Al over at Hop Talk has just written an excellent post on the power of marketing in beer. The brunt of the argument is this, from writer Bill Virgin:

Put samples of half a dozen or so mass-market American beers before a panel of drinkers in a blind taste test, and even the most confirmed quaffers would be lucky to match two to the right brand.

But put half a dozen or so mass-market American beer advertising slogans or jingles before a panel of testers, and even teetotalers with some exposure to media would come close to a perfect score.

One of the arguments is that the difference between big beer and craft beer is that big beer spends more on marketing than they do on quality products (both ingredients and quality control). While this may be true, I think marketing many times gets a bum rap when connected to beer. People only think about Superbowl ads. In reality, everything a company does that a consumer sees is “marketing” in some shape or form.

Craft brewers have as much a need for good marketing as big brewers. But while Budweiser might produce a funny ad, a micro might instead hold a community event or sponsor a party. And micros have no excuse for producing bad packaging. They’ve got less to lose in the way of offending someone, which brings me to the best beer slogan ever:

“The official beer of Planet Earth” from Butte Creek Brewing. Thanks to Brookston Beer Bulletin for the coverage!