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Head into a nightclub, belly up to the bar and order an Athletic—making note of this fast-growing brand’s non-alcoholic status is entirely optional.
For a recent promotion, Athletic Brewing bought the first round for parched Americans, stepping up its efforts in the on-premise space shortly after overtaking behemoths Heineken and Budweiser as the top-selling booze-free beer in the country’s supermarkets, with 19% market share, per NielsenIQ.
While executives are still tallying results from last week’s freebie, dubbed “It’s Athletic, Ask for It,” early signs point to a hit: Visits to the store finder section of the website, which includes bar and restaurant locations, leaped 750% over the daily average, and ecommerce sales increased 68%, per the brand.
The program comes as Athletic logged the best month in its six-year history, with record sales in April, and sets up “the broadest reaching campaigns we’ve ever done” that will stretch from TV, digital and social to experiential, retail and influencer activations, according to Andrew Katz, Athletic’s chief marketing officer.
As a core tactic, Athletic plans to boost its sampling efforts by 25% this year—the brand will dole out gratis sips across a mix of new and ongoing alliances including local road races, the Spotify House at the upcoming CMA Fest in Nashville, Tenn., and via a Houston Dynamo FC sponsorship.
“Marketing spend is significantly higher this year—in the multimillion dollars,” Katz told ADWEEK. “Traditional beer consumption is highest in May, June, July and August, so we’re riding that wave.”
Meanwhile, an ongoing and deepening relationship with country music star Walker Hayes will put Athletic in front of the artist’s multigenerational fan base during his Same Drunk national tour.
