In a Boston taxi cab, on the way home from winning the top prize for her client at the "Great American Beer Festival," in Denver, Co., Sally Jackson heard this on the radio: "Samuel Adams Boston Lager was just named best beer in America."
Jackson had called all the media she could think of from the Denver Airport and a few hours later — voíla.
Now, that's public relations at its best, said Jackson, owner of Jackson & Co. Public Relations. She addressed the Ad Club of the Virgin Islands Tuesday afternoon at Chickie's Place in Frenchtown.
At a time when at least one bar owner told her, "My customers don't drink beer, they drink advertisements," Jackson was able to take the Samuel Adams brand beer from a small hometown product to bars around the world, including Germany — without advertising.
And Germany was part of her public relations strategy. She said the German standard for beer allows for only four ingredients, barley, hops, water and yeast. And Germans only care if the beer is good.
"Selling beer in Connecticut wasn't a news story. Selling our beer in Germany was," she said.
And so it went, from pitching news stories to hands-on selling and going bar to bar, Jackson took Samuel Adams to a place from which the brand could eventually afford to use more traditional advertising methods to increase sales and market share.
And Samuel Adams is not the only start-up company that has benefited from Jackson's expertise. Starbucks Coffee and Staples both hired Jackson to help them get on their feet, too.
Jackson announced Tuesday that after 16 successful years in her own business she had just merged with Clark & Co., another public relations firm.
"It allowed me to make this trip without having to call my voice mail every minute," she said.
Jackson will address Ad Club members on St. Croix at 12 noon Wednesday at Hibiscus Beach Hotel.
