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How to Make Good, Even When You’re an Indulgence

An Unlikely Suspects Series

New Belgium Windmill Illustration by Shelly BowenQuiz: Which popular American company has avant-garde style, supreme bike culture, a sustainability-focused soul, and a circus funhouse disposition?

Hint: It’s an unlikely suspect.

Few brands hold my attention for minutes, let alone blocks of time on the weekend. New Belgium Brewing Company, however, has captured my attention. And not because of the beer.

If you know me at all, you know I’m not a beer drinker. Well, not until recently when craft beers and good friends have come together to introduce me to some amazing sours and beer cocktails … but that’s not my point.

My point is, I’ve been captivated, and not by a brand’s main product, but by their personality. In fact, some of their story brings tears to my eyes. How does this happen?

New Belgium Brewing Company Content Strategy

You knew I was going to say content strategy. Let’s break it down:

Goal: They say it best: “To operate a profitable brewery which makes our love and talent manifest.” Ok, wow.

Objectives: They have 10, and you can see them all on the New Belgium site, but in essence they are to enhance lives and make world-class beer while innovating and maintaining balance in the world. Sounds a little like a circus performance, doesn’t it?

Jump: A helter skelter site design, small serif font, a community that is both anonymous and personal, many disjointed microsites, and logos and badges galore are not the norm for web usability best practices. In fact, it takes a little digging to find (or find again):

  • Fun welcome videos set to music
  • A video of one founder going down a twisty slide
  • The presenting bicycles to 1-year employees
  • Authentic photos and audio of the people who work there
  • Events happening all over the U.S. (check out the Scavenger Dash happening in San Diego this week!)
  • Two blogs

So Why the Impact?

New Belgium Beer Case StudyIn this case, it’s all about authenticity. Sure, the story could be woven together a little more closely and presented more coherently — but there would be some risk of losing the whimsy … the authenticity …the scavenger hunt style. New Belgium doesn’t slap a recycle symbol or 1% for the earth badge on their site and let it go. They show through their stories, real art, videos, and photos how they live their culture and mission, and it makes you want to be a part of it too.

I know I do. I just bought this shirt.

What Could Be Even Better?

Organization and Usability: I know, I said there’s risk of losing whimsy, and there is. But all this rich content could be even richer with some well-balanced architecture, cross-story, and usability. Just imagine if I didn’t get lost, I found a thread to follow, and they made it easier to for me to find my way back.

Audience: This brand seems to attract out-on-the-edge fans (think handlebar mustaches, wigs, and small dogs in bike baskets) and mainstream beer fans. But what about fans of their sustainable mission (did I mention wind-power and self-generated biogas? Swoon.) Is there opportunity for more brand lovers — like me — to support the mission?

Apparel and Other Stuff: Although I bought a shirt, it wasn’t clear if the environmental mission applied to New Belgium merchandise. These days, companies have many options to supply branded products that are “durable, comfortable, and great looking, while making very little environmental impact,” the president of Green Envy Promotions, Elizabeth Rosales Hall tells me. And companies like Future : Standard are helping make sustainable fashion the norm.

Beer Benefits: Although it’s clear that New Belgium keeps its environmental footprint small, the connection between this awesome corporate sustainability and buying the beer is thin. If I was more aware of the do-goodness, would I buy more beer? Would I buy more other stuff?

Only one way to tell…

Related Content Strategy Case Studies

Baking Love and Loyalty into Your Content: Electra Bicycle Case Study

Elevating Your Industry: Kashi, Bear Naked, 18 Rabbits Case Study

Do you know an unlikely suspect? Do tell.

    Posted by Shelly Bowen on Mar 02, 2011. Filed under Branding, Web Content Strategy

     

    4 Comments | RSS feed for comments on this post

    • [...] Company is one case where giving your fans a chance to get involved and feel integrated into an authentic company culture and brand taps into [...]

      Pingback by Has beer advertising finally changed for the better? - on Mar 02, 2011

    • [...] We found another review by a web content strategy firm that goes into further detail of “How to Make Good, Even When You’re an Indulgence.” New Belgium Brewing weaves their story together with whimsy and authenticity. >>>Article here [...]

      Pingback by Craft Beer + Social Media: Let’s take a look | TAP HUNTER on Mar 09, 2011

    • [...] We found another review by a web content strategy firm that goes into further detail of “How to Make Good, Even When You’re an Indulgence.” New Belgium Brewing weaves their story together with whimsy and authenticity. >>>Article here [...]

      Pingback by Craft Beer + Social Media: Let’s take a look | OregonBeerBlogNews.com on Mar 11, 2011

    • [...] We found another review by a web content strategy firm that goes into further detail of “How to Make Good, Even When You’re an Indulgence.” New Belgium Brewing weaves their story together with whimsy and authenticity. >>>Article here [...]

      Pingback by Craft Beer + Social Media: Let’s take a look | Tap Hunter Blog on Mar 30, 2011

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