The document discusses a media strategy proposal for Samuel Adams beer to introduce their new seasonal beer "Escape Route" and shift perceptions of their brand. It includes research on beer trends, the competitive landscape, target audiences, and a proposed multi-channel media plan focusing on digital, social, radio and out of home advertising. The goal is to position Escape Route as the dominant winter transitional beer and establish Samuel Adams as accessible to casual drinkers while not alienating craft beer enthusiasts.

2. Your don’t know this and have a
narrow view of your brand.
Audiences
CraftBeerConnoisseur
CasualDrinker

3. Samuel Adams is known as the Boston beer
brewer and a leader in traditional beer variety.
However you offer so much more than that...

4. The brand disconnect puts debilitating pressure
on key metrics such as reputation, decisive
purchase rate and brand perception.

5. Communication Challenge
How can you get people who think they know everything about
Samuel Adams beer to realize the brand has more to offer?

6. Agenda
● How we would approach the media strategy to Samuel
Adams’ brand shifting and product promotional work
● High-level media recommendation
● Optimization strategies

7. Our Approach to Media Planning

9. RESEARCH

10. Jessica
Allyson Katherine
Andrew
James

11. Situation Analysis
Category Overview of Trends
● Customization of
Alcohol and Ingredients
● On-Premise Drinking
● Knowledgeable and
Sophisticated Palate
Mintel Oxygen
Brick and Barrell
IBIS World Industry Reports
Advertising Redbooks
● Social Influences for
Alcoholic Beverages
● Heritage and Genuine Story
Value of Brands
● The Occasion

12. Situation Analysis
Category, Brand and Consumer Overview
Mintel Oxygen
Brick and Barrell
IBIS World Industry Reports
Advertising Redbooks

13. Perceptual Analysis
How Breweries are Perceived
Accessible
Not Accessible
Not a Craft
Brewery
Craft Brewery

14. Escape Route SWOT Analysis

15. COMPETITIVE OVERVIEW

16. Sam Adams - National Ad Spend
● Sam Adams national activity
is almost exclusively
broadcast TV and Radio
○ Any channel that had less than
1% spend was not included
● As a result, awareness of the
brand at large has been
well-established in the market
Kantar - Stradegy

17. ● 3 Spring Beers in the last 5 Years
○ National Launch Mix is not working!
● Still relying heavily on broadcast
channels for media spend
Sam Adams - Spring Seasonal Spend
Kantar - Stradegy

18. Yuengling - Boston Launch Spend
Kantar - Stradegy
● In late 2013 / early 2014,
Yuengling launched it’s
second coming in Boston
○ Sales boomed upon Boston
launch, still remain strong today
● Found the right formula for a
local product launch
○ Second largest channel - OOH

20. Problem:
The Winter Beer Landscape is
oversaturated.

22. SPRING IS
COMING

23. Strategic
Opportunity
Establish Escape Route as the dominant winter transitional beer and the accessible craft beer for the
casual drinker, without alienating the craft beer connoisseur.
Strategic Pillars

24. Target Persona
Secondary Target:
Adults
21-49
Primary Target:
Men
21-34
MRI - 2014 Doublebase Study; Nielson Report: Exploring Consumer’s Mindset; IBIS World Breweries in the US - June 2014; Mintel
● Millennials are experimental, attentive
consumers
● Craft beer has a broad appeal, but the main
source of sales growth are from males, 21-35
● While disposable income may be low, the
younger audience is still fostering brand loyalty

25. Meet Mark...and Mahk

26. OWNED
Sam Adams’
Brewery
Craft Beer
Microsite
PAID
Key
Partnership
Native
Partnership
Network
Partners
Search
EARNED
PR Social Buzz
Content Distribution Strategy

27. Content Distribution Approach
● Key Partnership
● Native Verticals
● Efficient Scale
Casual Beer Drinker Craft Beer Connoisseur
Casual Craft Enthusiast

29. MRI - 2014 Doublebase Study
Media Quintiles
Landscape Analysis

30. Channel Allocation
Media Spend
Display $ 900,000
Mobile $ 500,000
OOH $ 650,000
Search $ 100,000
Social $ 200,000
Radio $ 150,000
Total $ 2,500,000

