Case study · Food & Drink
Black Sheep Brewery needed its new carbon neutral cask ale, Respire, to win over younger drinkers who care about the planet and rarely order cask. We opened The Breathe Inn, a one-beer pop-up pub beneath the Ribblehead Viaduct, on Earth Day. By the autumn, Respire was selling 42% ahead of the beer it replaced.
- 42% sales volume ahead of the beer it replaced
- 26 pieces of media coverage
- 85% of social engagement from non-core cask drinkers
- +9% brand sentiment
- Client Black Sheep Brewery
- Sector Food & Drink
- Services Creative campaign, trade and consumer PR, video, social, email
- When Earth Day, 22 April 2022
- Where Ribblehead Viaduct, Yorkshire Dales
- Recognition Nominated, Best Low Budget Campaign, CIPR PRide Awards
What did Black Sheep need?
Black Sheep Brewery is a family-run brewery in Masham, North Yorkshire. In 2022 it added Respire to its cask range: a carbon neutral beer made for drinkers who care about sustainability but don’t usually choose cask.
Cask has an image problem with that audience. The budget was small, and a standard city-centre launch would have cost too much and looked like every other beer launch.
- Business objective: build on-trade sales of Respire and bring new, younger drinkers to Black Sheep.
- Communication objective: launch Respire to drinkers outside the core cask audience, make its sustainability story credible, and show them cask is for them.
What was the insight?
We started with research: social listening and persona analysis of the drinkers we wanted, to see which platforms they use and what they respond to. One trend stood out. They love unusual pop-up bars, and the more unexpected the location, the better.
Respire is about fresh air. So we took the pub to the fresh air, and put it in one of the most open, unspoilt places in Yorkshire with only one beer on tap.
What did we do?
- The Breathe Inn. A pop-up pub beneath the Ribblehead Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales, opened on Earth Day, 22 April 2022, with only Respire on tap.
- Film and drone footage. A pre-launch video, then drone footage and interviews on the day explaining what makes Respire different.
- Trade and consumer media. We pitched on-trade and selected consumer titles with images and video. The Morning Advertiser, the Yorkshire Post and Beer Today covered the launch.
- Email and social. Email to Black Sheep’s customer database, plus organic and paid social to promote the pub to the audience we wanted.
What did it achieve?
Results by stage of the AMEC evaluation framework, with the source for each figure.
- Trade · 22 April 2022The Morning Advertiser Black Sheep Brewery pop-up pub and new beer for Earth Day
- Regional · April 2022Yorkshire Post Black Sheep Brewery opens pop-up pub beneath the Ribblehead Viaduct
- Trade · 22 April 2022Beer Today Black Sheep pop-up pub offers carbon neutral cask beer
| Stage | Measure | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outputs | Pieces of media coverage | 26 | Prohibition coverage log |
| Outputs | Combined media circulation | 2M | Prohibition coverage log |
| Outputs | Share of coverage in trade media | 30% | Prohibition coverage analysis |
| Out-takes | Coverage carrying the repositioning cask message | 95% | Prohibition coverage analysis |
| Out-takes | Circulation within the non-cask target audience | 75% | Prohibition coverage analysis |
| Out-takes | Social engagement from non-core cask drinkers | 85% | Social platform analytics |
| Out-takes | Brand sentiment | +9% | Prohibition campaign reporting |
| Impact | Respire sales volume against the beer it replaced, same point the year before | +42% | Black Sheep Brewery sales data |
| Impact | New bottled Respire range | Launched | Black Sheep Brewery |
What did Black Sheep get from it?
A new beer that sold, and a new kind of drinker. Respire ran 42% ahead of its predecessor on sales volume, and its performance led to a new bottled range.
The launch reached people Black Sheep doesn’t usually reach. Three quarters of the circulation and 85% of social engagement came from outside the core cask audience, which was the whole point.
“They’re a bunch of friendly people who feel like a natural extension of the marketing team.”
What did we learn?
- Put the launch where the story is. A pub in the Dales said “fresh air” better than any press release could.
- One beer on tap keeps the message clear. Every photo and every headline was about Respire.
- Measure who you reach, not only how many. Tracking the audience mix proved the campaign was finding new drinkers.
- What we would do differently: agree outlet-level sales tracking with the brewery before launch, so on-trade uplift can be traced to the areas the campaign reached.
