Icehouse Launches Beer
Offbeat promotions, such as the Icehouse "Keg-A-Pult" this summer, is one element of a 1998 marketing mix that Plank Road Brewery here expects will push the brand to a second year of double-digit volume growth.
Plank Road, a small division of Miller Brewing, also brews the Red Dog brand. The Keg-A-Pult launches a keg of beer some 450 feet, and the person correctly guessing the landing spot wins a new Ford truck.
The Keg-A-Pult event kicked off June 1, where legal, and awards 10 new Ford pickup trucks to consumers around the country. The final event takes place in Florida in September.
New Look for Leinenkugel
CHIPPEWA FALLS, Wis. -- Leinenkugel's Original here, a beer that hasn't changed its recipe in 131 years, has changed its packaging. The package was first redesigned last year, when the brand celebrated its 130th anniversary. Sales went up 7%, and the design was revised slightly for 1998, for all packaging components.
Wolaver's Hits California
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- Panorama Brewing Co. here has announced that its organic craft beer, Wolaver's Pale Ale, is now available in Southern California. According to the brewer, Wolaver's is the first certified organic beer. Wolaver's Pale Ale is currently available at Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Beverages & More, Jensen's and the Wine House in six-packs. Suggested retail price is $6.99.
Coors Light is Showing Off
GOLDEN, Colo. -- Coors Brewing Co. here is wrapping Coors Light beer in shiny holographic packaging this summer. The cartons, available nationwide, feature a holographic visual film incorporated into high-tech packages. They are produced by Graphic Packaging Corp.(GPC) in its Lawrenceburg, Tenn., manufacturing plant.
The first packages appeared in mid-June, in 12-, 18- and 24-pack cartons. In addition to the holographic images, the cartons contain promotional sweepstakes information, which is flexographic printed on the inside of each carton.
Stroh's Named Best Lager
DETROIT, Mich. -- Stroh's beer here has won the biennial Brewing Industry International Awards competition for world's best tasting lager beer.
Stroh's received a gold medal in the Class 1 Packaged Liquor Competition, followed by Asia Pacific Breweries, Singapore, which captured the silver medal for Raffles Light Beer, and South African Breweries, which took the bronze for Hansa Pilsner.
The Brewing Industry International Awards is a biennial competition organized by Brewing Technology Services Ltd., Surrey, England. This year there were 810 entries from 200 breweries in 32 countries.
Have a Laid-Bock Summer
SHINER, Texas -- Shiner beer here is cooling down the summer heat with its "Have a Laid-Bock Summer" promotion.
The point-of-sale material features a man wearing cowboy hat and boots, enjoying a bottle of Shiner Bock while immersed in a large tin tub of ice water. The promotion runs through July.
