I am a little sick of the overexposure of beer ads associated with sporting events. I get it, it’s logical and it works. But let’s try to think outside the box for a second.
Dear Brewing Companies,
I’ll give you some free advice: advertise to me at the mall. Trust me; it’ll work.
Love,
An unidentified customer
I like beers AND I also like shopping. A lot. Here’s the interesting relationship for me, beer and shopping are positively correlated. Beer at lunch means more shopping in the afternoon, and more shopping in the afternoon means more beer at dinner. Everyone wins (if “everyone” is the beer and retail industry, and not my checking account!).
Fact: America’s Historic Roundhouse microbrewery (formerly Walter Payton’s Roundhouse) is 5.8 miles from the Chicago Premium Outlet mall in Aurora. I know this because when I go to one, I go to the other. And I am betting there are more people out there like me. Plus as an added benefit, mall advertisers also have the attention of the unwilling shopping companion a.k.a. the husband, boyfriend, or poor guy stuck in the friend zone.
Imagine this scenario: girlfriend is in her eighth shoe store. Boyfriend is on a bench, crying on the inside. Suddenly boyfriend has a genius idea: as payback for 5 hours of “shoe hunting”, girlfriend will let him choose the dinner location, and he’ll pick the microbrewery he just discovered. Girlfriend doesn’t mind because her feet hurt from walking the mall all day (hence the need for new shoes). In fact, maybe girlfriend will enjoy a celebratory brew herself. She deserves it after she worked so hard to find all those amazing sale items!
Clearly a market exists for advertisers to reach the weekend shopper. What other advertising opportunities could the beer industry embrace?