This Blogpost is 100% Organic
Some believe that “organic” is a trend or something new. But more and more food (and products) carry the organic label. It’s the evolution consumers are driving for more better-for-you products. But what got my marketer’s senses tingling was when beer started advertising organic qualities.
A beer can be called “organic” if it meets federal guidelines or at least 95% of its ingredients are organically produced (no genetically modified ingredients, synthetic fertilizers, toxic pesticides, etc). In other words, a return to an era or pre-industrialized farming. According to the Brewers Association, organic beer is approaching $100 million. This is small, but it is growing beyond a passing trend. This trend fits the rise in marketing of “buy local,” “farm-to-table,” farmer’s markets.
Some call this a return to authenticity. Where else are you hearing authenticity bandied about? In advertising, marketing and storytelling. Maybe the rise of fake news, fake food and lying in our culture is driving us to want more authenticity in our products and information. This doesn’t seem to be a short-lived trend. Organic sales are on a steady rise throughout the US.
For Coors to be more authentic it means adopting an organic version of itself. For marketers, being more authentic means you need to be “real” in your messaging, photography and mission. And that’s the truth.
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.