted by Ed Cotton How can something feel so wrong and so right?

"Building on a relationship between two Milwaukee neighbors that dates to Harley-Davidson's 90th anniversary celebration in 1993, Miller Lite will be the exclusive malt beverage sponsor of next year's Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary Celebration.  The only light beer to win four gold medals in the bi-annual World Beer Cup's American-style Light Lager category, Miller Lite will feature a national summer promotion highlighting the Harley-Davidson affiliation."

It makes perfect sense, but then you think again and you are not so certain.

Of course, the partnership involves lots of safe driving activities, but the desired message Miller clearly wants to communicate is "rebel beer" and that's a little bit of a conflict.

Perhaps, this is a win-win for Miller because the more negative press they get the more rebellious the brand will seem.



Posted by Ed Cotton At one time, Heineken was the UK's best selling lager, much of this success was down to Lowe Howard Spink's memorable advertising campaign and the tagline- "Refreshes the parts other beers can't reach" that was known by every Brit.

However, by the early 1990s, the brand had started to falter, it was too popular for its own good. It had become a part of cultural landcape becoming had a "British" lager. Heineken was no longer special any more and people knew it. The brand had become tarnished, it was precieved as being weak and watery and consequently lost ground to more fashionable imports. By 2003, sales had slipped to just 20% of peak volume.

In 2004, Heineken did something radical in response to the situation. It changed the product, scrapping the original brew that was made in England and started importing product from Holland, the same beer that is sold in 170 countries around the world. In so doing, it gave up $800 million in sales just to protect the integrity of the brand.

In 2005, the brand stopped advertising on television and pushed funds into point of sale and sponsorship.

Now in 2007, Heineken is making a comeback. It's returning to television after a two year break and is looking to bring the brand strategy in line with the rest of the world. The goal is to bring a "continental style of drinking" to the UK. In addition to TV advertising, the company created a mobile 400 seat cafe that it will take to events to reinforce the new positioning. It's also making sure that the product is served correctly  and has hired a team of auditors to evaluate the performance of 5,000 bars over the next 12 months.

It remains to be seen if the re-introduction of Heineken in the UK market will be a success. However, it's an illuminating case study that shows sometimes it's worth taking a sales hit to protect the integrity of the brand and that patience is important if you want to re-stage right. 


In a battle for attention, it’s almost impossible to get through to consumers and communicate the one thing that you stand for.

However, Coors appears to have struck gold in their ability to communicate that Coors Light  “owns” cold.

Taking a step back from beer land, it seems preposterous to assume that any American beer is ever going to be served “warm”, but the critical understanding that “the cold” in beer is a very important element for American beer drinkers, is smart.

Ladder this idea down to Coors roots in the “cold” Rocky Mountain, with its “cold” fresh water and you start to have a robust strategy.

Obviously, this approach is working for Coors, who just announced a couple of “cold” innovations for Coors Light. They aren’t developing popsicles, instead bottles with thermocromatic ink which turns blue when the beer has been chilled to the right temperature and a Super Cold Draft system to pour the beer at a temperature below freezing.

Beer brands are notorious for their quest to find the one single thing that resonates with consumers, so often, their quest shows through in inconsistent advertising that jumps around from idea to idea. It’s the equivalent of a political candidate who keeps changing his policy and personality with each interview. The consumer is left not knowing what the brand really stands for and the brand itself makes no commitment to prove anything.

Coors is interesting because it’s not only delivering to the single idea in its communication, it’s also proving it with tangible actions that reinforce its strategy.