By: Jasmine Pelzer,听Marketing and Design Student
On听Friday, Sept. 20, my Principles of Marketing Instructor, Mark Buchanan, took my class on a rather unusual field trip. He took us to Bad Habit Brewing Company in Saint Joseph, MN.听听
You might be thinking鈥 What does beer have to do with marketing? Trust me, we were wondering the same听thing when he told us,听but听I听was nothing听short of听blown away听when I left听that afternoon.听听
The guys at Bad Habit听told us the story of how they听went from making beer in their basements to听opening听a small-town business听in 2015.听It was听motivating听to see the things we听have听been learning in class being听implemented in the real world. Better yet, right in my hometown.听听
Co-owner, Aaron Rieland, stressed the importance of social media marketing to us:听鈥淪ocial media is an incredible tool. When we create a new beer, we try to promote it heavily on Facebook to get people in the door.鈥澨
听
What was really impressive to learn as a听marketing student was that they didn鈥檛 pay anything for advertising. Between social media and word of mouth, Bad Habit has grown their business enough that they moved to their new building in May听of听2019.听
Their in-house graphic designer, Mo Philippi, even brought out his laptop and showed us a few different past designs. 鈥淚 like typography,听so it鈥檚 a good fit for me,鈥 he said about his role at Bad Habit. Each beer has its own font and听look.听As a Marketing and Design student, it was exciting to see such听creative听artwork done in the software programs听I am now familiar with.听听
Learning about Bad Habit鈥檚 marketing practices was a great way to see how what I鈥檓 learning in class applies in the real world and what to expect when I graduate. And spending the afternoon at a local brewery wasn鈥檛 too bad either!听
