Public opinion in this country is everything.

For a number of years the only publicity the beer industry received was either Forbes or Fortune magazines.  These highly respected business publications wrote mostly about AB and Miller (part of Philip Morris) and how they were dominating the industry.

Other beer topics that were included in these publications were Stroh Brewing buying out Schlitz, G.Heileman and its challenges, and Coors Brewing with their eastern expansion.

It was not until Jim Koch and Fritz Maytag began to see success that the media started noticing the coming of craft beers.  Add in Michael Jackson, who made a good career talking and writing about first, beer styles, and later, the craft industry.  The consumer began to take notice, but it really was not until the coming of the internet, that allowed the consumer access to the education of beer styles and the brands of the world.

The NBWA’s public relations campaign for decades really focused on informing Washington of the economic impact of beer wholesalers.  A hot topic was how many people were directly and indirectly financially affected using payroll dollars and how much tax dollars were paid, which helped to fight additional tax increases.  Not much else.

Distributors were known in their home markets for their support of worthy causes, charitable events, sports teams, and hosting organizations at their hospitality facilities.  Usually the larger the distributors market share, the more involved in the community was the distributor.

Outside of business publications, the craft brewers really struggled to get out their message.  Their early attempts with state legislators usually fell on deaf ears and led nowhere.  Slowly, however, that started to change.

Lead by Jim Koch, and soon followed by craft brewers including Sam Calagione, Gary Fish, Larry Bell, Steve Hindy, Kim Jordan, and Ken Harrison, to name a few, these successful craft brewers became media darlings.  To the media, their story was compelling, thus leading the public to become aware of the breweries’ stories and these brewers told of the difficulties they were having with the beer laws.

Politicians saw all the new jobs being created, the taxes being paid, and the local support of all their constituents for these breweries.  They started to pay attention and then these breweries began to get their ear.

In recent years, craft brewers began writing books, being interviewed on TV, some have their own shows, and are even writing op-eds in the major papers.  They are speaking not only at beer convention, but in other venues as well.  They have become “rock stars” and the face of the beer industry today.  They are telling their story!

With the advent of remarkable growth of local craft brewers, one or more in almost every community, these local brewers have connected with their community on a level the beer industry has not seen since before prohibition.  Consumers connect with these brewers.

Locals visit these breweries and sample their beer.  The consumers hear their story and challenges.  They follow their local brewery on social media and talk to them.  They become part of them!  And the local politicians know this.

This is really the personification of “grass-roots” marketing.  No matter how the NBWA approaches today’s issues, they are, in fact, losing the PR battle to craft brewers.  This is going to continue in the beer industry in the short term and as for the craft brewers, public opinion in this country is everything.