You may have heard competing theories of the benefits of mobile canning, but you have to admit it is a creative solution to the problem of having enough beer to package but not even capital or space to buy your own line.
Well, ProFill, a division of ProBrew, is taking aim at the “con” side. I mean, they’re a brewery equipment manufacturer, so maybe it’s not surprising, but perhaps surprising is how directly they’re doing it.
Their “demobilize” campaign pretty much casts mobile canning as the “bad guys” that are weighing your brewery down.
This is pretty great for a three key reasons.
1. It’s Bold
“Demobilize” is simple and bold. It says plenty and it sticks in your mind.
Also, it obviously courts controversy, since mobile canners will want to defend themselves and make the case for the advantages of sticking with them.
But, just by the fact that they take a controversial position, ProFill implies that they can back it up. They’re basically saying, “Yeah, we’re not afraid to say it, because we know we’re right.”
That’s bold, and that will impress prospects–providing they can, in fact, back it up.
2. It’s Focused
Ries and Trout’s fifth law of marketing is the Law of Focus. The idea is that if you can own a word in prospects’ minds, then you can dominate that segment.
Plenty of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) help you demobilize, but ProFill is making a play to own that word. Owning the word demobilize would make ProFill the comparison standard for brewers looking to move from mobile to permanent.
3. It Segments Its Audience
This is one of the hardest concepts for a business to accept–and that goes for marketers as much as producers or service providers. You have to begin by accepting that not everyone who passes your booth or lands on your page is your potential customer. Instead, a certain segment of those people with specific needs will be your customer. You won’t be able to sell to the rest because they aren’t the right people or business or they’re just not ready, yet.
Apple famously did this with the “I’m a Mac” commercials. Most people understood that the commercials claimed Macs were hipper than PCs, but fewer people perceived how the commercial intentionally shrugged its shoulders about the fact that some PC folks were going to say, “Who cares? I don’t mind if you think I’m lame. I like my PC.”
Apple was fine with that because they wanted to strengthen their perception with their base and appeal to the kind of people for whom the aesthetics of Apple products was important.
Similarly, ProFill is intentionally excluding people who already have canning lines or people who are happy to stick with their mobile setup. They focus instead on those people who are growing dissatisfied with mobile canning–for cost reasons, yes, but really for any reason–and want to find a way to get their own line.
If you want to learn more about the actual machine, you can see my piece on CraftBrewingBusiness.com.
Image sourced from ProBrew.com.
