Unlocking Operational Efficiencies
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Company Overview
The North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild is a non-profit organization representing the NC craft brewing industry in legislation, regulation, advocacy, and education. Their mission is to promote and advance overall interest of NC craft beer and breweries.
NCCBG partnered with VisitNC, the tourism division of the Economic Development Partnership of NC. The two organizations developed NC Beer Month from the shared interest of encouraging travel across the state where craft breweries are invigorating communities. In an effort to ensure they were constantly elevating North Carolina craft beer, the two organizations sought to revamp their NC Beer Month Passport program in a way that was sustainable, affordable, and would increase operational efficiencies overall.
Challenges
At the time, NCCBG was distributing paper passports and stampers to over 100 participating breweries across the state. During NC Beer Month in April, an individual could visit a participating brewery and receive a stamp on their passport. Participants could earn prizes based on the number of stamps collected. NCCBG individually tallied the passports by hand, and then mailed prizes to the winners. This proved to be an increasingly expensive and labor-intensive process.
As a non-profit, implementing a digital passport program came with financial risk. With the number of NC breweries increasing in addition to individual interest in the passport program, NCCBG knew they needed to digitize to encourage more breweries and participants to take part in NC Beer Month.
In evaluating their options for digital, NCCBG recognized that local craft beer consumers were already invested in Untappd. To further connect with this engaged audience of beer enthusiasts, they chose to partner with Untappd to create their new digital promotion.
Solutions
In 2018, the NCCBG successfully transitioned their NC Beer Month Passport program from analog to digital by utilizing Untappd’s Sponsored Badges and In-app Promotions, along with taking advantage of placement on the app’s home screen.
Sponsored Badges
Sponsored Badges are used by breweries and organizations like NCCBG to drive awareness of and engagement with their brands and campaigns. Untappd users unlock and earn
badges upon checking-in a participating brewery’s beer. Increased check-ins lead to more exposure and revenue for partners. Using the Badge Analytics tool, organizations monitor real-time metrics such as unlocks, demographics, and more.
During NC Beer Month in April, Untappd users can check-in at any of the 312 participating breweries across the state and earn up to three NC Beer Passport Sweepstakes badges, plus an initial “Welcome to NC Beer Month” badge. Each badge earned provides the user an opportunity to win one of three weekend “Beercation” getaways to hotspots across North Carolina.
The implementation of the digital platform increased operational efficiencies by eliminating the need to stamp and tally more than 500 passports. Additionally, the participation data
provided insight into the demographics of NC craft beer consumers.
In-App Promotions
Sponsored In-app Promotions are a tool used to directly alert, inform, and reward Untappd users. Promotions are triggered when users check-in a beer within a specific geographic range designated for a particular promotion. Users trigger NC Beer Month’s promotion simply by checking-in a North Carolina beer within the state during the month of April. Upon viewing a promotion, users also receive a follow-up email with more information about the sweepstakes.
Home Screen Placement
With 43M+ monthly impressions, placement on the home screen is the most visible advertising position on the Untappd app. Brands build immediate awareness among the Untappd community and users are redirected to specified websites or custom landing pages.
NCCBG leverages home screen placement by sending Untappd users to their sweepstakes website, which defines the rules for entering the sweepstakes and informs users of the unique getaway prizes.
Based on the statistics, we have been more successful than ever. We feel that we’re getting more consumers involved on this platform than we were able to previously. Additionally, the data we receive from Untappd is a tremendous benefit. Because Untappd is already working with the consumer that we were aiming this promotion towards, it felt like a seamless fit. We’ve been delighted with the results of moving in this direction.
Lisa
Associate Director for North Carolina Craft Brewers Guild
