An Unexpected Marketing Solution From Volfas Engelman – Non-Alcoholic Beer From Advertising Columns

To celebrate Brewers’ Day in Kaunas, Lithuania, AB Volfas Engelman Brewery implemented an unusual marketing communication solution: giving out non-alcoholic beers for free to city residents and visitors – poured directly from advertising columns!

“In a highly competitive market, we constantly strive to stand out by looking for unique, exciting communication solutions,” says Mantas Matukaitis, marketing manager of Volfas Engelman. “This year, when planning the Brewers’ day programme in Kaunas, we wanted to create a real celebration by serving non-alcoholic beer to people in the city. During the creative process, the idea was born to use regular advertising columns for tastings. To our knowledge, such a solution has never been implemented before – either in Lithuania or the world.”

According to Mantas, technically implementing the idea was no easy task, as beer pumping equipment had to be integrated inside the advertising columns. But the team from the brewery, along with partner JC Decaux, successfully rose to the challenge and on the occasion of International Brewers’ Day, two advertising columns in Kaunas city became non-alcoholic ‘beer bars’ for the day.

Throughout the afternoon, non-alcoholic beers were served from the advertising columns by members of the brewery team. Interested passers-by could taste two types of non-alcoholic beer for free: light beer and cherry-flavored kriek.

”Most people had never seen anything like it before, so they were eager to try something new," claims Mantas Matukaitis.

During Brewers’ Day, Volfas Engelman also organized a national ‘virtual tasting’ of non-alcoholic beer online. Volfas Engelman brewers Petras Sadovskis and Giedrius Valančius, both of whom have many years of experience, spoke about the various types of non-alcoholic beer, its consumption, taste characteristics, and the production process. Over 1,000 interested consumers participated in the online event.

These unconventional solutions were introduced in the light of current restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to minimize direct contact:

“We didn’t want to interrupt this great tradition, now in its third year. Even in the current circumstances, we wanted to create a celebration for people and to thank the brewers,” explains Mantas Matukaitis. “We needed to find alternative solutions that would help us avoid a large gathering of people in one place, but at the same time attract as many participants as possible. This is how we came up with the ideas of a national non-alcoholic virtual beer tasting, dispensing non-alcoholic beer from advertising columns, and transporting barrels from the Old Town to the brewery using vintage cars.”