New Belgium Brewing’s digital team receives ‘genius’ status from the Beer Digital IQ Index

We’ll be honest: We’re getting a little tired of singing New Belgium Brewing Co.’s constant praises.

• New Belgium Brewing named a “best place to work for millennials”
• WorldBlu certifies New Belgium Brewing as a “Freedom-Centered Workplace”
• New Belgium Brewing honored as “Best for the Environment”
• New Belgium Brewing comes up with an even better vaccine for polio

Ok, maybe that last one’s not true (YET!), but hold onto your butts: Here comes another accolade. New Belgium Brewing’s digital team earned something called a “genius badge” from L2’s Beer Digital IQ Index. New Belgium is one of three beer brands, and the only craft beer company, to earn the genius badge. Who were the other two? Bud Light and Budweiser of course.

“Although the term genius feels a little lofty, we’ll gladly take the high compliment,” said Kevin Darst, digital manager at New Belgium. “The beer world is a crowded place where it can be difficult to stand out, so we try and always meet our fans and friends where they are in the digital world. One way is through incorporating personal experiences and giving fans plenty of ways to interact. It’s definitely a fun and ever evolving world, and I can’t say enough about our team here at New Belgium.”

Who’s L2? It’s a benchmarking and education firm, which actually analyzed 67 beer companies for the study. L2 created the Index to serve as the global standard for determining a brand’s digital skills. New Belgium received the distinction for its innovations in e-commerce, social media, its Grand Cru loyalty program, content and paid media and for creatively merging in-person events and digital activations.

The genius badge is only awarded to companies that score 140 points or more using L2’s methodology, which looks at the company’s site and e-commerce, digital marketing, social media and mobile strategies.

New Belgium’s Zealots of Zag Campaign is one example of a highly integrated digital campaign that highlights the brewery’s values and engages brand champions across multiple platforms. Fans are invited to join the digital banter for Zag On by tagging videos and photos, which showcase living in an unconventional but purposeful way, with the hashtag #zagging. There’s also a chance to win a trip to Belgium by creating a #zagging video with content from coworkers’ 5-year anniversary Belgium trip. All stories submitted may be featured on NewBelgium.com and the brewery’s Beer Mode App, as well as New Belgium’s social channels.