This summer Sleeman is heading out on a cross-country tour to promote its new specialty brew, Sleeman Railside Session Ale.
In a nod to the label’s brand DNA, Sleeman is selecting two brand ambassadors to travel across Canada by train. The new brand is inspired by a bit of folklore from Sleeman’s corporate history. According to the company, overstuffed train cars would deliver ingredients to Sleeman’s Guelph brewery back in the late 1800s, spilling hops along the way.
Dave Struthers, Sleeman’s marketing director, said that over time hops began to grow in the wild along the train tracks outside of Guelph as a result of spillings from its deliveries. When crafting the Railside Sessions Ale branding, the Sleeman’s marketing team dug into its archives to read about the train route and even sent the company’s founder, John Sleeman, out to see where the hops still grow today.
The brand story is reflected in an illustration of a train on Railside Session Ale’s packaging as well as the PR tour, which kicks off in late June.
In the weeks leading up to the tour, Sleeman is hunting for its train-bound ambassadors via an initiative that’s one-part contest, one part job search. The brand has put out a call for entries in a press release and on social media and expects to announce finalists early next month. The position pays $5,000 and will require the ambassador to spend a month on the road promoting the brand.
The initiative is being led by the PR firm Kwittken. It’s the agency’s first project for Sleeman.
Struthers said the brand is ideally looking for a team of two friends who are personable and have a large enough following on social media to properly promote Railside Session Ale.
The tour is scheduled to start in Halifax and end in Vancouver and will hit concerts, sports games and festivals in cities along the way. While some of the events the ambassadors will attend will tie in to the brand’s regional sponsorships, Struthers said the company is also leaving room for spontaneous activations — surprise and delight hits that will see the ambassadors “derail” people’s plans by offering them a case of Sleeman or tickets to a sports game.
The ambassadors will also be expected to create content at stops along the trip to be shared on Sleeman’s social media channels.
The main goal of the PR-led campaign, Struthers said, is to drive trial of the new beer and increase brand awareness.
The campaign is being supported by paid social media posts, video pre-roll and radio spots. Jungle Media handled the media buy.
Railside Session Ale is a major priority for Sleeman as it heads into the summer – typically high season for beer brands. The anchor TV spot for the Sleeman family of brands this summer will focus on the Railside label and tell the story of the brand.