On April 28th, while representing Farmers Marketing, I attended a fundraiser hosted by Kevin Burgin from CJOB’s ‘The Main Ingredient‘ in support of K.I.D.S. Kenya Initiative for Development & Sustainability. The event was held at Torque Brewing Company, an upstart microbrewery in Winnipeg, and it was an enjoyable evening shared with good friends and some new ones.
Introducing: Torque Brewing Company
Torque’s bar and lounge area boast a comfortable decor sporting reclaimed wood, Edison bulb string lights, and stucco wire on the bar, all of which blend into a hip, rustic industrial vibe. As it turns out, right from the front door, the decor leads one to connect with their brand.
Looking at the bar area, I didn’t expect the vastness of their brewing facility. I must admit that when standing among huge stainless steel tanks, I was brought back to my childhood days watching Strange Brew. During the tour, I asked John Heim, our tour guide and one of five owners of Torque, if this was their first facility or if they had grown into it. In true entrepreneurial spirit, John proudly stated that this was where they opened and they went all in!
As a follow-up to a recent post on Farmers Marketing’s Blog: What’s In a Name?, I wanted to share my experience at Torque with you, but through a marketing and small business lens.
We are ‘The Mechanics of Beer’
As a marketer, I love and am drawn to the stories behind companies and their products or services. Check out this video John speaks about how the ‘Torque’ brand emerged, and how as a marketer, it permeates their business and branding.
Torgue allowed me to come up with a really great marketing angle with quite a bit of depth. We could do the Orange County Chopper thing. We could be a little more retro, a little more garagey, but not being too masculine to alienate anyone. And, we could borrow our names off of things like Diesel Fitter and Red Line, and have some fun with our names. It also represents the hard work that goes into making beer.
Farmers has a soft spot for small business and I love seeing people that can passionately bring a vision to life. I have been on many similar tours, but this tour was special. My tour group was very enthusiastic about Torque’s name, business, and of course, their beer.
In our last post, we shared three components of a great company name. They should be:
- Simple
- Memorable, and
- Have a story behind the name
In my opinion, Torque Brewing crafted a great name, backed by a compelling story.