Premiering on August 1st, the podcast in partnership with the Charleston Radio Group will highlight key influencers and business professionals in the Charleston marketing industry.
The Charleston American Marketing Association (AMA) has launched their podcast, The Charleston Marketing Podcast, entirely geared toward Charleston’s marketing professionals. Featuring conversations with the Lowcountrys’ movers and shakers, changemakers and elite knowledge workers, each episode of The Charleston Marketing Podcast and YouTube channel provides listeners with relevant and topical takeaways ready to be applied and implemented.
Hosted by Stephanie Barrow and Mike Compton, board members of the Charleston American Marketing Association, the “CAMA Cast” is highly engaging with guests like Will Hayine, Mayor of Mount Pleasant, Nikki Kuniej, Director of Digital Strategy, Charleston Radio Group, Olivia Flowers of Southern Charm. With a new episode dropping each month, many more thought-provoking interviews are planned with top marketing experts, industry thought leaders, nonprofits and successful Lowcountry entrepreneurs. Four episodes will be launching in August including an intro episode.
“To me, it’s all about connecting and building community, like we do at CAMA. We are discussing content and ideas for all types of marketers. From solopreneurs to c-suite agency heads, from college grads to entrepreneurs that wear all the hats. We plan to have all the conversations, big and small so everyone can take something away from the podcast,” shares Mike Compton. “The Charleston Marketing Podcast has been a goal of our Chapter since I was President. The pandemic reiterated to our team the importance of connection, inspiration and motivation. I am genuinely thrilled and humbled by the amazing opportunity to interview these truly inspiring Charleston professionals who are making an impact here in the Lowcountry,” stated Stephanie Barrow.
Charleston American Marketing Association (AMA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2021 Spark! Awards. The annual Spark! Awards is the premier marketing event of the Lowcountry that honors creative and marketing excellence in the Charleston community. After receiving hundreds of submissions in 20 categories, fellow AMA chapter, AMA Tahoe, judged and casted their votes for finalists and winners, while Charleston AMA Board of Directors selected winners for Marketer of the Year, The Giving Award, and Chapter Volunteer of the Year.
Awards finalists, Charleston area marketing professionals, and business leaders gathered for the lively awards celebration on September 23 where winners were revealed. The awards were hosted by event emcee Whitney McDuff, who is a recent winner of Best Marketing/PR Company for Charleston City Paper’s 2021 Best of Charleston.
Charleston AMA 2021 Marketer of the Year: Charlotte Berger, CharlotteBergerPR
The Giving Award: Stan Foxworthy, Foxworthy Studios
Chapter Volunteer of the Year: Taylor Ion, Charleston AMA Director of Marketing and Communications
Best Book Cover WINNER: Advantage | ForbesBooks – Stuck In The Middle Seat by Stephen E. Gerard FINALISTS: Advantage | ForbesBooks – Stuck In The Middle Seat by Stephen E. Gerard Advantage | ForbesBooks – Hidden Wealth by Terry H. Monroe – Banks Creative – Eleanor, Alice and the Roosevelt Ghosts by Dianne K. Salerni G Sharp Design – Mindscaping
Best Corporate Blog WINNER: Roper St. Francis Hospital – House Calls Magazine and Health Hub Blog FINALISTS: Stingray Branding – Tumbleston Photography Winkler Group – Winkler Group Corporate Blog: Part 1 – Counterintuitive Fundraising
Best Corporate Identity WINNER: Roper St. Francis Hospital – Roper St. Francis Healthcare Brand 2020 FINALISTS: Trio Solutions – Bleecker Family Law
Best Content Marketing WINNER: Lunch + Recess – Vertical Roots Brand Video FINALISTS: BoomTown – The BoomTown Effect PlanSource – Employee Communications Interactive Site
Best Digital or Print Ad WINNER: Push Digital – Dermatology & Laser Center of Charleston FINALISTS: Rawle Murdy – Terminix
Best Direct Mail WINNER: PlanSource – THRIVE SalesCon Box and Deliverables
