About the Client
Founded in Berkeley in 1989, Bison Brewing produces innovative and award-winning microbrews (Chocolate Stout and Gingerbread Ale, to name a few). In 2000, Bison introduced Bison Original Hard Ice Tea, the only commercially brewed sparkling alcoholic beverage in the U.S. combining whole tea leaves and variety of exotic natural ingredients (www.hardicetea.com). With a crisp, refreshing taste and a third fewer calories and half the carbohydrates of most beers, Bison Original Hard Ice Tea instantly met with favorable reaction in the Bay Area. Its popularity prompted the repositioning of the company's brewhouse into a new restaurant featuring an innovative menu inspired by the teas.

PR Strategy
Daniel Del Grande, Owner & Brewer of Bison, hired Galvin Communications in July 2002 to expand recognition and trial of Bison Original Hard Ice Tea. His goal was to stimulate sales in local and regional markets, while building the infrastructure necessary to attain national distribution. Before embarking, however, Del Grande recognized that he needed to develop a baseline strategy for the Bison brand supported by clear, cohesive communications guidelines. We worked with Del Grande and his management team to develop a plan for sending consistent messages to customers, investors, employees and suppliers. The results were summarized in a concise document that will serve the company for several years to come.

The second phase of services began with the development of a media kit and a tactical plan to garner the editorial comment and media exposure that Bison desired and deserved. Our objectives included:

• Drive case sales of Bison Original Hard Ice Tea.

• Get consumers, industry leaders, and potential investors excited about the beverage.

• Increase the number of diners at the restaurant, thereby increasing exposure to the teas.

• Position Bison as an innovative leader in the beverage industry.

• Differentiate Bison in the midst of cluttered competitive messages.

In February 2003, faced with the distraction of running a restaurant while his wholesale distribution represented greater growth potential, Del Grande decided to close his brewpub to focus on brewing for restaurants, bars, and retailers. We worked with Del Grande to make sure his story emphasized the positive factors behind this business decision, and to avoid any negative misinterpretations.

Results
Galvin Communications has secured placement for Bison Brewing Company in every prominent Bay Area media outlet, including the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times, and East Bay Business Times. In addition, Bison has been prominently featured on television stations KTVU (Fox), KNTV (NBC) and KPIX (CBS), and radio station KGO (ABC). Restaurant revenues and per-case sales of Bison Original Hard Ice Tea increased as a result, and the positive publicity played an important role in getting specialty retailer Trader Joe's to carry Bison Original Hard Ice Tea in all its California locations.

While Del Grande was closing his brewpub, Galvin Communications provided extensive media coaching to assist in getting out a message that was focused on long term growth opportunities, rather than the immediate closing of his restaurant. We contacted journalists to ensure that the story received coverage in the business sections of nine prominent East Bay newspapers.

At the same time, we coordinated a campaign targeting food editors at daily newspapers and producers at key food and drink television and radio shows. This campaign resulted in coverage in key California food sections as well as a 20-minute interview of Del Grande on the nationally broadcast radio program Cooking with Chef Piero on the Cable Radio Network.

In other capacities, Galvin Communications assisted Bison in the planning and promotion of a 2002 mayoral debate between Berkeley candidates Shirley Dean and Tom Bates. The event, hosted at the brewery, was the highest attended debate of the campaign season and gave Bison positive visibility within the community. In addition, we worked to develop the "Bison Call," the brewery's first high-quality HTML newsletter sent out to a database of over 2,500 past and present customers.

The most satisfying endorsement comes directly from Owner Daniel Del Grande:

"Your creativity, efficiency, and good cheer are much appreciated and you are a pleasure to work with. What's more, Galvin Communications has over delivered. Your effectiveness at getting Bison's story in front of the right editors and producers has been truly impressive."