Kokanee Beer - Marketing The Brand

Marketing The Brand

Kokanee started life as a niche brand by attempting to appeal with only radio ads to the residents of the interior of British Columbia with the slogan, "Brewed right in the Kootenays". After Labatt bought the Columbia Brewery in 1974, they hired the advertising agency WestCan later to be known as Scali McCabe Sloves whose Vancouver office produced a number of humorous radio and then international award winning TV campaigns introducing "The Sasquatch", including, for instance,(and still under the name WestCan at the time) 2 IBA's for TV. Two International Broadcast Awards and both introducing the legendary Sasquatch trademark and this success in TV to then take the brand to market domination and peak with a 30% plus brand share in 1986. These Sasquatch ads also were featured on the NBC "Tonight Show" as samples of the "World's Best". Other later efforts included a mock documentary showing Kokanee bottles migrating up a stream like salmon. These helped the brand become the market leader with a share of 17% in 1992. The Sasquatch 25 years later still a critical trademark for this effective branding.

In 1992 Labatt hired Beakbane Marketing, Toronto, to revitalize the packaging. Unusual for the time they changed the icon of the Kokanee Glacier to a photo montage that was shot from a helicopter by nature photographer Alec Pytlowany. The image of the glacier was used on all packaging materials including bottle labels, cans and cartons. At that time a small sasquatch icon was developed and hidden in each design.

The brand was introduced to Ontario in 1996, but to save on shipping the beer was brewed at Labatt's facility in London, Ontario. Molson Breweries launched a preemptive advertising campaign questioning the beers legitimacy, with the slogan "b.c. or b.s.?". In 2001 Labatt re-launched Kokanee, trucking it in from the brewery in Creston.

Kokanee's current marketing slogans are "It's The Beer Out Here" and "Glacier Fresh". Kokanee advertisements are frequently shown on Canadian television stations and centre around the beer's official mascot the Sasquatch. Later the ad campaign follows the storyline of the "Kokanee Ranger" played by, John Novak; and his unsuccessful attempts to hunt and catch the Sasquatch who is stealing Kokanee beer. These commercials parody the real life Sasquatch hunter René Dahinden, who appeared in the first Kokanee commercial of its kind (NOT TRUE. René Dahinden did not appear in TV ad Bill Reiter did and based on super 8 footge). According to the ad campaign, the Ranger eventually recruited three Glacier Girls to join the search to catch the elusive Sasquatch. These girls originally introduced first in 1985 as "The Kokettes and also by the Sasquatch and award winning TV ad creator.

In 2008, a new campaign encouraged customers to visit a website (RangerLiveOrDie.ca) and vote on whether the Kokanee Ranger should live or die. The campaign concluded on August 17, with the Kokanee Ranger ultimately being killed off in a commercial that spoofed the last few minutes of the final episode of The Sopranos. It is yet unknown who or what will replace the ranger as Kokanee's new spokesperson.

Kokanee also sponsors the annual Crankworx mountain biking festival in Whistler, British Columbia.

In 2011, Kokanee launched a Facebook campaign that encouraged Kokanee drinkers to vote for a new ranger as Sasq's raids on Kokanee residents' beer in the absence of the Ranger grew bolder.

A TV ad introduces the late Ranger as a ghost resuming his post and duties, discovering he's dead as his hand passes through a bottle of Kokanee, remembering "you killed me off!" indignantly, and sourly wished the viewers "good luck" in finding his replacement. Voters may chose from a choice of candidates: Ma Ranger, the mother of the Kokanee ranger; Micheal Baystreet a Gordon Gecko-like TSX day trader; Cory, a Ski instructor who has skied the Rockies since the '80s and needs some responsibility; Beer Fridge 2.0, a beer cooler with a lock; Glacier and Fresh, a Starsky and Hutchesque buddy duo eager to make their mark by stopping Sasq's crime wave; and "Glacier Goat" a foul mouthed cantankerous goat.

The candidates also have their individual Facebook pages as fictional characters, posting articles, videos, and responding to fans posts on their pages campaigning, and unveiling story lines to their own niche dynamics. Micheal Baystreet, seeks to redevelop the Kootenays with condo high rise apartments, Ma wants to satisfy her widow lusts.

Kokanee drinkers have voted for Glacier and Fresh after a narrow election vs runner up "Goat".