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Alaskan Brewing - Team

Company: Alaskan Brewing Company, Juneau, Alaska
Company Description: Alaskan Brewing Company brews the country’s best beers in the most majestic setting on earth. Pure malt, premium hops, glacier-fed waters and yeast are carefully crafted into distinctive, critically acclaimed beers. Alaskan Brewing Company is the most award-winning craft brewery in the country at the Great American Beer Festival. Alaskan Amber and ancillary beers are available on the west coast.
Nomination Category: Team Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Creative Team

Nomination Title: Alaskan Brewing Co. Taps Creative Team

   1. Tell the story about what this nominated team achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

The brewing industry is extremely competitive, with the advertising budgets of domestic giants far exceeding the gross earnings of small breweries. With this in mind, the Creative Team at Alaskan Brewing Co. faced this challenge: How does a small brewery in Juneau, Alaska, develop brand recognition and loyalty from people in the Lower 48? (The Lower 48 refers to the contiguous United States, where some people are so unfamiliar with Alaska that they ask whether American currency is accepted there.)   

What differentiates Alaskan Brewing Co. is the unique beauty and history of our location and the creativity and adventurousness of our Brew Crew. So our team’s solution was simple: Take advantage of all the natural attributes of Alaska and promote all things Alaskan. The program had four components: sponsorship of the 2005 Iditarod Trail Dog Sled Race, development of the Alaskan Passport Program, partnership with Alaskan Airlines, and creation of the Alaskan Six Pack.

One event that is unique to Alaska is the Iditarod. A major national beer company dropped sponsorship of the race, giving Alaskan Brewing Co. a chance to position Alaskan Amber as the “Great Beer for the Last Great Race.” This tagline inspired all promotional collateral, including displays, merchandise, and online advertising. The sponsorship helped contribute to the brewery’s strongest ever first-quarter retail sales.

The Creative Team wanted to share an authentic Alaskan experience with the 1 million ship passengers who cruise Alaska’s Inside Passage each year. In 2005 the Alaskan Passport Program was born. Each Princess and Holland America passenger received a “passport” that was stamped for every Alaskan beer bought. Participants could earn Alaskan Brewing gear. On-board sales grew tenfold over 2004. 

Alaskan Brewing Co. also wanted to complete the Alaskan experience for passengers on Alaskan Airlines. Starting October 1, 2005, Alaskan Amber was made available on Alaskan Airlines flights. The advertisements were modeled after the successful “Our Crew, Our Brew” campaign. The ads highlighted historical Alaska Airlines figures and promoted Alaskan Amber on-board. It now outsells every other beer on Alaskan Airlines. 

Alaskan Brewing Co. wanted to conduct market research on 21- to 30-year-olds, raise its visibility with that key demographic, and help young people, so the Creative Team launched the Alaskan Six Pack. The program recruits six college students to experience the Alaskan lifestyle, train at the brewery, and enjoy hands-on business experience, all while earning $5,000. The students conducted research and focus groups and served as Alaskan spokespeople in their markets. The brewery experienced a 16 percent increase in sales during the program. The 2006 promotions feature photographs of the 2005 participants. The Six Pack is the fresh phase of the “Our Crew, Our Brew” campaign.

The four innovative, creative, and fun campaigns resonated with consumers. Alaskan sales in 2005 grew by 23.9 percent, outpacing the craft beer category’s more modest 8.8 percent growth, as reported by the IRI. Alaskan Brewing Co. now leads sales of craft beers in all West Coast markets in which it is available.

   2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

2005 Market Results:
http://programs.juneaumedia.com/2005Results.pdf

Iditarod Pitch Sheet, Collateral and Merchandise:
http://programs.juneaumedia.com/iditarod2005/iditarod.pdf
http://programs.juneaumedia.com/iditarod2005/casecard_Stacker.jpg
http://programs.juneaumedia.com/iditarod2005/pints.jpg
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art27925.asp

Alaskan Passport Program Pitch Sheet and Collateral:
http://programs.juneaumedia.com/passport2005/Passportpitch05.pdf
http://programs.juneaumedia.com/passport2005/passport.pdf
http://programs.juneaumedia.com/passport2005/banner.jpg

Alaskan Amber Lands on Alaska Air:
http://akbrewmedia.juneaumedia.com/alaskaairlinesAds.pdf
http://www.alaskanbeer.com/artman/publish/article_140.shtml
http://www.alaskasworld.com/Newsroom/ASnews/ASstories/
AS_20050928_104702.asp

http://www.keepmedia.com/pubs/PRNewswire/2005/09/28/1030121

Our Crew, Our Brew Ad Campaign That Sparked Alaskan Six Pack:
http://akbrewmedia.juneaumedia.com/brewcrew_charlie.jpg
http://akbrewmedia.juneaumedia.com/brewcrew_damien.jpg
http://akbrewmedia.juneaumedia.com/brewcrew_darin.jpg
http://akbrewmedia.juneaumedia.com/brewcrew_tyler.jpg
http://akbrewmedia.juneaumedia.com/brewcrew_dayton.jpg
http://akbrewmedia.juneaumedia.com/brewcrew_leo.jpg
http://akbrewmedia.juneaumedia.com/brewcrew_linda.jpg
http://akbrewmedia.juneaumedia.com/brewcrew_rachael.jpg
http://akbrewmedia.juneaumedia.com/brewcrew_theo.jpg

Alaskan Six Pack Team Pitch Sheet, Collateral and Press:
http://programs.juneaumedia.com/sixpack2005/sixpack2005.pdf
http://programs.juneaumedia.com/sixpack2005/stackersign.jpg
http://promomagazine.com/contests/marketing_work_beer/index.html
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~cba/news-online/05-Sept/c.html

2006 Promotions Showcasing 2005 Six Pack Team:
http://www.jmc.sjsu.edu/student/prssa/sixpackflyer.pdf

   3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated team:

Fred Hees has been the Director of Marketing and Sales for the Alaskan Brewing Company since 2004. Hees was a salesman at IDV in 1983 before holding international sales and marketing management positions at EMEA and APAC.

Kristi Switzer-Monroe has been Director of Marketing Communications for Alaskan Brewing Co. for 13 years. She is responsible for Alaskan’s promotion execution and overall public perception and communications efforts.

Cindy Burchfield is the Brand Manager for the Alaskan Brewing Company. She joined the brewery in 1998. She is responsible for the Alaskan brand plan, brand and category performance, and co-branding and sponsorship opportunities.