The Five and Dime

Sometimes the best marketing ideas are the simplest ones. Once you implement them, they seem obvious. Some are so obvious after the fact that, as a marketing company, people tend to wonder why they are paying us.

A few years ago we were approached to work on a new advertising campaign for Berghoff beer. I put my creative team to the task of coming up with concepts for the regional beer brand. The background information showed us that the current audience was an older demographic. Our charge was to reach a younger target without alienating the older drinker.

My creative team presented their ideas to me and after hearing all of their concepts, I presented one idea of my own. I suggested a blues music theme.

This was a strategic solution on many levels. First, we felt it had a “coolness” factor that could capture the younger audience. Even if you aren’t into the blues yourself, you understood that it is cool to like the blues. Second, the blues are non-generational. You don’t have to be young or old to enjoy the blues. In fact, the younger generation looks up to the older blues musicians with respect.

The reason this was the obvious solution was that Berghoff had been sponsoring a blues festival for years and years in their hometown of Monroe, Wisconsin. (Dick Tschanz, one of the managers at the brewery, was also a founder of the festival.) After the fact, it seems really obvious, but when you’re busting your brains for ideas, sometimes that isn’t so apparent.

Often, the simplest ideas are the best ones. Sometimes you need to simply look at what you have before trying to invent something new.