Inputs & Outputs: Beer & Advertising

You get out what you put in. No exceptions.

Living in the craft beer capital of the nation, you learn that rule very quickly. Working in the advertising industry, doubly so. Looking at the intersection of beer and advertising, well, it’s not a pretty accident, but it sure drives home the point.

A few examples of the Input/Output Universal Constant™ in action for beer advertising today:

Input: Misogyny — Output: Bikinis and shrinking sales

Input: Target myopia — Output: Bro humor and irrelevance

Input: Inferiority — Output: Big, bold, empty claims of supremacy

Input: Bad beer — Output: Bad ads

Craft beer wouldn’t exist if the passionate brewers of the industry simply stuck to what “worked” in the past. Innovation (and resulting quality) is what has propelled this David-sized industry straight through the forehead of the macrobrewery Goliaths. And with that kind of input (again, according to our universal constant), there is tremendous opportunity to do authentic, meaningful work that breaks the conventions of traditional advertising.

Let’s try it, just for example’s sake.

Convention: Craft breweries are great because they’re small.

Truth: Craft beer isn’t about size, it’s about community. Sure, size the natural association because it’s the most obvious, but that’s not what really makes the difference — the difference is people. People create passion. Passion creates quality beer. And that process creates a story worth telling — whether it’s to a taproom or a nation.

We aren’t just making this comparison because we like beer (although we really do like beer). This process of cultivating great products and great work applies to advertising for any industry. Package those pieces up, get to a compelling input, and then utilize great creative and a high degree of care/thoughtfulness to get to that final output. It’s the only way to operate in an era where stories finally sell better than sex.

You don’t craft a batch of beer just for the sake of making it. It’s meant to be shared, enjoyed, appreciated. The same is true for content in the ever-updating digital age. By cultivating the right ingredients of truth, insight, intent, storytelling, process, and craft, your output really can drive business results by connecting with consumers emotionally. And to that philosophy, we’ll raise a glass.

Originally published at factandfiction.work.

Author: Kyle Taylor, Partner, Creative at Fact & Fiction