Association of Austrian Brewers: All Austria is Looking for Beer

The “How much beer do we have?” campaign

How many types of Austrian beer are there actually? This was the question posed by Ecker & Partner in a campaign for its long-standing client Association of Austrian Brewers, with the aim of stressing the many varieties and diversity of Austrian beer. Under the motto “How much beer do we have?” the “biggest beery treasure hunt in the country” was launched in 2014. The goal was to compile the biggest database of Austrian beers and obtain confirmation of the immense variety and diversity of flavours of domestic beer culture.

The centrepiece of the campaign was the www.wievielbierhabenwir.at website managed by Ecker & Partner. Between mid-August and the beery climax of the year – 30 September marking the end of the ancient summer prohibition on brewing beer – beer lovers were called upon to photograph Austrian beers and upload the pictures to the website. Each week a box of specialty beers was raffled among all those who had submitted an entry. Within just under two months, 1,400 entries had been received. In the end, 1,005 different Austrian beers were identified which will now form the basis for a beer database.

This was made possible by the participatory gaming approach (find the beery treasure) and a targeted multi-channel information concept to address a wide range of target groups. Using a multi-stage information process more than 1,000 selected food establishments and members of the Brewery Association were informed about the campaign via e-mail and letters. Parallel to this, an Austria-wide free card campaign was launched, supported by targeted online advertising on multiple portals. The annual “Wiener Bierfest am Hof” offered an additional suitable arena to publicise the campaign at the point of interest. A tram branded in the campaign design ensured additional presence. Classic press releases as well as a tour for journalists in Vienna completed the extensive campaign activities. Print, online and radio media all carried reports.