MADE IN COLORADO: STEM CIDER
A 10 part series on Colorado brands making a statement in their respective fields. Brands being discusses include – Voormi, Kong, Osprey, Stem Ciders, Big Agnes, Melanzana, Otter Box, Sea to Summit, Smartwool and Chaco.
STEM CIDERS: THIS IS CIDER.
Living in Colorado you have a great mix of old Colorado and new Colorado. RiNo is just one area in Denver that has become a millennial mecca and a hub of creativity and entrepreneurship. I first learned about Stem while I was in the RiNo district and the brewery I was at didn’t have any drinks for someone with celiac diseases so thanks to the internet we found Stem Ciders. Stem Ciders is an urban cidery founded in 2013 by two passionate entrepreneurs, Eric Foster and Phil Kao. Stem Ciders believes in three main principles: quality, style and tradition.
Stem Ciders has had two different logos; the older logo was very bland and uninspiring. The updated logo is comprised of a vintage Victoriana style with hipster flare and some of their marketing pieces could even be considered to have an art nouveau feel, again reinforcing a hipster craft vibe. I am in love with this design because it can be used many different ways while maintaining the brand integrity. The design incorporates white space that is often missing in today’s marketing pieces. The design breathes which is exactly what you feel when you are at an apple orchard.
When considering experiential marketing, walking into their taproom immediately your feel new Denver with corrugated iron, art wall, food truck and hipster outdoor lighting (yes, hipster lighting is a thing.) Inside the taproom, tables encourage family style seating and community against a backdrop of cider barrels encapsulating the entire orchard feel. You can tell a lot of thought has gone in to the taproom right down to the serving glasses. The brand is stamped across the entire space in tasteful ways.
When going online to their website overall I think it is a very clean site. A standard rotation of images greets you at the top of the page and then from there they showcase their product. When showcasing their cider on the home page I enjoy that Stem has taken a page out of craft brewery books by letting cider connoisseurs know the specs of their cider right down to food pairings and seasonality of their cider.
What I also found from visiting their site is the community vibe they are bringing out with taproom activities, Firkin Monday experimental tasting events and even down to how they work with breweries to create a fall festival in RiNo. This inclusive vibe is exactly what younger millennial's are interested in. Their Firkin Monday event is also smart way to get feedback from their consumers and thus creating brand affinity; a great relationship marketing play. Well played, Good Sir’s!
Now for the constructive criticism! Stem Ciders also has amazing food. We’re talking tasty, tasty bites! But, the website doesn’t speak to any menus so I am going to eat somewhere else before I head to the taproom. What a miss! Stem, you show what food goes well with your cider but neglect to tell me that you serve this food.
The site hides the email sign up which is confusing to me when Stem just opened their new $7 million restaurant, taproom and production facility in Lafayette. Denver is growing, new cider enthusiasts are popping up; you could have done so much here. I did go and sign up for emails and the confirmation that my address had been submitted is so teeny tiny on the page I wasn't sure it worked; I see this as another loss. Additional I would have been happy to tell you my name and age range but you didn’t ask for it. After going through the sign up process Stem is using Mail Chimp for their email marketing. I truly believe Stem can do better here. And, I am yet to receive an email from Stem Ciders.
When looking at their social handles and influencer marketing they do fine but there isn’t anything really innovative here and there are some misses. Additionally they use their handles as outlets to find talent which is okay but engaging content and storytelling is what will help them knock it out of the park and find that new talent. In the interest of time, I am going to skip their social media channels and what marketing strategy they have taken in this space.
For me, I really enjoy all of Stem Cider’s design and a lot of their marketing strategy. I was unable to find their agency of record but from their logo and design to the onsite experience I believe in what they are creating and it has been done well. I see traces of great digital marketing and growth hacking strategies. There are some low lying fruit that could easily be fixed to help with their marketing strategy including storytelling and customer acquisition. At the core of their marketing is a craft vibe and this suits new Colorado. I will be intrigued to see how their brand grows over time.
I would strongly encourage you to visit one of Stem’s establishments and take a look at what they are creating from a marketing, design and branding perspective. They are inviting, fun and the food is great (but you won’t know this if you only go online.) My personal recommendation would be to try the Kombucha Cider or the Pear Apple Cider, those two are my favorites.
Do yourself a favor and go online and let me know your thoughts on Stem Ciders! Visit Stemciders.com or check out their social handles - @stemciders
*Please note I have not been paid by or sponsored by any of the aforementioned brand. All thoughts and opinions are my own.