We have to get AI out of craft beer. At least on the marketing side, that is. It’s not a matter of environmental awareness. It’s killing brands at this point.
Your single AI flyer didn’t destroy the environment. It would take tons more to even come close to that. It’s optics. AI is everything craft beer isn’t.
No two words in the craft beer industry are spoken more than “Support Local”. They’re just two words, but they mean so much. When you hear “support local” you’re willing to pay a higher cost because it is going back to the community. It means that even though there are closer or cheaper options available, you will shop at your local craft beer producer, nonetheless.
When you post that AI flyer, you’re telling your customers that making these financial sacrifices in the name of supporting local is a one way street. Most of the public realize that the AI flyer took just minutes to create and was free (or very low cost). But quick and cheap are quite possibly the two worst words that can be used in craft beer.
While posting an AI flyer may seem harmless, the message it sends to customers about your brand is damaging. As a consumer of beer, all your flyer tells me is that you are just another bar on the strip. There is nothing that makes your beer special, unique, and (most of all) worth the added cost. I will get the same experience by stopping by the local Applebee’s… but at least I can get half priced apps from them.
Businesses are nothing without their brand. This industry was founded on creativity. So many of us gave up countless hours of our lives just to stand in a line and get a case of beer because no one produced it quite like that local brewery did. And while the beer lines may be a thing of the past, so many breweries are recognized world over for the brands they have created. (To this day I can spot a bottle of Cantillon from at least 20 yards away).
If your brand looks cheap, then everything associated with your business (food, beverage, overall quality) must be assumed cheap as well.
It goes without saying that times are tough for craft brewers and extra dollars are not readily available. But in this day and age as AI is being looked at as a brand killer you would do better by avoiding that AI flyer. Even just pulling out the 4K camera in your phone, snapping a quick picture and posting that for free of charge is a better alternative. If you do have the money to spend this industry is not short on graphic designers or fairly easy to use graphic design tools. If you aren’t willing to take the time to craft a message that elevates your brand, where else are you cutting corners in the beer making process?
