KALAMAZOO BEER WEEK PLAYBOOK

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "KALAMAZOO BEER WEEK PLAYBOOK"

Quentin May
6 years ago
Views:

1 2017 KALAMAZOO BEER WEEK PLAYBOOK

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABOUT KBW POINT OF SALE GUIDE TO SUCCESS SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE TIMELINE

3 ABOUT KBW WHAT Kalamazoo Beer Week is a weeklong series of events focusing on craft beer. These are hosted in restaurants, bars, and retail locations, where these products are served, tasted, and loved. HOW In partnership with Discover Kalamazoo, KBW2017 planners are coordinating the 2017 events from January Speak with your distributor account manager for info on how to participate. WHY Craft Beer is local. It s exciting. And it s easy to get behind. Let us help you showcase this terrific market segment for your customers!

4 ABOUT KBW Kalamazoo Beer Week is designed to connect craft breweries (and in many cases, brewers themselves) with Kalamazoo s independently owned restaurants and retailers, to create a unique craft beer experience for our consumers. Each event has a programmed element, intended to educate or offer insight into some aspect of the craft beer movement, a special product or style of beer, or some other element of the industry. This programmed portion should be well thought out and executed, and should be a partnership between the brewery and the establishment. Local breweries, area restaurants and retailers partner to create a special craft beer experience for the consumer. Together, these two parties decide the details of their event(s). Planning KBW2017 events is the responsibility of the business owner and the brewery. Kalamazoo Beer Week will promote your event via web, editorial, and other marketing methods, but no one knows better than you do what your customers want. Put something together! In order to be listed as a KBW2017 event, it must: 1Feature Craft Beer 2 Have a "programmed" 3 element to the event Offer public interaction with a brewery representative

5 ABOUT KBW Planning KBW2017 events is the responsibility of the business owner and the brewery. Kalamazoo Beer Week will promote your event via web, editorial, and other marketing methods, but no one knows better than you do what your customers want. Put something together! In order to be listed as a KBW2017 event, it must: 1) feature craft beer, 2) offer public interaction with a brewery representative, and 3) have a programmed element to the event. ON premise Special Release Tasting with a presentation by the brewer Verticle Tasting Beer Pairings Workshop how to pair beer and food Home Brewing Presentation how to brew at home, presented by a brewmaster OFF premise Special Release Tasting with a presentation by the brewer Seasonal Tasting Cheese & Beer Pairings Cooking Demonstration with beer as a featured ingredient (Chef and brewer collaboration) YOUR DISTRIBUTOR CAN HELP Know what you d like to do, but need help putting it together? Let your distributor help. They have the brewery contacts, and can supply phone numbers and addresses.

6 POINT OF SALE POINT OF SALE Get the word out! Kalamazoo Beer Week has posters, table tents, banners, and more. The designs, including the logo and accompanying imagery, are available to you in editable formats at Download your own, or use your distributor to help with posters, banners, and menus -- they can supply materials to get the word out. REMINDER If the account prints the banners, posters, or menus, the account name can be listed on the items. If your distributor does this for you, your account name will not be contained on the material, as distributors are governed by the laws of the MLCC. The good news, if a patron is viewing a poster in your store or restaurant, intuitively they know that the event is taking place there. If you are handing out flyers for your event, you may wish to print them yourself, so that your business name can be listed. These can be found in downloadable formats at

7 GUIDE TO SUCCESS TO PREPARE Initiate A Phone Call Whether you are the account or the brewer, call the other person involved. Do not rely solely on the distributor to make all necessary arrangements and plans, as sometimes things can get lost in translation. Use this time to discuss your expectations: how many people, what will be poured, and the agenda for the event. Should the brewer give a toast? Should the chef make a presentation? Plan this in advance. Order Specialty Products Or Offerings Of course, part of KBW2017 s cool factor is the public s ability to taste things not readily available to them. And, your distributor needs time to arrange for the arrival and delivery of special one-off brews, firkins, or specialty kegs. Plan ahead, and order early. Think about tap handles, too. Do you have them? Do you need them? It may also be a good idea to clean your draft lines the week before! REGISTER YOUR EVENT Load the details on AND DON T FORGET to register with the MLCC! Links to the necessary paperwork can be found on the KBW website. Spread The Word / Point Of Sale Get the word out! Use every available method to your advantage. Your distributor can help by supplying Point Of Sale for the event. But if you wish, you can download POS from the KBW website. Hang it prominently, and use the KBW look on all materials! Then go to Facebook/Twitter/Instagram and put it all there too. If you are able - create a Facebook event and share it with your followers! (See the KBW Social Media Guide for ideas.) Program Strong Plan your remarks early. Have the brewer present for pre-shift meetings with staff. Do a tasting with your own team (it never hurts to practice the program or presentation!) THAT DAY Interact With Attendees In A Big Way Your biggest ingredient for a successful event is your smile and a handshake. Meet the participants. Shake hands with everyone. Be friendly. And for goodness sakes, DON T SIT DOWN, no matter how tired you get. Brewers should be circling the dining room and interacting with guests. Restaurant Managers can help them break the ice. The beer and the brewers or brewery representatives ARE THE STARS. Be sure that the public gets their fill. Get Them Home Safe This event focuses on craft beer, but not on its abuse. Please be responsible about pouring and consumption and have these handy: Taxi of Kalamazoo Central City Transportation Yellow Cab/Checker Cab Bronco Express

