Bristol Brewing is in a league of its own. They’re Colorado Springs’ oldest and most prolific craft brewery. But leading the Pack year after year in the Colorado craft beer market has its own challenges. Marketing is one of them. They have to think ahead and stay aggressive. They have to use modern marketing tools well. A lot has changed since ‘94 when they brewed their first batch in the garage. In 2020, they came to Wolf & Key with a mission: keep the Bristol brand on top in a city full of new residents and new breweries on every corner.
Wolf & Key was excited to provide a solution that fits the Bristol character. Around here, we say “Digital Smarts, Analog Hearts” because we work in the digital world, but we have a human-first approach. Bristol is the same. They lead the CO beer industry, but they actually exist to make their community and our city a better place. Our solution was to put that on display. They make beer not just to make it, but to raise money for nonprofits. Not just a place to have a beer (the Bristol Pub), but a place for humans to actually connect. Our job was to use modern tools to magnify their true mission. And we love it to this day.
As Bristol continues to lead the Pack in the Colorado beer world, Wolf & Key has used digital marketing tools to send their unique approach far and wide. We use hyper-specific digital ad targeting to reach 2 important Bristol audiences: craft beer lovers who buy from their neighborhood liquor store, and people living in neighborhoods surrounding Ivywild who are looking for a place to meet other people for a pint and a convo. Both are equally important audiences. Wolf & Key takes a partnership approach with Bristol (as we do with all clients) by staying in constant conversation, always thinking bigger, and always staying in tune with the marketing data, all so we can stay ahead of the Pack together.
Bristol Brewing is in a league of its own. They’re Colorado Springs’ oldest and most prolific craft brewery. But leading the Pack year after year in the Colorado craft beer market has its own challenges. Marketing is one of them. They have to think ahead and stay aggressive. They have to use modern marketing tools well. A lot has changed since ‘94 when they brewed their first batch in the garage. In 2020, they came to Wolf & Key with a mission: keep the Bristol brand on top in a city full of new residents and new breweries on every corner.
Wolf & Key was excited to provide a solution that fits the Bristol character. Around here, we say “Digital Smarts, Analog Hearts” because we work in the digital world, but we have a human-first approach. Bristol is the same. They lead the CO beer industry, but they actually exist to make their community and our city a better place. Our solution was to put that on display. They make beer not just to make it, but to raise money for nonprofits. Not just a place to have a beer (the Bristol Pub), but a place for humans to actually connect. Our job was to use modern tools to magnify their true mission. And we love it to this day.
As Bristol continues to lead the Pack in the Colorado beer world, Wolf & Key has used digital marketing tools to send their unique approach far and wide. We use hyper-specific digital ad targeting to reach 2 important Bristol audiences: craft beer lovers who buy from their neighborhood liquor store, and people living in neighborhoods surrounding Ivywild who are looking for a place to meet other people for a pint and a convo. Both are equally important audiences. Wolf & Key takes a partnership approach with Bristol (as we do with all clients) by staying in constant conversation, always thinking bigger, and always staying in tune with the marketing data, all so we can stay ahead of the Pack together.
As if great beer and fun people aren’t enough…
To Bristol, beer is a means to an end. The real goal is to lift up their community at every opportunity. They‘ve been putting their money where their mouth is since about the time Wolf & Key owners were born. With Bristol, community isn’t just a buzzword, it’s an action item. When a client has that set of values at their core, we’re all-in on helping them succeed.
| Top Performing Creative | Industry Outperformance | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Spark Chef Perspective: Ribs | +233% | 🚀 Shattered the 1.20% industry standard. |
| Local Story: (FB) | +156% | 🔥 Narrative-driven community engagement. |
| Local Story: (IG) | +148% | 📈 Multi-platform visual dominance. |
| Spark Chef: Pulled Pork | +143% | 🥩 High-intent lifestyle targeting. |
| Bristol Survival Story | +52% | ❤️ Emotional connection drives action. |
| Top Performing Creative | Industry Outperformance | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Spark Chef Perspective: Ribs | +233% | 🚀 Shattered the 1.20% industry standard. |
| Local Story: Video (FB) | +156% | 🔥 Narrative-driven community engagement. |
| Local Story: Video (IG) | +148% | 📈 Multi-platform visual dominance. |
| Spark Chef: Pulled Pork | +143% | 🥩 High-intent lifestyle targeting. |
| Bristol Survival Story | +52% | ❤️ Emotional connection drives action. |
Bristol needed a whole new approach for this beer. The Bristol brand is friendly, warm, and more traditional. WPDR needed to be much more edgy and reach a whole new crowd of IPA lovers.
to our pal Drew Ordway of Impossibly Awesome Designs: He was our killer good partner on the WPDR branding overhaul. He created the logo, colors, and can and box labels. We turned them into digital marketing pieces and targeted the right audience of craft beer lovers.
The way we see it, any organization can be like Bristol. If you’re thoughtful, calculated and aggressive, and you want your organization to lead your industry and be something bigger than itself…saddle up, Partner.
to our pal Glen Day, who helps us create awesome digital content for this client.
Photos are not owned by Wolf & Key Marketing
Website creation
Digital marketing strategy: creative and tactical
Paid social media campaigns
Content production and design: photo, video, web, display ads
Data analytics
Special focus on brand voice, strategic messaging, and differentiation from competitors in a highly competitive market.
