Fat Tire Fans Tell Their Tales During National Anniversary Celebration

FT. COLLINS – New Belgium Brewing, the third largest craft brewer in the country, honored the 20th anniversary of Fat Tire in a variety of ways this summer, including the extremely successful Joy Ride campaign. As an exercise of reflection over the last two decades, New Belgium asked fans to reminisce about their relationship with Fat Tire. The response was tremendous — by video, phone, on the site and through social media.

Here’s a look at the Joy Ride:

  • People flocked to Facebook to submit stories and personalize bottle art. In fact, during the campaign period between Memorial Day and Labor Day, New Belgium’s Facebook page gained 25,000 new “likes” and 5,882 people downloaded the label art app.
  • Approximately 2,900 fans went online to rewrite the label with a personal twist.
  • The mobile app was a hit, with nearly 700 iPhone downloads and about 470 Android downloads.
  • More than 400 people called 1.866.FAT.TIRE to leave a message about their affinity for the beer.
  • About 150 folks submitted their own videos focused on Fat Tire memories.
  • Approximately 3,500 people posed in the photo booth in the New Belgium tasting room, creating their own personalized Fat Tire label.
  • Roughly 34,000 people nationwide submitted an entry to win a special edition New Belgium cruiser bike.

From all the tales of love, sweat and beers, members of New Belgium’s team selected 105 online winners and ultimately gave away 3,000 special anniversary cruiser bikes in 25 states (all New Belgium markets as of May 2011, except for California due to state rules).

“The Joy Ride campaign was super successful; we loved seeing all the creativity that the Joy Ride inspired,” said Michael Bussman, Social Networking Nerd at New Belgium. “Fan feedback was positive and people really loved the chance to craft their own entries as opposed to just entering a contest.”