Brand lessons from Pike Brewing Company

Earlier this month I wrote about my experience (and privilege) of serving as one of the lead instructors at the CUES School of Strategic Marketing in Seattle a few weeks ago. I shared our experience as a class in touring the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and credit union branding lessons learned there.

Our class took another field trip to the Pike Brewing Company, a microbrewery and local food destination in downtown Seattle. Our tour guide was an entertaining and informative brand ambassador and did a terrific job learning about the credit union industry beforehand so she could make compelling comparisons between the two.

Credit unions and microbreweries? They share more in common than you may think, as I learned.

Of many similarities between credit unions and microbreweries shared by our tour guide, one in particular rises to the top-of-mind. In explaining the philosophy behind microbreweries and their competition (hopefully you’re thinking “big banks” at this point), our tour guide said (paraphrasing) “We realize as a microbrewery we’re not the right beer for everyone but we work hard at what we make to ensure we are the right beer for the right people.”

 

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