To coincide with the European elections, Wychwood Brewery, brewers of bottled ale brand Hobgoblin has declared a social media election, challenging fans to choose and nominate their favourite tipple in an online poll.
The campaign, Wych Brew Are You? encourages fans to champion their selected beer from a choice of three leading candidates: Hobgoblin, Imperial Red, and Black Wych.
An image-rich, Buzzfeed-style personality quiz, expected to resonate with younger members of the electorate, has been created to help undecided voters make their choice.
Votes are registered by using the appropriate hashtag (#Hobgoblin, #ImperialRed, #BlackWych) and these monitored mentions accumulate to unlock prizes, ranging from t-shirts to cases of beer to medieval-style ale tankards.
Hobgoblin, the current leader, is the King of the Forest. The dedicated following for this ruby beer with a toffee malt flavour is clear from the outpouring of support.
However, Imperial Red, a bold amber beer, whose character is based on the chivalrous, adventuring knight of yesteryear, has been gathering followers to his flag.
Finally Black Wych, an alluring rich porter, could well be the dark horse in this race to the polls. Her influence is increasingly apparent as she fights for the title of winning brew.
Chris Keating, marketing manager at Wychwood Brewery, said: “Beer is inherently a social thing, so it makes sense for us to get people talking. People are really getting behind their favourite beers – the level of loyalty is almost tribal.We’re offering a real alternative with our range of flavoursome character beers. A vote in this election is a vote for change.”
Hobgoblin’s social media audience is over 90,000-strong, and is up by 9,000 since the campaign began.
As the votes continue to stack up, it remains to be seen whether reigning ruby beer Hobgoblin will return to rule over Wychwood Forest once again.
The campaign was devised and run with communications agency, Clarity.
www.clarity-comms.co.uk