All craft beer claims originality, but the truth is, Cream Ale is one of three original American beer styles. And as Americans are drinking less and less beer, we needed to own this originality with an honestly creative approach to get more millennials to know us and choose us—in our own backyard and new ones—without traditional advertising.

Cream Ale AleBlazers
Connecting with our audience about more than beer
Spreading awareness by driving connection
For marketing-adverse millennials who want to feel as though they set their own tune, we crafted and curated meaningful experiences and content. We celebrated true AleBlazers through authentic brand storytelling featuring the spirited people who are making their own path and whose taste for life is as unique as Cream Ale.

Pivoting from Advertiser to Publisher
Cream Ale didn’t compete on the usual ads and media spend; that’s not original. We turned to crafting human-centric stories of unexpected people, places and makers—think barbers, tattoo artists, pizza curators, chop shop mechanics and fingerboard artists—through video, illustration, photography and editorial stories. All delivered in an agile manner through the channels our audience already hangs out in—social and digital. Plus, a printed zine and a flexi-record of tracks from the bands featured on our AleBlazers tour satisfied our audience’s craving for tangible analog content.
Sales growth in core regions:
+ 18%
Sales growth in expansion markets:
+ 8%
Engagement increase:
40x
Video plays:
1 m+

Exceeding benchmarks & trends
In a market where originality is overclaimed, we delivered. And in a category that is flat on its best day, we punched hard. We rewrote the rules of the engagement playbook with tactics our audience welcomed into their lives. We combined engaging content, paid promotion and on-site tastings in both current and expansion markets, driving 18% sales growth in existing markets and 8% sales growth in expansion markets.
Recognition
2020 National Silver Addy
American Advertising Awards
American Advertising Federation National for Cream Ale Mash’d Zine
2020 D2 Gold Addy
American Advertising Awards
American Advertising Federation District 2 for Cream Ale Mash’d Zine
2020 D2 Silver Addy
American Advertising Awards
American Advertising Federation District 2 for Integrated Campaign
2020 Best of Show
American Advertising Awards
Rochester Advertising Federation for Integrated Campaign
2020 Best of Print
American Advertising Awards
Rochester Advertising Federation for Cream Ale Mash'd Zine
2020 Gold Addy
American Advertising Awards
Rochester Advertising Federation for Integrated Campaign
2020 Gold Addy
American Advertising Awards
Rochester Advertising Federation for Cream Ale Mash'd Zine
2020 Gold Addy
American Advertising Awards
Rochester Advertising Federation for Cream Ale Aleblazers ROI
2020 Silver Addy
American Advertising Awards
Rochester Advertising Federation for Cream Ale Aleblazers Social Video Campaign