The Viking Alchemist Social Media "March Meadness"

About the Viking Alchemist

The Viking Alchemist Meadery is a family owned/run meadery brewing mead in Georgia for over three years. Despite the rise of the craft beer industry, mead remains a misunderstood alcoholic beverage.

At its meadery, Viking Alchemist serves over 15 different meads, ranging from sweet to dry, still to sparkling. A variety as diverse as wines and beers. A typical guest is surprised by how different one is from another, reinforcing the perception that mead is simply misunderstood.

To date, the meadery had done little to no marketing beyond word of mouth and occasional activities. A structured social media presence was established 4 months earlier on Facebook and Instagram but was still at the developmental stage and not funded through any sponsored posts.

The Concept

We chose to time a competition among our meads to align with NCAA March Madness in March/April. We named our competition, “March Meadness.” Other than timing and a bracket, there were no other references to the NCAA tournament. But the style would be self-evident to our audience.

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Project Rationale

The immediate region around the meadery has seen a surge in breweries creating a receptive audience, familiar with visiting tap rooms for recreation. Successful growth depends upon getting on the “circuit” of tap room visitors who often visit multiple breweries in a month.

Amidst this growing popularity in craft drinks, The Viking Alchemist Meadery chose to develop a comprehensive communications campaign to help:

  • Educate craft-alcohol drinkers on mead as a beverage option.

  • Elevate the Viking Alchemist Meadery brand with their key audience

  • Increase visitors to their local tapro

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Target Audience

  • Almost all the regular tap-room customers live within a 25 mile radius of the meadery, average 25-45 and skew towards men, though not heavily.

  • Tap room guests frequently bring friends to introduce them to mead. This referral process has driving the growth of the meadery.

  • We are competing directly with craft breweries, but our ideal customer is s/he who is looking for something new and different.

  • Most newcomers are finding the meadery either on Facebook, Instagram or by referral.

  • Very few newcomers have had an experience with mead.

Goals and Objectives

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  • Each post had to show engagement of at least 50 customers with a different flavor/style of mead.
    [In three cases, we did not reach our target of 50 votes. All other bouts exceeded 50, with the highest peaking at 94, second semi-final.]

  • Maintain engagement over a month’s time, to build adoption.
    [The overall trend through the month was upward, starting with 49, peaking at 94 and ending the following day with 82.]

  • Establish customer preferences to inform product development.
    [As the winning mead, Mints was immediately put into production for canning and entered distribution in April.]

Key Message Points

Each post offered a short description of the two competing meads, a littler personality and an image for visual distinction. A poll was included for followers to vote. The votes opened at 9AM and closed at 9PM. Along the way, voters could watch results, comment and encourage friends to vote. The posts were designed to educate and entertain with key messages:

  • Mead comes in many different styles.

  • Everyone can find something they like in a mead from dry to sweet, still to sparkling.

  • Come discover what you like in our local tap room.

 
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2019 IABC Atlanta Golden Flame for Social Media

The program took top honors at the IABC Golden Flame Awards among companies like Agco, Piedmont Healthcare and Beazer Homes. The award mark the first marketing award for the meadery and bolstered confidence in what the channels could do for the brand.

About IABC Atlanta
Since 1970, the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Atlanta chapter has been helping our city thrive by increasing recognition that quality communication drives business and impact. IABC Atlanta is part of a global network of communication professionals that provides professional development, networking and best practices for a broad range of communication professionals at all career levels. With membership across internal, external, executive, marketing, government, freelance and PR sectors, IABC Atlanta provides unique networking events and learning opportunities for communication professionals to advance their careers and build meaningful connections within the Atlanta community.

Eric Berrios