Pub Astrays, reminders of the past

Palette Ashtray

As a result of working for many years in brewery and beer marketing ordering Point of Sale (POS),  I've developed a little interest in breweriana, which to those who don't know relates to any article containing a brewery or beer brand name, usually in connection to collecting them as a hobby. I'm a non-smoker but my particular passion is the humble pub ashtray. Rarely seen in-situ now as a result of the smoking law changes, these were once common place and every pub table would feature one.

I've purchased many over the years for my jobs working for Morland Brewery and St Austell Brewery. The cheaper ones were made of glass or melamine but the classic ashtrays were usually formed in ceramic. One of my all time favourites was the palette ashtray from Morland and I confess to acquiring a few of this classic piece from various online auctions.

Old Speckled Hen Ashtray

This ashtray was not one of my designs, but ordering such items did give me the scope to design a piece in conjunction with the supplier. Normally this was not very innovative and it was common to follow the shape of the pump clip and create an ashtray with the clip design in the centre. Seems bizarre now to think we'd encourage people to stub their cigarettes out on our brand names, but that was what we did!

However, as geeky as this interest might be now, saving these items does mean we get to remember the beers and breweries from yesteryear. Plus, we can also see how a brands design and advertising approach may have changed over time as the supporting POS reflects this. I think its really important and interesting to keep these things alive but does lead one to reflect on the very lack of such items of the current beers. For example, just how will we remember the craft beers and modern brands of today if brewers rarely produce POS to support them?

As people drink more at home and less in pubs the need for POS becomes less. Its also true that pub brands are more common now and they tend to use less POS from supplier brands as the messages within the pub needs to be more consistent with their overall offer. The growth of digital marketing has had a huge negative impact on the need to for POS. It certainly makes brands more accessible and reputations are now built online as opposed to more traditional marketing methods, but there is little need for POS to support this media.

So in my view, the once humble and somewhat maligned pub ashtray still has a significant role to play in remembering the beers from the past. If you own such and item, don't throw it away, it will likely never be worth much but they are part of brewing history and of interest to someone. As for todays brands, hopefully someone will come up with the modern day equivalent of the pub ashtray to help us remember all the current exciting and innovative brands. It would be a great shame if in ten years time we have no physical reminders of the beers we love and currently enjoy.

Craft beers - Look, Learn, 330ml IPAs & Flavour

An enjoyable visit to the local craft beer shop has helped me, an over 50's premium ale drinker put some perspective on these beers and their market and also see why young people find them so attractive.

Firstly, the designs of the labels are so different, edgy, unconventional, the contents of the beer is almost secondary. They scream....I'm out of the ordinary! I'm not what your Dad drinks! If you drink me you'll be cool in the eyes of your peers. That's all a bit concerning for the label designs of the established brewers whose brands communicate different values.

Secondly, its about discovery and knowledge. In the shop were two other people, both young men and both interested in learning a little about the brewer of the beers they had chosen as well as how the beer tastes. All very commendable that its not just about the abv, they have a thirst for beer knowledge as well as the beer itself. They were also keen to try new beers, its about discovery as well as having some favourites. Finally, they want their newly discovered brewers to do well and be popular but at the same time its great that a beer is not always available, making it a bit special when found. As a marketer, its like craft is the brand, rather than any of the beers in the category.

Beers that do grow and become well known are still welcome and drinkers want to see successful beers. However, the commercial realities of up scaling heavily hopped beers using expensive third world hops may fall on inexperienced ears.

Thirdly, its about 330ml IPA. In terms of packaging, although there were more 330ml cans on the shelf, there were significantly more 330ml bottles on show and very few 500ml bottles with the exception of some of the German beers. The IPA word acts like a magnet and is still the buzzword and call to action for purchase. Easy communication of beer styles needs to form part of any design and the IPA term seems to transcend all designs, whereas other beer style names are less imposing. Many of the established brewers have still not grasped the importance of beer styles and their key in the decision to buy so here's a chance for the craft brewers to take the lead and get this right. The problem is that the very nature of the powerful and sometimes aggressive label designs leads to confusion on the shelf as each label tries to shout louder than its neighbour to get noticed. Hence the one consistent piece of branding that gets noticed is the beer style i.e. IPA

Finally and somewhat belatedly I think its about quality. This seems less important and drinkers are more accepting of beers that are of less than perfect condition, funkiness as in off flavours is perceived as good in some cases. Other beer styles are slowly coming to the fore, but at the moment its the hop flavour that's desired most and so long as a beer sings spicy citrus and bitter hops all day long, it can overcome its imperfections.

So what of the beers I purchased. I tried a Black Flag White Cross IPA and Beavertown Lupuloid IPA in cans. Both good beers but I preferred the Beavertown beer, it had more depth of flavour, more condition and felt like the brewer had tried to create a blend of hops flavours rather than just add as many hops as possible. I finished with a Saison Dupont, a classic beer and the standard bearer for Saisons. I enjoyed them all, BUT, they certainly left a dent in my pocket and compared to the 500ml Premium Packaged ales I normally buy, I was choosing "discovery and cool" over value for money.

So if this is the future, what of the present? Fear not 500ml bottle drinkers there is plenty to enjoy yet but that's for another blog.