Out-of-home gamble delivers a bumper Dry July for Mountain Culture
Mountain Culture Beer Co has recorded a bumper sales month during what is traditionally the slowest period for alcohol retailers, thanks to an exclusively out-of-home campaign during Dry July.
According to third-party research from brand analytics company Tracksuit, Mountain Culture saw a 33% surge in sales in both Victoria and New South Wales during July, as the company made a bold move and relied solely on out of home advertising for the entire month. During this time, the brewery shut off all other paid media channels.
July wasn’t dry for Mountain Culture, thanks to a savvy out-of-home campaign.
Mountain Culture’s chief marketing officer, Brad Firth, told Mumbrella he was initially apprehensive about the strategy but was willing to take the risk if it had the potential for longer-term success.
“I’m always nervous about spending on above-the-line campaigns, just because of our size and scale and the need for quick results in an independent business,” he said.
“Working with the team at Ooh [Media] specifically, they helped build the confidence with me that we could isolate this, we could test this, and we could use it as a case study that would work for my business, ongoing.”
According to Firth, Mountain Culture also saw a 40% uplift in keg sales from June to July, setting a new monthly record for the business. Mountain Culture sales in BWS stores also rose by111%, compared to July, 2024 .
Firth said July is typically a slower month for beer sales across the market. Aside from the Dry July campaign, the colder weather sets in, and consumers tend to abstain more generally. In his view, that meant it was the perfect time to test the waters of the out of home campaign.
“Our sales at Mountain Culture are great and we’re growing, so we felt confident a single month in the year wouldn’t break us and it would be just a good, fun time to test [the campaign],” he said.
The Tracksuit data also showed the Blue Mountains-based brewery saw a 9% increase in brand awareness month-on-month across the country, while consumer consideration of the company’s products jumped by 15%. Queensland — which did not have any paid media — saw no noticeable change in sales.
While the market is noticing an overall downward trend in beer consumption, year-on-year, according to federal government data, Firth remained confident that Mountain Culture will be able to expand and continue to see considerable sales growth.
“We try to not pay much mind to [the trends]. We’re very lucky that we have an incredible product, a great brand, and this incredible cult following that, even through years of category decline, [a drop in sales] is just not happening for us.
“It’s not all rosy in the industry, but we’re managing to find our own way through that at the moment.”
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