What happens when you take a regional business, rich with 175 years worth of family heritage, and throw in the passion of a connoisseur who just so happens to be one of the biggest names in Heavy Metal music?
THE BUSINESS
Robinsons have been brewing ale from their Cheshire brewery since 1838. With a reach spanning the North West of England & North Wales, Robinsons are a family-run business with a rich pedigree in brewing fine ale for 1 1/2 centuries
THE MARKET
Ale brewing is an immensely competitive market. In the UK alone there are over 1000 independent brewers. For Robinsons, their geographic reach is mainly restricted by the nature of the pub industry (53% owned by Pub Companies / 16% owned by brewers themselves).
So, for many brewers the route to expansion is through bottled beers and grabbing shelf space at supermarkets and chains. That takes investment. That takes a powerful brand story.
THE CONNOISSEUR
What happens when a real ale fan with a tribal following decides it’s time to leverage his own brand and partner with a brewer? Enter Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer of Iron Maiden. The Heavy Metal band that have sold over 80 million records (can I still refer to them as records? Yes.) worldwide. A band whose last tour took in 98 live shows to over two million fans in 36 countries. That’s a following.
THE COLLABORATION
Bruce Dickinson met with Robinsons Brewery to discuss a ‘secret squirrell’ recipe. Here’s what happened:
What makes the background to ‘Trooper’ so inspiring is the way Robinsons appeared undeterred by the celebrity status of their potential partner. Their mission, their joint mission, was to produce a damn good beer. No ego, just giving their audience a drink that they could both be proud of.
THE RESULT
Robinson’s export partners claim Trooper is the most successful new beer launched from the UK. Ever. Worldwide sales topped 1million. That was just 5 months after the ale was first launched into the UK market. In Sweden, Trooper was charting 2nd on the best selling ales list shortly after launch.
Robinson’s MD states ‘Establishing a new beer in the UK and globally is a long and difficult process but we feel we are off to a great start’. That great start represents the sale of 2 million pints just 5 months after launch. Obviously, to make this level of impact Robinsons must have allocated considerable marketing budget. Here’s the best bit. Not 1 penny has been spent to market the ale. Now (03/14) the sale of Trooper has passed the 3.5 million pint mark.
AUTHENTIC COLLABORATION
This wasn’t Robinson’s first foray into partnership with the world of Rock. In 2011 the brewer collaborated with Elbow to produce their ‘Build a Rocket Boys’ beer. The partnership drove 750,000 pint sales in its first two years. A taste of what was to come.
It was on the back of the Elbow collaboration that Bruce Dickinson reached out to Robinsons. Bruce was already renowned as a fan of real ale. It was his passion for the product, the ale that he would be proud to develop and associate with, that delivered a truly authentic end product. This wasn’t gimmickry at work, this was the power of two established brands coming together to create a truly powerful story.
TIME PLEASE….
This story isn’t about Bruce Dickinson being pictured next to a bottle of beer giving it a rock-n-roll thumbs up. This isn’t sponsorship. This is partnership. Powerful and hugely successful partnership.
Do you think the ale they produced was dramatically better than any other ale that left the Robinsons’ brewery last year? Do you think the ale would have seen the same worldwide appear if it wasn’t backed by the tremendous story of Bruce’s own involvement in the brewing process?
What differentiated this product from every other product on the pump, or on the shelf, was the story it captured. This was the drink of Iron Maiden. This story took my local brewery and catapulted them on to the worldwide stage. This story helped Robinsons, through product demand, force their way onto the shelves of 300 Sainsbury stores across the UK. Let’s reiterate – without a penny being spent on conventional advertising.
Sometimes we immerse ourselves within our own stories without considering the stories that we could create. Stories that are both authentic and distinctive. Stories led by passion and belief, not budget. Collaboration, no matter what industry you are in, is a very powerful tool. If used correctly, and authentically, it could transform your business. Just ask Robinsons.
Check out the awesome Brandscaping written by @TPLDrew. A fantastic collection of brand partnership stories alongside insight into what makes authentic brand partnership really work.
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