Published: Sunday, June 28, 2009
Pyramid's new marketing scheme leaves sour aftertaste
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald Summer beers (from left) Diamond Knot Blonde Ale, Snoqualmie Pre-Prohibition Pilsner, Scuttlebutt Tripel 7 Belgian, Red Hook Sunrye and Pyramid Curve Ball Photo taken 061909 Features - summer beer
Pyramid Breweries has given its line of beers a face-lift, and like most face-lifts, the result is a fright.
The Seattle brewery wanted to capture the energy and activity of the Northwest on its labels. To pull that off, it slapped together a few collages of brightly colored sports imagery, making the beer look like something you drink at a triathlon. Which it's not.
To be clear, I have no issue with the actual beer. That hasn't changed. It's the brand positioning, to grab a phrase from the press release, that bugs me.
For one, Pyramid's bestselling beers have new names. Hefeweizen is now Haywire Hefeweizen. Apricot Ale is now Audacious Apricot Ale. So, to order one of its most popular beers, you have to say something like, "Give me an Audacious." Good luck with that.
Each of the beers also has a new label. All show a man participating in an edgy sport, such as surfing or rock-climbing. Pyramid even changed the focus on its Curve Ball Blonde Ale from baseball to frisbee.
Maybe I'm wrong, but to me, the new sports imagery looks out of step with drinking. Surfing requires balance. Drinking upsets it.
Admittedly, the brewer couldn't go with actual beer-drinking pictures. What to show? Tailgaters? A couple watching TV? Guys playing beer pong?
Now, I'm 28-years-old. I prefer microbrews. I've hit rock-climbing gyms and own two regulation-weight frisbees. I'm exactly the kind of jerk who is supposed to love this stuff. I'm the target market.
Instead, the neon colors, the steroidal pictures, the Gatoradesque names, they all make me cringe, in part because the brewer thinks I'll love the look. It's as misguided as a bad pick-up line.
At least in one small way, then, the new look has something in common with the beer.
They're both depressants.
Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455, arathbun@heraldnet.com
The Seattle brewery wanted to capture the energy and activity of the Northwest on its labels. To pull that off, it slapped together a few collages of brightly colored sports imagery, making the beer look like something you drink at a triathlon. Which it's not.
To be clear, I have no issue with the actual beer. That hasn't changed. It's the brand positioning, to grab a phrase from the press release, that bugs me.
For one, Pyramid's bestselling beers have new names. Hefeweizen is now Haywire Hefeweizen. Apricot Ale is now Audacious Apricot Ale. So, to order one of its most popular beers, you have to say something like, "Give me an Audacious." Good luck with that.
Each of the beers also has a new label. All show a man participating in an edgy sport, such as surfing or rock-climbing. Pyramid even changed the focus on its Curve Ball Blonde Ale from baseball to frisbee.
Maybe I'm wrong, but to me, the new sports imagery looks out of step with drinking. Surfing requires balance. Drinking upsets it.
Admittedly, the brewer couldn't go with actual beer-drinking pictures. What to show? Tailgaters? A couple watching TV? Guys playing beer pong?
Now, I'm 28-years-old. I prefer microbrews. I've hit rock-climbing gyms and own two regulation-weight frisbees. I'm exactly the kind of jerk who is supposed to love this stuff. I'm the target market.
Instead, the neon colors, the steroidal pictures, the Gatoradesque names, they all make me cringe, in part because the brewer thinks I'll love the look. It's as misguided as a bad pick-up line.
At least in one small way, then, the new look has something in common with the beer.
They're both depressants.
Andy Rathbun: 425-339-3455, arathbun@heraldnet.com
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