Beers, Beverages And Rolling Billboards

You no doubt witness the dozens of beer and beverage distributor semi trucks along Traverse City’s streets and alleys every week. And you might notice one truck wrapped with the familiar Bud Lite branding, or another promoting Body Armor flavored water or Short’s Brewing. Ever wonder how those brands are chosen to adorn those trucks over their many competitors?

Turns out there is a system, and one local beer and wine distributor is about to change what those trucks promote.

Mark Ribel, president of local distributor H. Cox and Son, Inc., says, “If Anheuser-Busch has 70 percent of our sales, then 70 percent of our trucks have their artwork.” His fleet of 14 trucks distribute in a seven-county area. The 80-year-old company sells “more than 1,000 brands of wine and upwards of 600 styles of beer,” according to Ribel.

When it comes to advertising those brands, breweries and distributors work together to get brands into stores, and they also decide which brands will show up on trucks. It’s all in the contract, as well as who pays. The cost of the “truck wrap” ad and its application are shared among the beverage maker and the distributor. The ads generally roll the roads for one year. The graphics must be up to date; last season’s bottle design just won’t do for today’s truck. However, if a larger brand has a look or logo that doesn’t change often — Labatt’s for example — the truck wrap can stay for 2 to 3 years. Maintenance is key too; nicked up or worn wraps that take a beating by the mechanical roll-top doors also necessitate change.

“We don’t want anything looking inferior out on the road,“ says Mark Knoll, who is vice president of Great Lakes Wine & Spirits’ beer division, Bayside Beverage, which also serves Petoskey and Marquette.

At Bayside, a truck may promote more than one brand; Knoll says the rear of a truck’s back panel is a catchy spot, and new brands do well to be seen there.

Nationally, beer advertising and mobile truck advertising are big business. In 2014, Anheuser-Busch spent $539 million in advertising. And according to the American Trucking Association and 3M, 91 percent of a target audience notice text and graphics on vehicle advertising.

For H. Cox and Son here in Traverse City, however, the decision has been made to switch away from beer-branded logos to instead promote their own brand.

“We want to let people know we’re local. We want to brand our own company, not just have us identified as a Bud or Corona distributor,” says Ribel of the decision made recently.

Incidentally, both Ribel and Knoll report the local beverage business is very strong.