Toronto had a taste of Belgian’s finest at an event Wednesday night for Stella Artois (part of the Labatt Breweries) held at the Gardiner Museum.
The Stella Artois Trap (pictured below) which was constructed in Europe will be on display for the next two weeks and is to demonstrate how “far someone will go to prefect the perfect beer.” The team at Hill & Knowlton was behind the public relations efforts which invited bloggers and journalists, with Brenden Hodgson leading the efforts.
A Stella Artois bar with the help of Neil Gannon, Global Marketing Manager, InBev to help attendees learn the process of how how to pour the perfect beer in their (3) step process – The Cleansing, The Liquid Alchemy Begins & The Beheading. Also at the event was Alex Darwazeh, Global Brand Director, InBev who walked me through the microsite developed by advertising agency Lowe & Roche. I tried out the video capabilites on the Motorola SLR to show the process (see video below).
Other members on this particular campaign included Kristy Derkson, Jen Koster and Tara Hendela. Brendan shares that “bloggers are an increasingly important source for information for many younger/tech-savvy audiences. Bloggers are receptive if they are treated with respect, given something of value are dealt with in a transparent way, these audience are looking for information in different channels.” This is just the start of some exciting things they are coming up with and Brendan and crew have a good understanding of social media and its impact on business.
Go to your local bar or beer store and try out a Stella today, and as Neil says “they go best with mussels.”
Neil Gannon & Brian Makse
