Heathen Brewing:

The Ice Cream Truck of Beer

Growing up, we all spent our summers counting quarters and waiting on the ice cream truck’s playful melodies to fill our neighborhoods. Most afternoons, our biggest dilemma was whether to buy a Choco-Taco or Bomb Pop. So as COVID-19 hit, one of our clients—Vancouver’s own Heathen Brewing—tried to recreate that experience for a new generation of home-bound adults: The Ice Cream Truck of Beer was born.

The idea for an ice cream truck-like delivery service started when we talked with Heathen founder and owner Sunny Parsons about new ways to sell beer. Heathen owns a few beer delivery trucks and, after a few beers of our own, we decided to launch a roaming beer truck to quench the thirst of adults around Clark County. (Only now, we swapped out “Pop Goes the Weasel” for a more updated playlist—one that included Green Day and Montell Jordan. And, okay, we also played a trap-style version of “Pop Goes the Weasel”.)

We publicized the delivery routes through social media and, once our fans caught wind, the beer sold faster than Fudgsicles on a hot August day. (One of our fans in downtown Vancouver even drove out to Felida to buy two cases!) Later on, The Columbian newspaper wrote about the truck—how it happened, where we wound up, and what fans thought of the idea.

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The truck has gone out every weekend since April 16 and is now joined weekly by The Smokin’ Oak BBQ Truck. We’ve also partnered up with places like Caps N’ Taps in Camas, Hopworks Urban Brewery in Vancouver, Sproos in Woodland, and Los Pepes and Northwood Public House & Brewery—both in Battle Ground.

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Teamwork Makes The Dream Work

Michael: Ideation and concept development, ridealongs for live social video and logistical support. Hosted Sunny on the Creativity in COVID webinar series to share with the Oregon Brewers Guild and BING about the success

Also Michael: Targeted Facebook and Instagram ad campaign to specific neighborhoods

Josh filmed and edited the video seen at the top of this page. It's a quick look at the event at Hopworks with Smoakin'Oak

Andrew and Will: Social media implementation

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COVID-19 Case Study – Look For the Helpers