When the cocky culture of stunt marketing backfires

Do you enjoy seeing all the latest things that BrewDog is up to?

I certainly do. And I have made lavish use of their marketing comms, naming conventions and publicity stunts as examples of how to use a challenger voice to great effect. I’ve always loved how they found their way into pop cultural salience in sharp contrast with most of the people-pleasing marketing of the beer industry.

This Scottish-born brand named their alcohol-free beer “Nanny State.” (That alone is worth the price of admission to the BrewDog show.) They sell competitive brands in their own-retail pubs. They advertised that they have a “Carbon Negative” ESG strategy with the headline F*ck CO2. All so deliciously clever.

And the marketplace has richly rewarded them for their “punk marketing.” They are number one in their space in the UK and are well on their way to becoming a global brand that stands for a compelling alternative to beer as usual.

But then came a troubling?report?aired on the BBC.

It includes interviews with former BrewDog employees who charge that many of BrewDog’s most famous publicity-garnering moves were set up with nothing but the press release in mind. High on concept. Short on substance.

It claims that BrewDog’s “punk investors” are getting the short end of the stick compared to the private equity firm who invested ￡200 million in BrewDog, making its founders into two of The City’s biggest “fat cats” that they so like to make fun of. It alleges that James Watt has invested ￡2 million in a hedge fund in the tax-sheltering Cayman Islands and, get this, ￡500,000 in the corporate beer giant he claims to despise, Heineken.

Finally, it interviewed women and men who were former employees of BrewDog who charge that the company had, in their experience, a laddish, macho environment that most HR professionals would describe as a “hostile environment.” More than 300 ex-employees who call themselves “Punks with Purpose” have signed a letter protesting what they say is a toxic work environment at BrewDog.

BrewDog’s response? An attack on the BBC, a “sorry you felt that way” pseudo apology and a?statement implying that “the establishment” is somehow behind all these attacks on BrewDog. All of which is ironically consistent with founder James Watt’s perspective provided in his book?Business for Punks:?Marketing the BrewDog Way:

“Don’t bother learning from your mistakes. That’s for losers.”

I was intrigued by what Will Smith said Denzel Washington told him after he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars (a punk move, eh?). “In your highest moments, be careful, that’s when the devil comes for you.” Or, as wise King Solomon put it, “Pride goeth before the fall.”

So, what to make of all of this? BrewDog’s playbook of against-the-grain buzzworthy marketing is still incredibly valuable and instructive. But when you become feverishly publicity hungry and you start to think you can do no wrong, trouble is coming. Wake up. Keep pushing the envelope - but stay humble, stay accountable.

In the meantime, I think BrewDog has a long road to travel before they can become a brand worthy of trust again.