Posts

Do we encourage the behavior we want from customers?

April 25, 2013  |  by John Kuefler

Turning category enthusiasts into advocates for your brand requires more than just monitoring social media and being responsive. You need to encourage behavior that leads to a positive experience with your brand.

Is this craft beer desperation?

April 18, 2013  |  by Chris Marshall

Samuel Adams seems to be ashamed of their success. They shouldn't be.

How a blog about a seed company illustrates insightfulness

April 4, 2013  |  by Kent Stones

The modern tools of internet research might be helping researchers do their work faster, but those tools won't make them better at finding meaningful insights.

Social media and specialty brands are a natural fit

December 14, 2012  |  by David Unekis

Most specialty brands have a natural advantage over mass-market brands in social media. But it can be easily squandered.

Unleashing the power of Brand Advocates

November 8, 2012  |  by Cindy Maude

If you've ever found yourself excitedly telling a friend or co-worker about a product you use and love, then you know a little something about the power a Brand Advocate can wield for a specialty brand.

Social media plus brand enthusiasts means word-of-mouth power on a huge scale

November 1, 2012  |  by Jackie Bunnell

The same principles that give word-of-mouth recommendations their power are amplified by category enthusiasts and social media

Addressable TV ads harbinger for future of specialty brand marketing

October 25, 2012  |  by John Kuefler

Addressable TV advertising, a concept that has been talked about for years but has seen very little application – until now...

PPC and SEO are no-brainers for specialty brand marketing

October 18, 2011  |  by John Kuefler

Specialty brands – those that appeal to niche audiences – have the opportunity to use search engine marketing to their advantage much more effectively than do mass brands.

How will smartphones, tablets and Facebook apps influence website UX design?

August 26, 2011  |  by John Kuefler

The evolution of web design is starting to happen, right on cue. For specialty brands, staying ahead of mass brands in the eyes of your most important consumers (category enthusiasts) is a big part of what will differentiate you in your niche.

The craft beer trinity

August 4, 2011  |  by Kent Stones

At Callahan Creek, we tend to spend a lot of time with craft beer drinkers. Part of it is because we work with Free State Brewery here in Lawrence, Kansas. But mostly it’s just because we love craft beer. Even when on vacations, many of us like to frequent brewpubs in different cities and share our discoveries with our friends and colleagues back at the office. 

Specialty brand in-store displays go digital

July 7, 2011  |  by Tug McTighe

We’ve been in the specialty brand business for nearly 30 years, and in that time we’ve seen an explosion in the number of choices available in the way these products are marketed to shoppers. This article will discuss the way it was (delicious cardboard displays), the way it is (kind of a hodgepodge of everything) and the way it will be (digital, digital, digital).

Have you hugged your specialty store lately?

June 2, 2011  |  by Chris Marshall

Why do people love to shop specialty retail stores?

Is Apple like a religion to its customers? Perhaps not.

May 23, 2011  |  by Kent Stones

Did science just prove that Apple is like a religion to its customers, or is it an example of journalistic hyperbole and faulty logic?

What is a category enthusiast?

May 20, 2011  |  by Tug McTighe

Category enthusiasts are critical to specialty brands, and we have been studying them and why they’re so important for quite a while. Years in fact. This article will first explain what the category enthusiast is and then let you know why they are so important to specialty brands and specialty retailers.

Self-serve beer stores? O Canada!

May 2, 2011  |  by Tug McTighe

With our focus on craft beer here at CC – check out our Boulevard and Free State work if you please – we always have our eyeball on interesting stuff happening in the world of delicious beer. Here is something certainly interesting from the Beer Store in Toronto.

Goose is just the first to fly off the island

April 13, 2011  |  by Chris Marshall

Many people were surprised (and angry) to hear the news that Anheuser-Busch had purchased Chicago’s Goose Island Beer Company. We at Callahan Creek were not. Working with great microbreweries and regional brewers like Free State and Boulevard, we understand how successful the craft beer market is and how attractive companies in it are becoming to the bigger players.

How great service started with a "no"

November 3, 2010  |  by Kent Stones

As a fan of specialty brands, I generally focus on buying products at retail locations that specialize in the category in which I am interested. I love that employees at specialty stores know more about what I'm interested in and can provide invaluable help in figuring out what to buy because they have experience with the product.

What specialty brands can learn from finance

October 13, 2010  |  by Kent Stones

Each of us has a personal “balance sheet” and “income statement,” but they go far beyond our financial lives. Specialty brands can learn to influence a shopper’s personal “income statement” to improve the probability they will choose your brand over others.

Using 2D bar codes

August 31, 2010  |  by John Kuefler

When marketing specialty brands to category enthusiasts, it is critical to satisfy consumers' appetite for product information to make informed purchase decisions. This short video explains what a 2D bar code is...

Dinner at 4:30 and a 10% discount

June 11, 2010  |  by Kent Stones

Yesterday when I arrived home, I spied something on the counter that I have to admit I had been anxiously awaiting. A large, thick envelope with four glorious words on it: "Welcome to the AARP."

Paralyzed by too many choices

June 10, 2010  |  by Cindy Maude

The number of products on shelves, the number of options we have in our daily lives is beginning to paralyze us. Shoppers are walking out of stores or leaving websites – frustrated, unsatisfied and without buying anything. This has big implications for retailers and marketers.

Are you missing opportunities with your customers

April 13, 2010  |  by Connie Williams

Was this a lost opportunity for the sporting goods store? I only got about 10 feet into the store, where I had a 5 minute interaction with a store employee, albeit a good one, then I left the store empty handed.

Do I really need that, um, thingy with no keyboard?

March 18, 2010  |  by Kent Stones

Like many, I’m reading all the commentary that’s going back and forth about the iPad and the now, count them, 50 iPad “killers” that are already in the wings.  And I have a confession: I’ve pre-ordered one.

Customer APP-reciation

February 15, 2010  |  by Kent Stones

I have been amazed at the speed and breadth of the change underway in mobile devices. Truth be told, as a marketer I’m quite worried about this rapid change because of its potential influence on shoppers, particularly specialty store shoppers. Think about it: the iconic value propositions of...