Best e-Newsletter WINNER: Charleston County Parks – Charleston County Parks Explore
Best Event Marketing WINNER: Mex 1 Coastal Cantina – Mex 1 Snowboard Rail Jam FINALISTS: BoomTown – Unite Push Digital – Lung Cancer Research Foundation – Free to Breathe Event PlanSource – Eclipse Live Marketing Collateral
Best Fundraising Campaign WINNER: CharlotteBergerPR – Warrior Surf Foundation Surfboard Auction
Best Social Media Presence WINNER: Rawle Murdy – Sleep.com Mattress Firm FINALISTS: Charleston County Parks – Charleston County Parks Facebook Page – Push Digital – Stop Soldier Suicide
Best Illustration WINNER: Banks Creative – College of Charleston ‘What Type of Cougar are You? FINALISTS: Banks Creative- College of Charleston ‘What Type of Cougar are You? Charleston County Parks – Step Into Nature Lunch + Recess – Osprey and Snake Illustration
Best Logo Design WINNER: In the Black Marketing & Consulting – Migliori’s Pizza FINALISTS: Gibbes Film in Focus – Banks Creative Stingray Branding – Juneteenth Stingray Branding – Your Space Designs TRIO Solutions – Ruby’s Academy
Best Non-Traditional Marketing WINNER: Banks Creative – Gibbes on the Street – Gibbes on the Couch FINALISTS: CharlotteBergerPR – LoDi Coffee Sleeve Design Rawle Murdy – Primland Resort
Best Social Media Campaign WINNER: Matchstick Social – Kickin Chicken FINALISTS: Chernoff Newman – MUSC Don’t Go Viral Nelson Strategic Marketing – Meals on Wheels Summerville: Stories of Isolation
Best Pandemic Pivot WINNER: ArcheMedX, Inc. – COVID-19’s Effect on Virtual Tech in Clinical Trials FINALISTS: CharlotteBergerPR – Warrior Surf Foundation Surfboard Auction Maggie Mills – Take Maggie’s Word for It
Best Promotional Video WINNER: Lowcountry Local First – Every Dollar Matters FINALISTS: BoomTown – Success Assurance Charleston Battery – This Is Your Club Mara James – Shiksona Beauty
Best Website WINNER: Squeeze Marketing – Lowtide Brewing FINALISTS: Push Digital – PushDigital.com Squeeze Marketing – Southern Concepts Stingray Branding – Wild Blue Ropes
Drum roll, please! We’re excited to announce finalists for the 2021 Spark! Awards. This year, 112 exceptional entries were submitted in 20 categories reflecting the creativity and skillful execution of the applicants who innovated and pivoted during a pandemic to create dynamic, successful marketing. Do you see your entries among the finalists? Category winners will be announced at this year’s awards ceremony. In addition, The Giving Award, Marketer of the Year, and Chapter Volunteer of the Year will be announced at the event!
We want to thank the AMA Reno-Tahoe board of directors who judged this year’s submissions. The top 3 entries were selected as finalists in each category. In the case of tied scores, up to 5 finalists were selected. We appreciate all of the judges who spent their time and assistance to make the 2021 Spark! Awards a success.
We look forward to seeing finalists and Charleston marketers at the Spark! Awards Ceremony on Thursday, September 23. Learn more about this year’s prom themed event, and get your ticket here!
Budweiser, an American icon and a beer brand that is well known beyond US borders, has always been famous and loved for its marketing activities. From the TV-advert campaign that made a whole generation greeting each other on the phone with “Whassup” to high-budget Super Bowl commercials and beyond.
But even in times before events like the Superbowl existed and when TV advertising was not invented yet, Budweiser was a marketing pioneer and well ahead of its time, even in difficult times like the prohibition.
The beginnings
But let’s go step by step, the roots of the brewery lay (no surprise) in another beer-loving country, Germany. Eberhard Anheuser was born in 1806 in the small German town of Kreuznach. After emigrating to the United States in 1842 he became a successful businessman as a candle and soap manufacturer. With the money he earned, he continuously invested in the already existing “Bavarian Brewery” which he completely owned by 1860. Ten years later he allowed his son-in-law Adolphus Busch to join the company, the business name of Anheuser-Busch as such has its origins in the company’s family ties.
