I saw this at the Tap Room on Friday and thought it was pretty cool.  Or rather, my cousin Steve who is visiting from the East Coast thought it was cool.  And it made me think about brands diversifying their marketing to stay in front of consumers.

On one side, it’s a coaster, advertising a light beer by one of my favorite California breweries.

On the other side, it’s a postcard.  Wow!

I’ve worked in the beer industry on and off for a few years, first with Guinness way back in my career and later with some other guys who you may have read about on Rad Collector or in Playboy.  While I’ve never seen this… and it may not even be a unique idea (it could very well have been done before), both Cousin Steve (as I introduce him to friends) and I thought it was pretty cool.

How cool?  Well, first, Steve took the coaster home with him and it’s in my house.  He probably won’t mail it, but he took it.  So now this piece of marketing has been invited into my house where other people will see it.  Today, I scanned it in and posted it to the World Wide Web, where other people interested in beer marketing, action sports PR and my semi-intelligent ramblings will check it out too.  And maybe… just maybe one of us will mail it to someone else who will be encouraged to have a pint of Karl Strauss in the near future.

Ground breaking?  Probably not.  Innovative?  Kind of.  Will it make me buy their Endless Summer Light?  Well, I’ve bought it before, but I’m not much of a light beer guy.  Maybe though, it’ll remind me to buy their Pintail Pale Ale again next time I’m out and about (which is a mighty tasty beer indeed).  Whoa.  Karl Strauss just got another plug.  The ROI on this coaster is huge!!!

Is it?  I have no idea.  Calculating a hard ROI that you can compare to other things is a Fringe Science at best (in my mind).  But I’ve mentioned Karl Strauss way too many times for a guy that isn’t sponsored or have them as a client.  And now you’ve seen the words Karl Strauss and possibly checked out the link to their Pintail Pale Ale.  Who knows how many coasters were made and if anyone else but Cousin Steve and I care.  But in the case of this coaster, I think the job was done.

In marketing, regardless of if it’s for a beer, snowboard or hacky-sack, repetition of message and brand is important.  You shouldn’t rely on a few PR hits or scattershot ad buy to keep awareness up.  To stay current, diversify and hit consumers at various times.  A lot of brands in and out action sports are doing this now…. PR, stickers on the topsheets of snowboarders, events, ads, logo on a race car, shop windows, in-store displays, Web presences, etc.  Keep doing this.  And do more.  Be out there.  And be relevant.

It’s a little before 11 AM and so I’m not really in the mood for a beer.  But, that doesn’t make this coaster less effective.  Next time I hit Jug Liquor, I may be a little more likely to grab that sixer of the KS instead of something else.  Or maybe someone reading this will bring me one?  I also really like IPA’s.  And I go to Dirty Bird’s a lot… so feel free to buy me something there (and try their Ahi Tuna Sliders… sooo good.).

Getting back to ROI, marketing and beer coasters… You may not see a return at the register right away when you launch a marketing campaign, but if you’re not out there, it’s less likely you’re even on a consumer’s mind when the time is right for them to make a purchase.