A winter seasonal beer is like a veteran back-up quarterback on a football team who, when called upon, isn’t asked to take big risks. Just manage the game and hand the ball off to the Summer seasonal without fumbling the snap. It’s a topic that has always fascinated me because Winter, and to some extent Spring, is a battle that just can’t be won when it comes to volume for a seasonal beer program. Winter just needs to hold the position as best it can by running a simple offense. The best strategies to combat these offseason blues are to rally around specific occasions and get the beer associated with those moments. That’s why Bell’s unveiling of Oberon Eclipse and Off Color Brewing’s Beer for Huddles stood out to me on social media this week.
TOTAL ECLIPSE OF TWO HEARTED
An image of the sun doesn’t resonate with beer drinkers in the Fall & Winter months, given that it’s dark by 4:30pm. That bright visual is so key to the iconic Bell’s Oberon brand, which historically would hit the market right at Winter’s end. For Midwest drinkers, the wheat beer’s official launch called Oberon Day would serve as a signal of hope in the form of a wide-reaching beer that’s stood the test of time. Well diehard fans no longer have to wait for their clocks to change back as the brewery announced that the brand will now be year-round. Oberon Eclipse, a slightly heavier version (6.3% vs 5.8% ABV) of the classic, will begin rotating in during these darker months.
But after all these years, why change it now? The press release included the following explanation:
“Fans have been demanding year-round Oberon for years now, so we love when we get a chance to give our fans – and our business partners – something they’ve been asking for,” said Carrie Yunker, Executive Vice President of Bell’s Brewery. “Oberon continues to be a top-performer here in the Midwest, and our retailer and distributor partners rely on that seasonal release. As we close in on national distribution this year, it’s vital that we continue to provide retailers and distributors with demand-driving products year-round.”
If you read the tea leaves, you can see that this isn’t actually about giving in to the vocal minority in the Facebook comments. A past strategy is being abandoned and new one being deployed that risks making original Oberon feel less special during its core selling season in the interests of improving Fall and Winter sales. Aside from that one concern, here’s a Beer Cruncher breakdown of what probably went down and how it all works:
Bell’s was purchased by Kirin in November 2021 and now rolls up under New Belgium leadership. Once a brewery is acquired for a hefty sum, no longer flying under the independent banner, optimization quickly rises to the top as a priority.
A beer as powerful of Bell’s Oberon occupies prime real estate on chain store shelves, in a set position. Therefore, something needs to go in the position when it’s not Oberon season and for most chain retailers, it needs to have the same UPC, and thus the same price. The “seasonal” acts like one item and is considered a single SKU, even if the brands on the packaging rotate.
Most breweries use this opportunity to rotate an Oktoberfest and a Christmas or Winter Ale into the mix, as Bell’s has done in the past. But as they fill in the map with National distribution, more of those saturated styles 2,000 miles from Kalamazoo aren’t holding their weight on the shelf. They’re blending in with the crowd. Doubling down on the notoriety and history of Oberon and zagging with an underrepresented style in the Winter is a gamble that I can get behind. Not to mention the fact that…
Simple wins and a shelf spot that is simply either Oberon or Oberon Eclipse, rocking a UPC that rings up “Oberon” will cause the least confusion for distributors and retailers, which is paramount especially for a brewery operating in 50 states.
Oberon Eclipse is a band-aid on wound that never heals for craft breweries and I’m sure a tasty one at that, but shows the never-ending vortex of trying to dial in a seasonal program. The giant pain in the ass for Bell’s is that once you make this decision, you need to make it with all of the Oberon SKUs which include 6-packs of cans and bottles, 12-packs of cans and bottles, 16oz singles, and 19.2oz singles. All for a brand that isn’t being put in the game to be your franchise quarterback, it’s just being asked to do it’s job and not blow the game.
Beers for Football
Last week, we announced a new Anti-Hero IPA program at Revolution that I’ve been working on all year. It involves rotating sports-themed collector cans, special gold versions hidden in cartons, the creation of our own sports franchise called the Anti-Heroes, and a whole lot more. I’ll write about this later, but the point being, we love sports and think it’s a top occasion to market Anti-Hero around as the IPA for sports fans to pick-up for their game watch.
It looks like our neighbors at Off Color Brewing were of a similar mindset when they released their own beer for football, “Beer for Huddles”. The Amber Ale is a new entry to a long-standing series of “Beer for” choices that Off Color rolls out on a regular basis, each built around an occasion, food pairing, or event. The strategy offers a constant cycle of ways to pull at the heart strings of Off Color’s devout fans, as well as creative ways to reengage with their casual fans who come and go. But it takes more than just a name and a recurring series, the brewery needs to connect the occasion to feelings and emotion that surround it like they do with this great copy:
As the foliage color fades and the grunts of late summer two-a-days subside, our thirst also transitions into the warm coziness of richer flavors. Sub in Beer for Huddles. Expect this one to be tree resin amber in color with initial aromas of warm biscuits before this traditional amber drives deeper into Flavortown with pan browned pie crust overtones that also includes hints of rose incense and early autumn dried leaves.
What’s also impressive to me is their ability to get ahead with all the design and sourcing work that goes into having matching glassware, footballs (!!!), and perfect shirts for the season ready in time for release.
The differences between Bell’s Brewery and Off Color Brewing are many, but the nimbleness or lack thereof is what dictate their strategies. While Bell’s has to consider the impact on the entire country, with each region experiencing the seasons to different degrees (literally), Off Color is able to change things up on a dime and aim more narrow. One month it might be huddling up for football game watches, while the next might be geared around Tacos. Darker days are ahead, but look for craft breweries to continue going all-in on the occasions that bring us the most joy, or in the case of football, anguish.
This was really good. I've never taken a marketing class, but I felt like you walked me through this in a way that was informative and enjoyable. Thx!
The Oberon Eclipse kind of makes me worry that Bells will go the way of New Belgium. Becoming Oberon/Two Hearted Brewing Company similar to how NB is basically Voodoo Ranger Brewing Company. Obviously Ranger is killing the game so I'd be happy to see Bells success, but it seems like it is an example yet another brewery that you could depend on making great examples of a wide variety of styles get more and more narrowed down. At least Oberon and Two Hearted are damn good beers! Nice post!