31. Media Parameters

32. DISPLAY

33. Exciting Custom Units, Homepage Takeovers
and Skins
Sample Site List
Boston.com
Wicked Local
CBS Local
NHL.com
Bleacher Report
Barstool Sports
KEY PARTNERSHIP

34. ● Native Content Series focusing on
● Boston dining experiences and craft beer pairings
● Dedicated Emails Introducing Escape Route
● One Day Takeover
● Food and Drink Vertical Takeover

35. MOBILE

36. Mobile Partnerships

37. SOCIAL

38. ● Top 10 Bruins Moments
● 10 Mini-Boston Escapes
● 10 Worst Things about Boston Winter
● 10 Signs that Spring is Coming

39. Appeal both to
Spring Breakers
and Staycationers
#craftyourEscapecontest

40. Snowed in? We’ll help you out! Sign up
with Drizly and use promo code
“ESCAPE2015” for a free taste of Escape
Route with every purchase!
Top 10 Bruins Moments! Brought to you
by Sam Adams, Escape Route.
Promoted Posts to
support our content
partnerships and
sponsorships with
Buzzfeed, Drizly, Uber,
Instagram, Thrillist

42. ● Use top branded and non branded keywords to target Boston consumers who are searching to find
more about craft beer and Sam Adams
○ Drive consumers to microsite
● Update keyword list around mobile promotional periods
PAID SEARCH

43. OOH

44. Digital OOH
● Traditional OOH Billboards have a
high out of pocket cost
○ Capitalize on digital inventory
for targeted efforts
○ TD Garden digital wraps,
extending some of our radio
and display efforts
● AdCity - Taxi Cab ads, capture
our audience en route
○ Top of mind messaging upon
arrival to their destination

45. Experiential OOH
● Bring Spring to the city with
heated bus stops sponsored by
Sam Adams
○ Bus stops also wrapped in
Escape Route skin
● Subway Takeovers in high traffic
areas also reach commuting
crowd with continuous messaging

46. RADIO

47. Local Radio
● Align with local sports hub
networks during Bruin’s game
● Daypart mix across other local
networks would heavy up in the
A.M. and P.M. commuting hours
○ Weather/Traffic Sponsorships

48. Streaming Online Radio
● In partnership with Spotify, we
would geo and demo target for our
online listeners
● Daypart mix would be more
geared to the “at work” crowd,
ensuring sufficient coverage for
our message to be heard

51. Campaign Measurement Plan

52. THANK YOU

53. Appendix

54. Age of Respondents
QuestionPro - 2014 Survey

55. First Drink of Choice - Male
QuestionPro - 2014 Survey

56. Secondary Drink of Choice - Male
QuestionPro - 2014 Survey

57. First Drink of Choice - Female
QuestionPro - 2014 Survey

58. How Often Do You Purchase Beer? - Male
QuestionPro - 2014 Survey

59. How Often Do You Purchase Beer? - Female
QuestionPro - 2014 Survey

60. Beer Purchase Consideration Factors - Male
QuestionPro - 2014 Survey
Most Important Least Important

61. Beer Purchase Consideration Factors - Female
QuestionPro - 2014 Survey
Most Important Least Important

62. Statement on Seasonal Beer - Male
QuestionPro - 2014 Survey

63. Statement on Seasonal Beer - Female
QuestionPro - 2014 Survey

64. Index Scores

65. Index Scores

66. Winter Beer Landscape
Stradegy
February is typically one of the
more miserable months on the
beer calendar when production
falls about 3 million barrels off
of its midsummer peak to its
lowest point until the
November-December holiday
season.
-Beer Institute and the Alcohol
and tobacco Tax and Trade
Bureau.

67. Bud Light Golden Wheat - National Launch
Kantar - Stradegy
● Bud Light launched “Golden
Wheat” in Q3/Q4 of 2009
○ Within two years, An-Bev pulled
the product line as sales suffered
● Like Sam Seasonals, Golden
Wheat relied primarily on TV
● Unlike Sam Adams, however,
Golden Wheat also invested
significantly in print