“You can have the best beer, but a label is what sells the product,”

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by sandiego67, Jul 20, 2012.

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  1. azorie

    azorie Pooh-Bah (2,409) Mar 18, 2006 Florida
    Pooh-Bah

    wow number 1 beer in the world has no label, go figure.....:wink:
     
  2. nc41

    nc41 Initiate (0) Sep 25, 2008 North Carolina
    Trader

    Pliny is as simple as it gets, and it's only cool because the beer is good. I understand the marketing aspects of great bottles, they create internist, like Zombie Dust, great bottle great beer. If ZD tasted like ass it wouldn't sell no matter what you put it in or how great the bottle is.
     
  3. andrewinski1

    andrewinski1 Initiate (0) Apr 14, 2009 New Hampshire

    What about Shipyard's Pumpkinhead?
     
  4. fox227

    fox227 Initiate (0) Nov 19, 2010 California

    Port's labels are much more simplistic than their Lost Abbey line. Does this account for the price difference? If so, then it's primarily the uneducated buyers that buy based on labels alone.
     
  5. Dennoman

    Dennoman Initiate (0) Aug 20, 2011 Belgium

    Well, it takes some getting into beers before you start appreciating what's in the bottle over the label. I prefer very sober and simple designs, so my favorite American labels are the Bruery ones, or at least most of them. They'd fit in any fine wine boutique.

    Then again, after getting into beers I started appreciating the contents more than the bottle. Struise bottles have gawdy and frankly awful label designs, but the beers are fantastic.

    [controversy]Whereas Dark Lord is as bad or even worse than its label[/controversy]
     
  6. JuicesFlowing

    JuicesFlowing Initiate (0) Jul 5, 2009 Kansas

    I like this topic. I do sometimes judge a book by its cover. But this isn't really about a single beer, as it is the entire brewery. Once you have that one beer, you'll more than likely try more offerings or not, no matter what the label is.
     
  7. GRG1313

    GRG1313 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,850) Jan 15, 2009 California
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    C'mon....lets not be naive....that bad-ass neck ring is simply a substitute for a cool and catchy label. The monks know exactly what they are doing and the bottle itself is marketing genius. We'd know that bottle in a dark room the same way we'd know a Coke bottle.

    Labels definitely sell beer, of that there is no question. Are we as beer geeks influenced? Well, some of us obviously yes (like me) and some no...like you other more grounded individuals. I like a cool label and I gravitate to it to look at the bottle, look at the descriptions and I probably go out of my way to at least try it. I admit it. Cool label . . .hopefully cool beer.

    I had the opportunity to attend a particular event 6 times a year at a local venue. A theater event. I'd eat at the same restaurant before each performance that I was to attend. I always ordered mussels in addition to whatever else I wanted and couldn't find a beer that I liked from the meager selection offered. This went on for almost two years.

    Well, I had passed frequently on Mardsous 8 at that point because the label was so boring. Suffice it to say I finally ordered it and fell in love! The pairing was fantastic and I still recommend it and make note that Mardsous 8 is one of the best beers on the planet....especially with food and most especially with mussels.

    Yeah, I concluded there and then that I was superficial in connection with labels and I try my hardest to not let the label influence me. But, really...can you resist trying to get a bottle of beer with Santa playing chess, or a bunch of cute little duckies swimming around, or a crowned Zombie with sparkley dust all over? I could go on and on. Labels count.
     
  8. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Great counter example to your own argument. :slight_smile:

    The neck ring originates from Westmalle, is used on their beers, and winds up at the Abbey because returnable bottles are still used in Belgium. However, collection points for empties don't sort bottles by neck ring. So finding Westvleteren in that bottle indicates the Monks have re-used a Westmalle bottle along with the other non-neck ring bottles they use (new or used). So by your argument, Westmalle, with all of their bottles having both the neck ring and a nice label should be more in demand than Westvleteren.
     
  9. misterid

    misterid Initiate (0) Apr 3, 2009 Wisconsin

    if it didn't, companies wouldn't sink money in to it :shrug:
     
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  10. KingforaDay

    KingforaDay Pooh-Bah (2,421) Aug 5, 2010 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Not sure about everywhere else, but in many of the stores i frequent in NJ, the Lost Abbey beers are all marked down because they are sitting on the shelves and not selling. I guess the artwork is just not good enough. Or maybe it's the beer?
     
  11. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    I suppose it is hard to accept because there were so many more people who didn't buy an Edsel than there were who did, and because so many millions of folks didn't buy New Coke.
     
  12. DanE

    DanE Initiate (0) Feb 24, 2012 Connecticut

    ^ This.

    But 100's of millions did world-wide. Marketing's sole purpose is to motivate purchase.
     
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  13. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Then why was it discontinued and is no longer pushed? And why was the Edsel a big flop?

    The purpose may be to motivate, but it often fails to do so.
     
  14. DanE

    DanE Initiate (0) Feb 24, 2012 Connecticut

    My wife does not fit your description. :wink:
     
  15. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    A swallow does not a summer make. :-)
     
  16. MaxSpang

    MaxSpang Initiate (0) Jan 28, 2011 Ohio
    Trader

    As a blanket statement, I would say that a good label (and good marketing in general) will sell more beers as long as the product is solid enough to back it up. Generally speaking. For the most part. Yadda yadda.

    It's not always true as it depends on the market, shelf location, clientele of the store, etc. For example, I think The Bruery and Jolly Pumpkin have some of the best labels out there, but they sit on the shelf for a long time around here. Even the limited Bruery stuff like Tart of Darkness will sit for awhile. On the flip side, breweries like Dark Horse (who have lackluster labels as much as I hate to say it) will sell out fairly quickly.

    Rest assured, marketing is extremely important. But marketing isn't just the design on the label.
     
  17. yemenmocha

    yemenmocha Grand Pooh-Bah (4,092) Jun 18, 2002 Arizona
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Your inductive reasoning is off. A few counterexamples don't disprove that it is very, every effective in general.

    Plus I love the soda pop examples because it was pathetic how many Coke drinkers failed the Pepsi challenge, for example, yet continued to be die-hard Coke drinkers. They're in love with the Coke image that has been created from marketing. It has little to do with taste.
     
  18. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    So how many counter examples do you require?

    And note that induction cuts both ways. Basing the argument for success on a few examples doesn't prove that it is very effective in general.

    I submit that the "success" cases only appear to be more frequent because the marketers have a vested interest (financial) in having us believe in their success and that many "failures" quietly disappear from sight. We also need a tally of cases where no marketing was used and there were successes and failures. Without data for all four cases any and all induction is subject to confirmation bias and no firm conclusions can be supported.
     
  19. starkmarvelo

    starkmarvelo Initiate (0) Jan 20, 2010 Texas

    I can't lie, I'm a sucker for a pretty label. Freetail Brewing has my favorite labels. And there beer is phenominal.
     
  20. dennis3951

    dennis3951 Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2008 New Jersey

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