Dive Brief:
- Athletic Brewing Company is enacting an advertising blitz this summer with its largest national marketing program to date, according to a press release. The nonalcoholic brewer is expecting to spend 120% more on national media versus the year-ago period.
- The campaign centers on a 30-second spot, “Exceed Every Expectation,” where tastemakers including beer writer Jenn Litz-Kirk, restaurateur Chris Cosentino and chef David Chang — who is also an investor in the brand — testify to the superior quality of Athletic Brewing’s signature Run Wild IPA.
- Athletic Brewing wants to capitalize on a summer season that will see celebrations of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. In addition to the national ads, the marketer is running a regional campaign with Los Angeles Dodgers player Teoscar Hernández, its first MLB athlete partner.
Dive Insight:
Athletic Brewing is trying to shore up a position as a leading challenger in the increasingly competitive nonalcoholic beer category. To stand out in the key summer months, which this year include major events like the FIFA World Cup and America250, the brand is significantly boosting marketing with a campaign that includes streaming, online video, audio, digital and out-of-home elements.
The hero spot “Exceed Every Expectation,” which is already in market, anchors on thought leaders in the culinary and beer spaces who praise Athletic Brewing’s Run Wild IPA, with cameos from Athletic Brewing employees and co-founder John Walker. Their testimonials are paired with shots of the IPA being sourced, poured from a tap and packaged at a plant while the commercial closes with the tagline, “Non-alcholic beer fit for all times.” An underlying theme of the messaging is that Run Wild isn’t just good for a nonalcoholic beer, but a good beer, full stop.
“From the very beginning, Run Wild has represented what’s possible when you refuse to compromise on quality, flavor and brewing standards,” said Rosalie Kennedy, senior director of marketing for Athletic Brewing, in a press statement. “With Exceed Every Expectation, we’re celebrating the brew that redefined the perception of nonalcoholic beer, changed the way we drink, and continues to surprise beer lovers with every sip.”
To complement the pumped-up national media investment, Athletic Brewing is also teaming with Dodgers' star Hernández for a campaign running in the Los Angeles area as part of its first MLB athlete endorsement. The 30-second “Living Athletic” TV commercial tracks Hernández’s daily routine and how he breaks up the grind of the infamously long pro baseball season with the occasional chilled can of Athletic Brewing beer.
In addition to the marketing, Athletic Brewing is introducing limited-edition stars-and-stripes packaging for Run Wild and debuting a new radler brew called Fruited Fields that carries flavor notes of raspberry, blueberry and white grapefruit. Other brewers frequently release America-themed special packaging around the Fourth of July, a key window for beer sales that is seeing a rush of marketing activity due to America250.
Athletic Brewing, which helped lead the charge for nonalcoholic upstarts, is contending with major brewers and other industry players that are focusing more heavily on the category to appeal to a growing swath of sober-curious consumers. Coors Light is in the midst of rolling out its first nonalcoholic offering and Constellation Brands in March announced plans to acquire Hopwtr. Meanwhile, the team behind Casamigos tequila recently unveiled a nonalcoholic line called Crazy Mountain.
