The Problem

Buffalo Creek Brewing is a small brewery located in Lake County, Illinois. It was founded towards the end of the craft beer craze in a very saturated market. In an attempt to carve out space and grab attention, the owner and brewer engaged a media relations and social media team to help them grab attention. 

The Strategy

In an attention economy, it’s important to create products and content that stand out. Leading the social media and marketing efforts, Jamie created a small batch beer program, which features innovative beer flavors and pop culture tie-ins to generate press and social media traction. 

In April 2024, Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated new album, The Tortured Poets Department, was scheduled for release and it was the perfect opportunity to dial into the conversation in the Chicagoland Area. The brewing team created a lavender blonde ale to be released the day before the album dropped. 

In advance of the release, Jamie engaged with local Swifties and created social media branded content to tie the conversation to the brewery and its limited edition beer. 

The Result

With over 100K organic social media impressions and the campaign garnering attention, the local media also picked up the story (Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, WKFR).

The morning of the release, a line formed outside the brewery and the beer sold out in under 1 hour. Due to popular demand, the brewery then added a pre-order option for excited fans, which also sold out in one hour. The brewing team then committed to a third batch a few weeks later, which sold out the same day making this beer the most popular and successful limited edition beer in the brewery’s history.