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Garage Beer accelerated in May NIQ scan data. $$ sales up 61.6%, catapulting it to 3d largest growth brand in beer for 4 weeks thru May 30. Only Pacifico (#1) and Ultra brand fams grew more in $$. That's impressive for a still fledgling brand that only sold about 3 mil cases all-channel last yr. And Garage Beer up 85K cases for 4 weeks, NIQ shows, almost half as many cases as Pacifico grew (180K cases) and over 1.5x more cases than Constellation's hot Victoria brand grew (+53K) in period including both Cinco de Mayo and Memorial Day Weekend. Both Pacifico and Victoria up 11% by $$ in NIQ during period. "Socially First, Digitally Enabled, Doing Really Fun Marketing" What is Garage Beer's secret sauce? Maybe it's the marketing. That's "what drove me to Garage Beer," said board member Pete Marino, speaking last week at Beer INSIGHTS Spring Conference in Chicago. "They are a social first, digitally enabled brand that is just doing really fun marketing," Pete added. "And I think that's a big reason for their success." Recently Garage Beer has been busy building out the org, hiring prexy Brian Amicon, chief commercial officer Andrew McGuire and cfo Patrick Brang "to create the process that will enable future and faster growth&hellip;. There's a huge appetite for this brand to continue to win and to commit to great marketing." Pete had a 20 year career working with and for Miller, MillerCoors and Molson Coors."Shared Passion and Enthusiasm&hellip;Almost Mission-Based" Make Beer Fun Again What did Pete see when he recently visited Garage Beer's Columbus HQ? "One of the things that really struck me," said Pete, was "the amount of shared passion and enthusiasm for this brand amongst the employee base is among the highest I've ever seen." And Pete has been "around a lot of early stage companies" as well as larger cos. It's "almost mission-based in terms of the passion they have for their company." And what is the mission? "Kind of a simple prospect of making beer fun again."Beer "Ceded" Great Advertising to Insurance; "Go Back to Recruiting Entry-Level" Drinkers Convo about Garage was bracketed by some striking before and after comments about beer marketing more generally. After praising great beer ads of the past, Pete said "the beer category has largely ceded great advertising to insurance of all categories." To insurance? That's marketing "that people want to engage with and talk about," added Pete. So what do beer cos need to do to reinvigorate their marketing? Beer category "generally speaking turned their back on their core consumer" as "they went after pockets of growth in very niche categories that distracted them."Brewers also have to "go back to recruiting entry-level beer drinkers by making beer cool again." Pete continued: "the beer category needs to go back to marketing with effectiveness, fun, focus on their core consumer and just make beer fun again." Brewers have "got to be a little bit bolder, more aggressive, and just start doing things like Garage Beer is doing," Pete concluded. "They're showing the world that if you make traditional fun beer advertising, people are going to want to engage with it." Going by recent Garage trends, Pete (and Garage) might be onto something.

Garage Beer #3 Growth Brand in NIQ for Last 4 Weeks; Pete Marino on What Garage Is Doing Right

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