Our intrepid team of Pretzel Ambassadors were canvassing outside GABF to make sure atendees’ snacking needs were met before they headed inside! We offered pretzels and beer coupons for a chance to talk to people who care about craft culture and get them to sign up for our email list or join us on social media.

As we prepped for this year’s Great American Beer Festival, the Keep Colorado Local campaign thought, “What can we do to jump start conversations with people who care about beer?”

Our pockets aren’t nearly as deep as those of the out-of-state chains that are trying to change Colorado’s liquor laws, but we do know a thing or two about GABF (In fact, more than 50 KCL member breweries poured their product at this year’s festival. And a bunch won awards, too!).

So we decided we couldn’t spring for t-shirts, Lederhosen or other schwag, but we could help attendees accessorize. As a way to engage with festival-goers and get them looped in to the campaign,  we gave out hundreds of free pretzel necklaces over the three days of GABF.

It was a fun, high-visibility effort that led to hundreds of new email sign ups, a lot of positive interactions with people who care about our issue, and put a lot of smiles on strangers’ faces, to boot.