Marketing Craft Beer, as taught by Professor Neal Stewart

Some might say that Neal Stewart, my previous manager, is a pretty big deal. He has a sandwich named after him at the Rackhouse Pub, along with a blog devoted to turkey sandwiches to go with it. In my book, that alone makes for a pretty big deal. He’s also an accomplished adult beverage marketer, and that can only help the “cool” factor.

His previous work at Pabst and Flying Dog Brewery paired with his current job with the Mike’s Hard Lemonade folks has given him some really great insight on the state of effective marketing techniques across the craft beer industry. Neal posted a really cool Powerpoint presentation about what he knows about craft beer and who does these things the best, with a promise to expand on these slides in the coming weeks. I like Neal’s candid explanation of what he thinks works and doesn’t work in craft beer marketing. Many of his insights can also probably be translated across a wide variety of startups trying to use word of mouth to increase brand awareness.

Having worked in the beer industry the last three years, much of what I’ve learned about marketing I learned from Neal. I’m proud that I had the chance to work with him, and we did some really great work together. Even though he’s moved on, I’m excited that I’ll still get to learn from him.

Neal has also inspired me today to start blogging with renewed vigor. There are lots of things I have to say, and tweets just aren’t getting it all done. They’re good for some things, but I think that blog entries have a longer shelf life, for obvious reasons. It’s time that I made the most of my life, and this is one way to make that happen.