Public Relations Lessons from Three Recent Beer Events
The Ontario beer scene is dramatic. It’s because we’re not used to having good things. We have little chill. And people keep fucking with us. Anyways. Let’s explore a few PR crises that occurred over the last month, and analyze how the brands involved took control of the conversation.
- The LCBO’s Hill Farmstead Release
On July 24, the LCBO announced the online release of three types of Hill Farmstead beer (Anna, Arthur and Florence), imported by Keep6 Imports. They were stated to go on sale July 24 at 11 am. On July 24, shortly before 11 am, the LCBO site crashed and remained down all day. Nobody got any Hill Farmstead that day. Due to obvious IT issues, the LCBO (and Keep6) apologized and announced a do-over: the Hill Farmstead stock would be released on July 27 at 8:30 am, and sales would be limited to two bottles of each beer per person (for a total of six bottles).
On July 27 at 8:30 am, the LCBO’s Hill Farmstead stock was sold out. The online sale had been leaked 20 minutes before it was stated to go live, and no bottle limits were enforced. (The site crashed shortly after 8:30, which likely means a leaked release was the only way to ensure purchase of the beer, in any case.)
The mismanagement of the release by the LCBO isn’t at all surprising. The damage control by Keep6, on the other hand, went above and beyond to keep their customers happy.
Keep6 shared the LCBO’s responses on social media, communicated their frustration with the way the release was handled, and apologized, profusely, way before the LCBO could craft a response. This prompted Volo fans to commiserate with them about how the LCBO handled the release, as well as thank the Morana family for all they have done for the local craft beer community.
(As for the LCBO’s response: They apologized. People’s orders were eventually adjusted to reflect the limits & were partially refunded, and those who complained about not getting any Hill Farmstead apparently got. Oh — and then the LCBO ended up with leftover stock, which went on shelves at the Queen’s Quay store August 22.)
2. Witchstock (and the Curious Case of the Tokenless Festival)
On August 3, Bellwoods Brewery announced the general details of their second annual Witchstock beer festival. The biggest change appeared to be the departure from an affordable ticket plus on-site tokens purchase system to an all-in price of $120 plus taxes and fees (which came to $142.97). The price change upset many Bellwoods fans, who complained that this would encourage an ‘all-you-can-drink’ mentality (as if gamifying drinking doesn’t already make this a festival standard). They also complained about the increase in tickets and decrease in session times, and questioned the legality of the all-in format.
The same people who spend well over $142.97 every month at Bellwoods complained that the price change was so prohibitive that they would not buy a ticket to this year’s Witchstock. The same people who spent over $100 at Liquid Arts. The same people who spent over $100 at the last Witchstock. The vast reach of these complaints gained so much online traction that BlogTO published an article about the now infamous ‘all-you-can-drink’ angle, and the complaints started pouring in from well outside the craft beer community. That’s when Bellwoods initiated some damage control in the form of social media responses that directed to an informational blog post.
Much to my shock, this scandal caused Bellwoods to break an almost year-long Twitter absence, while defending their honour:
Bellwoods has my favourite branding and communications strategy of any brewery, and their blog (and now newsletter) has always been informative, interesting, witty and concise. The blog post dispelled people’s worries about the legality of a tokenless festival, and shed light on what it costs to run festivals. My favourite part of the blog post is their customer-first focus, as they highlight why the festival will be as good (if not better) than last year’s :
The fact that so many of their loyal customers had several doubts about this year’s festival — the same people who announced that last year’s festival was one of the best run beer festivals they’ve ever attended — was worrisome because it pointed to a lack of trust in Bellwoods. I would argue that, due to Bellwoods’ rapidly growing success, this lack of trust stems from: 1) how much money people already spend at the brewery (sunk cost) + 2) fears about the brewery’s perceived greed (selling out — or in this case, breaking even/making a profit). It also highlights how insular people’s craft beer festival experience is, due to Ontario’s prohibitive liquor laws. This will be the first tokenless festival in Ontario — this is progress.
3. Buck-A-Beer.
Doug Ford’s buck-a-beer campaign promise was initially referenced by many in the beer community as a joke about his lack of a campaign platform — until it became too real. On August 7, Barley Days Brewery was the first to announce their buck-a-beer, and two others have followed suit thus far.
This cheapening campaign upset many craft beer producers, because it promotes ignorance of what beer costs to produce (and actively encourages profit loss), while encouraging the sale and consumption of bad beer (as cheap beer requires skimping on quality ingredients).
Buck-a-beer’s newfound reality inspired several brewery owners and employees to give public statements about why they refuse to participate in producing cheap beer — spearheading a public information campaign illuminating how much it costs to produce beer.
Here are a few of the responses:
Dominion City used buck-a-beer buzz to introduce a beer that helps refugees in their community.
These examples demonstrate taking positive action against political disinformation in ways that encourage informed dialogue, transparency and community support.
The LCBO’s Hill Farmstead Release, Witchstock, and the Buck-A-Beer conversation highlight an honest, community-first educational approach from Keep6, Bellwoods, and local craft beer producers in response to PR crises. I hope these events encourage more open-minded dialogue among consumers the next time similar issues arise.
