Plan B™
The Agency Alternative
Hacker-Pschorr
Background
Consumer acceptance of specialty beers — microbrews, premium brands and niche products — has been on the rise in recent years. This is especially true among late-stage Boomers, Gen-X’ers and Gen‑Y’ers, who take pride in sharing new-found discoveries. So it would seem that Hacker-Pschorr, the originator of the traditional Bavarian wheat (weisse) bier, would be tapping into this trend.
However, retail sales were as flat as day-old beer, and not much bubblier in bars and pubs. The brand had an aging core consumer base, and was significantly more expensive than its big-brewer competitors. Hacker-Pschorr realized it needed to create a buzz at the bar/pub level fueled not by alcohol content, but by smart creative content — and ordered up promotional help from Plan B.
Business Objectives
• Raise Hacker-Pschorr brand awareness in bars and pubs that would in turn break down resistance barriers at retail
• Increase case counts and distribution to bars and pubs in key markets
• Do it all with a marketing budget that’s a fraction of any local competitor’s.
Insight
Plan B found that consumers had surprisingly high awareness of Hacker-Pschorr — but they weren’t trying it. That’s because the “Big Brothers” of beer — Budweiser, Miller and Coors, holding a collective 80% market share — were effectively dictating who should drink which beer on which occasion.
Informal focus groups strongly indicated that trial would lead to purchase, and that the U.S. beer market was ripe for a strongly-positioned alternative to the big brands. Plan B worked to develop a promotional campaign that would create excitement in bars and pubs — where consumers would be receptive to trial — and extend its buzz to the in-store marketplace.
Strategy
• Target the bar/pub channel where the consumer first meets the brand.
• Use the heart of “big beer” country — Milwaukee — as the test market to ensure heavy trade and distributor exposure, maximize industry impact, and benefit from low media rates.
• Encourage head-to-head taste testing through a high-impact guerilla approach.
• Focus on Hacker-Pschorr’s superior and distinctive taste.
Approach
To memorably leverage the weisse heritage of Hacker-Pschorr, Plan B took advantage of the unique pronunciation of the term — “vice” with a soft “s”. The Plan B creative team developed the Weisse Squad — attractive girls in police-like uniforms who would “raid” designated bars, issue faux citations for “drinking lousy beer,” and offer patrons “The Right To A Better Beer.”
The Weisse Squad arrived at participating bars in police-like Hummer vehicles wrapped in high-impact Hacker-Pschorr graphics proclaiming “Justice Is Served.” Patrons received ticket-like citations filled out with the name of the beer they were seen drinking; each citation contained a $1 off coupon for store purchase plus an entry form to win a trip to Oktoberfest in Munich.
Patrons could also have their “mug shot” taken, which would be later posted on the Weisse Squad microsite for downloading and for emailing to friends. The site also contained video on “how to pour a Pschorr,” a bar raid finder to locate future promotional events, and an online sweepstakes entry option.
Cost-effective local radio and outdoor were used to promote the “right to a better beer” and inform listeners of upcoming Weisse Squad bar raids. Participating bars and pubs received special Event-In-A-Box kits that let them conduct their own raids using their staff as “badged deputies.” In addition, high traffic for the microsite was generated through a Google AdWords campaign using the names of competing beers as key words.
Results
• Hacker-Pschorr Weisse beer sales in Milwaukee increased a record 46% during the Weisse Squad program.
• Market share doubled to 4% after the “Weisse Squad” program.
• Top-of-mind unaided awareness rose from 6% to 13%.
• Key distributors increased Hacker-Pschorr orders by an average of 28%.
• The promotion received heavy coverage in industry trade publications (Beverage World, Food & Beverage, Cheers) and local media.