Schlafly Beer to start marketing on-premise through cool app, beacon technology

The new Schlafly Bottleworks facility, now with beacons.

Schlafly Beer, the largest locally owned and independent craft brewery in Missouri, launched a new marketing plan that shoots messages directly to customers upon entering the building. Schlafly patrons can download the new Schlafly mobile app, which interacts with exclusive on-premise beacon technology, to receive notifications about drink specials, tasting notes, new beer releases and more when it matters most — when they are about to order a beer.

The St. Louis-based craft brewery has partnered with Juxtad, a beacon-enabled marketing platform that allows companies to communicate with consumers, via their smartphones, when they enter an on-premise location of a bar or restaurant. The marketing platform works with patent-pending TapTalker beacons, physically located on beer taps, to send customized campaigns to Schlafly app users when they are in the bar or restaurant.

Juxtad was formed in Atlanta as a turnkey mobile proximity marketing platform that leverages the Purchase Tetrad — putting the marketers directly in front of the consumer with brand messaging at the exact location and time a relevant purchase decision is being made. Juxtad has established a proprietary, patent-pending network of beacons to enable proximity marketing to occur in a scalable way.

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Juxtad has installed more than 50 TapTalker beacons in locations across St. Louis, with plans to scale up to over 250 bar and restaurant locations by May 2016. The brewery’s first campaign will promote a partnership with St. Louis Earth Day, which launched April 1.

“We believe this will be a game changer for the beer industry,” said Schlafly Beer CEO James Pendegraft. “Whereas most beer brands hope to connect with consumers through traditional marketing tactics such as advertising, social media or experiential events, we can now take the consumer experience a step further — engaging Schlafly Beer drinkers at the exact moment when they are purchasing a beer.”

The Earth Day campaign serves as a primary example of how Schlafly plans to propel the consumer experience with their “Do Your Part and Have a Pint,” call-to-action. The process is simple — a guest downloads the Schlafly app here and opts in to receive notifications, ensuring Bluetooth capabilities are also enabled. When a Schlafly Beer guest walks into a TapTalker bar or restaurant, the user will receive a notification to “Do Your Part and Have a Pint.” This notification will lead users to a page within the app that shares campaign messaging, including how the brewery will donate $1 for every pint of Schlafly Beer purchased now through St. Louis Earth Day on April 24.

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“Our Earth Day campaign is just one of the many ways we’ll utilize this technology through our app,” explained Pendegraft. “TapTalker allows us to stay top-of-mind with craft beer drinkers, while also intriguing consumers that want to learn more about craft beer. As we celebrate our 25th anniversary this year, Schlafly continues to look for new ways to connect with our consumers and allow them to enjoy the more than 70 beers offered across our portfolio.”