What is your craft brewery’s theme song?

If you’re like me, you probably grew up on a steady diet of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Ghostbusters, with an early dose of Sesame Street. While it may have been years since you’ve thought about, or watched, these classics, I bet that you can pretty quickly hum their theme songs.

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Heroes in a Half-shell Turtle Power!”

“If there’s something strange. In your neighborhood. Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters!”

In less than 60 seconds, each of these show’s theme songs gets you hooked, singing along, and sets expectations. I know that the Turtles are here to save the day, and that the Ghostbusters protect me from weird things.

I’m not 100% saying your brewery needs a theme song (see Secret Hopper theme song), but I am saying that in just a couple breaths your team needs to be able to successfully share who you are.

Why the theme song exercise is useful

I often ask brewery owners to describe their brewery in 5 words on less. This could be five random words or an actual phrase.

• “A welcoming place with great beer.” Who doesn’t aim for this?
• “Good times and good people.” Do you want the opposite?
• “A community-driven brewery with a love for baseball.” Slightly more than 5 words, but we’re getting better.

If the Ninja Turtles theme song only said, “We save you from bad guys,” then you’re not getting the full message. You need to be able to sum up what your brewery stands for, the feel of your brand, and why it’s important in a short, easy to understand, fashion.

Ask yourself, how do you want your guests to pitch your taproom to their friends? Simply by the “good place, good times” motto? No, you want your guests to be so passionate about your brand, and the experience they had in your taproom, that they provide those who are unfamiliar with you a sense of urgency to visit.

And to create this need, your taproom staff must be able to tell that story, quick. You can build a meaningful connection during even the briefest encounters. As you build relationships with guests, you may not specifically describe your “theme song”; however, you will aim to exhibit its core values over these moments.

For everyone on your team to sing your theme song, they need to understand:

• Your brewery’s history
• Your brewery’s core values
• Your brewery’s beers/offerings
• Your brewery’s goals

You can educate your team on all of the above via a variety of means:

• Written in a handbook
• Recorded in a video
• Shared at a team get to together
• Through training
• Regular reinforcement

Take the time to organize this information and be intentional about finding time and opportunities for your team to review it.

If you want your team to sing your theme song, they need to know it by heart, hum it in their sleep, and sing it so exuberantly that your guests want to sing it too. Reward your team for radiating your values. Get them motivated to continue singing. Constantly show them appreciation for being an important part of your organization.

But most importantly, everyone on your team must be proud of who you are. You’ll never catch me singing a song I don’t like.

Andrew Coplon is the Founder of Secret Hopper, a mystery shopping company for craft beer businesses, and Craft Beer Professionals, a community dedicated to the growth and betterment of the craft beer industry. Check out all of his CBB articles here.