Many of my clients are looking for new creative ways to market themselves. Check out this unique advertisement that was painted on a silo for a beer company. (The steel bands in particular prevented a true wrap.) Think of anything that is highly visible and in a high traffic area and you may have the next wrappable item!~Amy Donahue
Signage Consultant
Beer...CAN!
Consider this your crash course in Colorado culture: mountains and local hand-crafted beers. Yes, the Rocky Mountain lifestyle treats you well, and, as it turns out, Colorado’s love of area microbreweries has offered a unique opportunity to the signage industry. Oskar Blues Brewery, a popular beer manufacturer in Lyons, Colo., was opening its second restaurant, Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids &; Solids, in Longmont, Colo., and needed just the right eye-catching sign that captures its uniquely packaged ales.
BEER CAN SIGN REFLECTS BREWERY’S IMAGE
With kegs as water fountains and beer cans as menu holders, Oskar Blues Homemade Liquids & Solids shows off a distinctive, targeted décor that demands similar outdoor signage, and standing in front of the building was a 68-year-old grain silo. To some, this silo appeared to be just that: a beaten storage tower. But turning that old, worn silo into a towering beer can sign felt instinctive, says Chad Melis of Oskar Blues.
This was no ordinary paint job. The bands added a challenge. Though beer snobs may sneer at the thought of canned brews, Melis says Oskar Blues Brewery has challenged that notion by branding itself on premium ales delivered in a can. In fact, Oskar Blues Brewery established itself in 2002 as the first U.S. craft brewer to can its own beers, and has won multiple awards, proving that canned ales achieve the same quality as other packaging methods.
The lofty sign takes on the look of Oskar Blues’ popular Dale’s Pale Ale, a beer that, Melis adds, is the driving force in transforming the public perception about what’s possible from canned beer. Oskar Blues Brewery’s image is based on that irony, and Melis believes this sign was just the right medium to deliver the message.
“When I look at the silo, it’s the only thing I ‘can’ see. The can has been a vehicle for our complex beers to rattle public perception and challenge the status quo; and that fires us up,” Melis says. Although local sign codes prohibited the silo from listing Dale’s Pale Ale by name, the color scheme imitated the model beer, and “Oskar Blues Brewery” replaced the original logo while still projecting the look of that distinctive canned brew.
Article Author: Amanda McGrory
