Cool data visualization video tells the history of brewing in the US, from the founders through prohibition and into our current Craft Beer renaissance!
Over the last hundred or so years, the brewing industry in the United States has changed dramatically. From the saloon era through consolidation to today’s flourishing craft beer culture, it’s been quite a ride. Take a look at how the small brewer is making quite a comeback after nearly a half century of decline.
Because A-B has spent years building its brand around nationalism and tradition, their sale to InBev last year has been especially damaging to its core identity. No amount of marketing can counteract this single fact, especially after the idea has become so ingrained over time. In some ways it might be easier to market a new beer, rather than reinvent the brand that sells America’s two top selling beers, Bud Light and Budweiser.
I was still living in St. Louis when the news broke, and since almost everyone there is related to an employee (in my case, an uncle) the reputation of a local business was at stake. By the time the sale was announced, it was Old News to me.
I feel the theme of this ad still holds true. To make a great beer takes more than its quality ingredients or branding, but the people who brew it. It takes ingenuity, attention to detail, passion, and forsight to brew tasty beverages.
In that regard craft beer has become my favorite, but every once in awhile a major brewery innovates their craft (Michelob anyone?). The beer business is complicated, but brewers take careful planning to both create the product and to market it.
I have a sneaking suspicion I’ll be talking much more about A-B in particular, and Beer Ads in general, in the near future.
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