8 SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook Have your company like Kalamazoo Beer Week. Find it by searching Kalamazoo Beer Week on Facebook. LIKE status updates used by KBW and SHARE content posted there with your own followers. It shows up on your wall and in your newsfeed. Distributors please remember that you CANNOT post something with an account s name but you can share info on your suppliers and brewers. Create Facebook events for each of your scheduled KBW activities and invite your followers and the general public to view. Staff can post PERSONALLY but not AS the company. Post photos from your KBW events on your page as well! Twitter Have your company follow Kalamazoo Beer Week. Find it by searching Kalamazoo Beer Week on Twitter. When posting anything related to Kalamazoo Beer Week, please use the hashtag #KBW2017. LIKE tweets from KBW and RETWEET content posted there with your own followers. Encourage patrons to tweet about the events using the hashtag through posters, table tents, or other promotional material. Distributors please remember that you CANNOT post something with an account s name, but you can tweet info on your suppliers and brewers. Staff can tweet PERSONALLY, but not AS the company. Tweet photos from your KBW events! Instagram Although Kalamazoo Beer Week does not have an instagram account if you happen to have an account for your company feel free to use it as an additional promotional platform! Instagram is a great way of sharing photos of your tap takeover handles, food pairings, a Beer sighting, etc. And nothing gets your followers attention quite like a mouthwatering food pairing photo or a flight of beer! List your event information in the description and use the hashtag #KBW2017! Untappd Untappd is also another great social tool to post and check in what you re drinking and tag the location of an event! REMEMBER! USE THE HASHTAG & ALWAYS INCLUDE A LINK TO THE WEBSITE #KBW2017

9 WEBSITE HOW TO SUBMIT AN EVENT How To Submit: 1. Go to the members only portion of kalamazoobeerweek.com (It is located under Hop To It on the top right hand side.) 2. Login with your unique User ID & Password 3. Click on Events 4. Click on Add Event 5. Complete the form and hit Submit 6. It will then be reviewed and approved by the site admin! The Event Must: Concentrate on craft beer. Offer something special! ($3 Drafts alone are not enough. Add a bottle signing or meet & greet!) There should be a promotional element to your event. (Someone, preferably the brewer, should make remarks/present the beers.) REMINDERS The only way to submit an event to the calendar is to login to the website. Check the website to make certain your event hasn t already been entered! Please be as specific as possible when entering the name of your event. (For example: Beer Tasting at Irving s Market with Boatyard Brewing not just Beer Tasting ) Make it easy for visitors to understand your event with just a glance. You will only be able to choose event locations and breweries from a drop down menu. If you find your event location is not listed on the drop down menu, please contact Renee Newman at RNewman@discoverkalamazoo.com. For a better chance of having your event posted on the KBW Facebook and Twitter, please submit your event at least 5 days in advance. Although it is not guaranteed that your event will be posted, this gives the admin time to schedule a proper posting. If there is a larger/more significant event that you are hosting and would like to see it posted on the KBW Facebook and Twitter, feel free to your suggestion! Although it is not guaranteed that your event will be posted, this helps us better choose which event you would like to see posted. Send suggestions to Alyssa Liberatore at ALiberatore@discoverkalamazoo.com.

10 TIMELINE 6 MONTHS OUT (JULY) 3 MONTHS OUT (OCTOBER) Start brainstorming ideas for events Solidify ideas for events and plan out your week 2 MONTHS OUT (NOVEMBER) Contact your distributor for product and brewery reps for events If able start to add your events to the KBW website by late November (Thanksgiving) Hand out/put out Save The Date cards (beginning of November) Start thinking of media buys (ads, billboards, etc) Add your events to the KBW website as early as possible! Discover Kalamazoo begins advertising KBW in late October, so the traffic to the KBW site increases during November. Even if all the details for an event aren t finalized, post as much information as you can. 1 MONTH OUT (MID DECEMBER) 3 WEEKS OUT (END OF DECEMBER) Add your events to the KBW Website Solidify any media buys Start creating Facebook events from your social media outlets and invite people to join Check in with your brewery reps and distributor to make sure all of your events are booked and product is ordered Solidify all of your events on the KBW website Start to post on social media about your events (Sneak peeks are always good!) 2 WEEKS OUT (1ST WEEK OF JANUARY) 1 WEEK OUT (2ND WEEK OF JANUARY) Put up point of sale for your events Ramp up social media posts on your events and share your KBW Facebook events to get an idea of attendance numbers Double check that all of your events are on the KBW website! Check with your brewery rep to make sure they have everything they need from you to make it a successful event Start scheduling your social media posts for the week be sure to post some of the unique factors of your events to get people excited! 1-2 DAYS OUT (3RD WEEK OF JANUARY) Prepare yourself for the storm that is beer week. Make sure you are staffed, you have every piece of point of sale material for all of your events, and that you have checked in with all of your brewery reps for the week! Post, share, tweet, instagram as much as you can to get the hype!

11 CONTACT DISTRIBUTORS I.H.S: Jamie Wight Imperial: Anna Tomlonson Westside: Brock Eastley Paw Paw: Todd BREWERIES Arcadia: Karmene Hassell Bell s: Aaron Steinmann Bravo: Shawn Hagen Brite Eyes: Brian Pierce Boatyard: Brian Steele Gonzo s: Greg Gonzo Haner Latitude 42: Brad Bishop or One Well: T.J. Waldofsky Rupert s: Mark Rupert Tibb s: Kevin Tibbs Texas Corners: William Schultz DISCOVER KALAMAZOO Renée Newman: Event lead, website, advertising, media Alyssa Liberatore: Social and digital media Nate Melvin: The Beer

EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS, 140 CHARACTERS AT A TIME

A RETAILERS GUIDE EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS, 140 CHARACTERS AT A TIME With over 400 million tweets a day and 200 million active users, many of your customers could already be using Twitter. It s a quick, easy