Edinburgh, Scotland – Innis & Gunn, the award-winning independent Edinburgh brewer of oak-aged beers, has hired Marty Jones to handle the brewery’s US publicity and public relations.
A resident of Denver, Colorado, Jones is a respected and longtime promoter, publicist and idea man in the United States craft beer scene. An acclaimed beer journalist turned fervent beer promoter, his creative efforts have played a key role in several US craft beer successes
As the first publicity consultant for the Great American Beer Festival, Jones helped the “GABF” achieve its first sold-out festivals in the early 2000s.
As a co-founder of the trailblazing microcanning effort of Oskar Blues Brewery (Colorado, USA), Jones was instrumental in transforming the tiny, unknown brewpub into one of craft beer’s most well-known and fast-growing craft breweries.
Jones recently helped Wynkoop Brewing Company (Colorado’s first brewpub, founded by Governor John Hickenlooper) reclaim its Hickenlooper-era presence, update its approach and image, and earn press across CO, the US and parts of the world.
For the past two years he has assisted a number of other craft beverage enterprises through his company, Marty Jones Ideas & Ink.
He is a frequent speaker at the Craft Brewers Conference, hosting popular seminars on the power of publicity, promotion, fresh ideas and humor for craft beer makers.
“Marty has an impressive track record for landing big press coverage and successfully promoting craft beer in the US,” says Innis & Gunn founder and CEO Dougal Sharp. “He also has a great understanding of US beer culture and solid relationships in the industry there. So he’ll be a big help in boosting our presence in the US. We also like his outside-the-lines thinking and irreverent sense of humor.”
Dan Deluca heads up Innis & Gunn’s New York-based importing & distribution division and is excited to have Jones on board. “Marty fills an important new role on our team here,” DeLuca says. “He’s the person we need for getting our unique story out to US press and beer consumers. I think he’ll be a great help to our retailers and distributors around the country, and he can help us grow our US efforts.”
“Innis & Gunn,” Jones says, “makes innovative craft beers unlike any in the US. Their founder is a savvy brewer with a fascinating background, and Dougal and the company have a unique approach and backstory. They’re also beer pioneers in a nation known more its brewing history than its recent innovations. So there’s a wealth of Innis & Gunn stories for me to share with America’s press and beer lovers.”
That Jones will be helping a small Scottish craft brewery gain fans on US soil is especially rewarding for him. “What I enjoy most as a flag waver for craft beer,” Jones says, “is helping to overthrow the old status quo of beer. That beery mutiny is now taking hold across the world. To help Innis & Gunn with their US efforts in that delicious cultural upheaval is very exciting for me.”
About Innis & Gunn
Launched in 2003, Innis & Gunn was born from a very fortunate discovery. The year before, brewer Dougal Sharp was asked by Grant’s Distillers to create a distinctive beer for seasoning whisky barrels for a special whisky. After distillery workers alerted him to the wondrous taste of the beer being drained from the barrels after months of seasoning, Sharp launched the company.
Innis & Gunn has won a multitude of awards for its unique range of oak-aged beers and its new un-oaked Scottish lager. The company employs over 50 people globally and has been recognised for its contribution to industry by winning the IGD Outstanding Small Business of the Year Award in 2013 and collecting two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in International Trade.
Available in over 20 countries, Innis & Gunn is the second-biggest supplier of specialty beer to the UK off-trade, the top bottled imported ale brand in Sweden, and the best-selling British bottled beer brand in Canada. It has enjoyed 30% average annual growth over the past two years.