Besides the strong family bond, one reason why Anheuser-Busch became such a powerful company was the vision of Adolphus Busch, to create a national beer brand for the USA. The company, therefore, was looking towards their European roots, and focused on a pale lager type of beer Bohemian immigrants from the city of Budweis took with them into the US.
As Pilsner beer is a beloved beer type all over Germany, the decision for a Pilsner for a new national beer by Anheuser and Busch, therefore, was an easy decision, and the famous US beer brand Budweiser was born and became a registered trademark in 1878.
To become a truly national beer, Adolphus Busch invested in cooling storage facilities across the US railway network to ensure the cooling of his product especially for long-distance transports, and thus provided a nationwide quality of his beer which led to high popularity and the success of the brand.
Die Prohibition in den USA
The ever-growing popularity of the Budweiser brand however was confronted with the political proposal by the US congress in 1917 to ban alcoholic drinks in the United States, as the early 20th century saw excesses in the personal consumption of alcohol which raised political concerns about the wellbeing of US-citizens. With the 18th amendment of the United States Constitution which was ratified by the US congress i.e. the requisite number of states in 1919 the prohibition of alcohol became a fact and lasted from 1920 till 1933.
This was a shock for all companies producing alcoholic beverages like Anheuser-Busch, as it caused a threat to the existence of the family business. Whereas the 18th amendment to the Constitution imposed a ban on alcoholic sales, the advertisement of such was not a part of the ban itself. Furthermore, even though the regular sales of alcohol was prohibited, the legal execution was lacking enforcement of local authorities. As such, loopholes existed, e.g. which allowed the sale of alcoholic products for medical reasons. Nevertheless, if you are not allowed to legally sell standard alcoholic beverages, companies were exposed to high risk if they still did, as in case of legal prosecution if they would get caught but also by the damaged reputation of the brand.
Budweiser, respectively the brand’s owner Anheuser-Busch solved the situation from different angles. They continued to advertise their brand Budweiser with emotional and patriotic ads, they joined an anti-prohibition movement, but also pushed existing non-alcohol products like their malt and frozen egg products and even came up with a new non-alcoholic beverage, to tackle the declining sales of alcoholic products.
With their patriotic ads, they included famous pioneers and heroes like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and many others to create and strengthen an emotional bond, in times when people were missing alcoholic beverages.
On the other hand, ads that were advertising the health benefits of Budweiser e.g. after sportive exercises or in general where Budweiser was displayed as liquid bread addressed the audience in favor of the alcohol ban.
And then there was Bevo, a clever strategic movement of Anheuser-Busch that introduced the near beer brand to the American people. Bevo initially was introduced to the United States Armed Forces, which already had to deal with an alcohol ban in 1916. Thus, Anheuser-Busch was able to push the product nationwide during the prohibition in 1920 and provided anyone who wanted to have a close-to-beer experience with Bevo. Anheuser-Busch also heavily invested in the Marketing of Bevo as the ads, but also the merchandise example does show, see below. Only a few years before the end of the ban, the production of Bevo was discontinued in 1927, which makes Bevo truly a prohibition phenomenon.
With their clever marketing strategies concerning product variety and emotional advertising techniques, Anheuser-Busch and respectively Budweiser managed to survive the prohibition period and continued to become one of the largest breweries in the world and the synonym for American beer and stays true to its focus on marketing. We are curious about what the future brings for Budweiser and what kind of clever ads they will come up with in the future.
Below, we feature some extraordinary but surprisingly not so famous examples of Budweiser advertising campaigns during prohibition which appeared in famous newspapers of the time.
Come celebrate at the Charleston American Marketing Association (AMA) 2023 Spark! Awards — the only awards event in Charleston celebrating creative excellence and marketing talent — held at Harborside East on Wednesday, November 15 kicking off at 6:30 pm.
Early bird tickets are on sale until October 18th, 2023. $50 for AMA members and $65 for non-members.