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BRAND PARTNERSHIPS
Crafting a Collaboration Carhartt Inc. teamed up with New Holland Brewing Co. to launch a commemorative beer that honors the brand’s blue-collar roots BY CHRISTINE BIRKNER | SENIOR STAFF WRITER
cbirkner@ama.org Goal Brand collaborations, when executed well, can offer a multitude of marketing benefits and expand both brands’ reach. To commemorate its 125th anniversary, Dearborn, Mich.-based work wear
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brand Carhartt Inc. wanted to launch a unique product that would veer from its typical commemorative offerings. “We already had made some apparel with our anniversary in mind—a hat and a blanket—but we wanted to do something
that was a little more outside the box,” says Randy Meza, Carhartt’s marketing director. “We wanted to get people to think about Carhartt in a way that they otherwise may not have. What better way to do that than to ask a consumer, ‘Hey, have you ever had a Carhartt beer?’ ” Action Carhartt reached out to Holland, Mich.based New Holland Brewing Co. to help them create the new brew. “We’re a Michigan company and we wanted the ingredients to come from Michigan, so we chose to work with New Holland,” says Brian Bennett, Carhartt’s creative director. The two companies announced the collaboration in February 2014, and
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BRAND PARTNERSHIPS
in September, they unveiled the beer at Ponyride, a collaborative workspace in Detroit. Dubbed “The Carhartt Woodsman,” the beer pays homage to craftspeople and artisans, or “makers.” Carhartt’s and New Holland’s marketing teams collaborated on the taste of the beer and the design of the label. “We talked about what our customers had in common and tasted some beers to picture the target we were going for,” says Fred Bueltmann, New Holland’s vice president of brand and lifestyle. “It celebrated craftsmanship, so it had the rugged durability of barrel aging, and a flavor profile that would be light and refreshing after a hard day’s work. It had a story, depth and character that a beer connoisseur would appreciate, as well.” Some of New Holland’s customers initially were doubtful about the collaboration, Bueltmann says. “We were already fans of Carhartt, and it’s a brand whose values we can support and work with, but, at first, people thought there was a divide between who a Carhartt customer was and who a craft beer fan— our customer—was,” he says. “The minute we started talking about how we share ideals—that we’re Michigan companies that really appreciate craftsmanship—customers said, ‘Now it makes perfect sense.’ One of the marketing goals was to connect the two audiences, and let people from all sides of the demographic come together and appreciate something fun and rewarding.”
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To promote the beer, Carhartt and New Holland launched a tour called the “Road Home to Craftsmanship” in which the team outfitted New Holland’s 1947 Spartan trailer with benches upholstered in Carhartt clothing material and drove it to bars in various cities for sampling events. Each event was free to the public and featured musical performances, campfires, beer sampling and food from local chefs. At each tour stop, Carhartt’s marketing team interviewed smallbusiness owners and craftspeople for profiles on Carhartt’s website and a video for its YouTube channel, including representatives from Reclaim Detroit, which reconstructs abandoned houses in the city; Loveland, Colo.-based Rusty May Saddle Maker; and Denver-based custom furniture maker Fin Art Co. “We made this beer in honor of people who are sitting in their woodshops or their tiny factories trying to create a product,” Bennett says. “We wanted to get on the road so we could meet with these craftsmen across the country and connect with them. It was kind of a research trip for us, to get back and walk in our consumers’ shoes. We had beers with them in the bars that they frequent. We played music with them around the campfire. It was a way to get back to the roots of why we make stuff.” The tour lasted from Sept. 20 through Oct. 2 and included stops in Detroit;
COMPANIES
Carhartt Inc. and New Holland Brewing Co. HEADQUARTERS
Dearborn and Holland, Mich. CAMPAIGN TIMELINE
Tour lasted from Sept. 20 through Oct. 2; beer was available from September through November 2014 RESULTS
The campaign garnered 35 million social media impressions, including 900 views of the Carhartt Craftsman video on YouTube, and media mentions in The Detroit News, Crain’s Detroit Business, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Men’s Journal. The Carhartt Woodsman sold 10,000 cases and was named one of the 25 best beers of 2014 by Draft magazine.
Holland, Mich.; Milwaukee; Chicago; Des Moines, Iowa; and Lincoln, Neb. It ended at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. The cities were chosen based on popular Carhartt markets. The tour was promoted primarily online through New Holland’s blog, and through Carhartt and New Holland’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels, using the hashtag #CarharttWoodsman. The beer was sold at bars and in grocery and liquor stores across the country from September through November, and also was displayed with Carhartt apparel at The Andersons’ hardware stores in Ohio and Meijer grocery stores in Michigan. The companies chose to promote the effort via an online and experiential campaign rather than through traditional ads because it was a better way to bring the beer directly to consumers, Meza says. “We wanted it to be an experience: to break bread with people and raise a glass together. We wanted to do more than just talk about ourselves. We wanted to engage with the public.”
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