Athletic Brewing Hires Andrew Katz as CMO

Fast-growing non-alcoholic craft beer maker Athletic Brewing Company has hired Andrew Katz to serve as the company’s first chief marketing officer. Katz’s first day is today.

Katz brings three years of beer industry experience having served as VP of marketing for Dos Equis from November 2014 through October 2017 during the “reboot” of the Mexican import brand’s advertising campaign away from “The Most Interesting Man in the World.”

More recently, Katz founded and served as CEO of Instructrr, which his LinkedIn profile describes as “an interactive virtual studio platform for fitness creators.”

Katz’s resume includes nearly a decade at PepsiCo, working in marketing and managerial roles on brands such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, and SoBe between 2002 and 2012. He also worked as VP of advertising strategy and communications for American Express for nearly three years after departing PepsiCo.

“Personally, I’m thrilled to bring him on board — from his entrepreneurial fitness venture to his background operating at scale with Dos Equis and Pepsi, Andrew has the experience both where we are and where we’re going at Athletic,” Athletic co-founder and CEO Bill Shufelt told Brewbound. “Our marketing team has done an incredible job building our community and brand, and now we’re looking to build on those efforts both in the U.S. and internationally.”

Shufelt added that the company plans on making additional hires to its sales and chain teams over the next six months as it expands in the U.S. and abroad. The next key hire, he added, will be chief sales officer.

Athletic’s expansion comes as year-to-date sales of its offerings in off-premise retailers have topped $15.2 million, according to NielsenIQ data shared by Bump Williams Consulting. Athletic’s sales have increased 435.9%, or nearly $12.4 million, versus a year ago, making it the No. 2 craft beer growth brand, the firm shared.

Athletic’s Run Wild IPA ranked eighth in NielsenIQ’s list of top craft growth brands, with $7.7 million (+366.9% year-over-year) in sales year-to-date through early October, while Upside Dawn Golden Ale also made the top 20, posting $4.4 million (+409.9% versus a year ago) in sales. Note that not all of Athletic’s sales are captured in scans, as the company does a robust e-commerce business through its website.

Off-premise dollar sales of non-alcoholic beer in multi-outlet and convenience stores account for 0.53% share of the beer category, but have increased 25.5% year-over-year, to more than $183.9 million, as of October 3, according to the market research firm IRI.

Athletic Brewing announced a partnership with Outside Inc. in which the non-alc beer maker will “create shared experience and an exclusive content hub on Outside Online, known as “Without Compromise” that will feature some of Athletic’s athlete ambassadors.