THE BEGINNINGS
- Of Bavarian Brewery
THE BEGINNINGS
- Of Bavarian Brewery
ADS - From Newspapers
BAVARIAN ADVERTISEMENTS
1957 - 1966
RADIO ADVERTISING.
Besides sponsoring radio programs as mentioned in the 1940's and 1950's, Bavarian also created musical ad jingles that aired on the radio between songs in the mid 1950's and possibly as late as around 1960. Please click the advertising slogan that was being used during this period "How About That?" to listen to this jingle. Another version of this jingle is listed below under IBI Advertising, but can also be heard here.
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INTRODUCING BAVARIAN'S SELECT BEER
Bavarian Brewing Co. decided to develop a new image for their beer starting around 1955. But it wasn't only because their sales had declined over the past couple of years. Around that same time there was a brewer in Wisconsin who decided a couple years earlier that they wanted the exclusive use of "Old Style" for their brand. Even though Bavarian had been using this phrase as a part of their brand previously for several years and in different marketing areas, this other brewer didn't want Bavarian to use this term as part of their beer's name. So, this was likely another motive for Bavarian to modify the name of their beer, besides wanting to redesign their beer to improve their image and marketing. In late 1956, Bavarian hired the design firm of Lippincott & Maguiies (L&H) to create a new logo, label and package plan and engaged Calkins & Holden (C&H) ,both located in New York City, to create and advertising campaign. (See the New Look.)
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From research conducted, it was decided to discard the "old" image of the beer and adapt a more colorful and contemporary image along with changing the brand from Bavarian's Old Style to Bavarian's Select Beer (or Bavarian/s). Essentially, the word "Select" in the new name replaced the words "Old Style" in the former name. Dozens of different label designs were considered, and the one selected by Bavarian/s is as shown above and in the illustrations. This rebranding process was instituted to distinguish Bavarian/s from the other local brewers and was not confined to simply a change in their beer label.
It was also necessary for Bavarian to change their packaging, repaint their fleet of a few dozen trucks, develop a new advertising campaign, phase out the Old Style beer as they brought in the new Bavarian/s beer, create new promotional items, etc. It was a major investment and undertaking for the owner's of the brewery. The ad on the left introduces the new label in May, 1957. It was followed by the ads below through the end of the year that featured different themes, e.g. "frosty...", "refreshing...", "lively...", "smooth...", and "mellow...". All these ads appeared as black and white in papers, as shown in the first ad below, but were attractively colorized for displays and promotions, similar to what is shown.
UNGLAUBLICH. Bavarian/s ... like old-county beer.
To help introduce a secondary theme in 1957, and pave the way for some additional use of a few German words in future advertisements in the following year, Bavarian introduced some cartoon like images starting with Unglaublich, meaning Incredible or unbelievable.
