In Monday’s post I mentioned that Marketing with Meaning can apply to any business, not just the large brands with multimillion-dollar marketing budgets. I shared an example of a book publisher that is uniquely connecting with its target readers. Today I wanted to share how even local restaurants can win by directing a targeted campaign using a single insight about its target market - at a very low cost.

To simplify a core part of our Marketing with Meaning model: Companies must begin by establishing a business objective they hope to reach. Once this specific business objective is set, the company then can put more focused thinking around how they can do something meaningful for customers that helps achieve the business objective. With these focused customer insights, they are then able to start crafting strategies and creative ideas around meaningful marketing.

In the restaurant business, a common business objective is to drive loyalty and visits from existing customers. Most of us know that in nearly every business, 80% of profits come from the 20% of loyal customers. My friends in the restaurant business tell me this holds for their industry as well. Their challenge is that there are many, many dining options for people to choose from, and any number of them can provide a similarly pleasing experience. So they must work hard to achieve a high “share of mind” with their customers. People also have a natural desire to “try something new,” so retaining loyal customers is a critical need.

Historically, most local advertising spending tends to consist of a stagnant group of traditional tactics. There are the Yellow Pages, Val-Pak direct mail coupons, and ads in the local city restaurant guides. Everybody in the business does these same things - which is another negative of such marketing. Part of the reason restaurants (and many, many other small local businesses) use these tools is that they don’t know what to do instead, and they worry that traffic will dry up when dollars are shifted. These businesses can’t afford to wait for a year for a new marketing approach to pay out. But, I’ve spotted two great examples in the past few months.

First up is Palomino , a “drop-in downtown restaurant” chain with about 10 locations across the country. At the end of each meal, Palomino provides a feedback card with an offer to join an email list for special events and offers. This is not too unusual. What is special is that Palomino asks a single question on the registration form: “What’s you birthday?”

With this information, Palomino sends an email to its customers once per year, about two weeks before this big day. Palomino knows that this is when people start to make plans to get a babysitter and hit the town. It includes a $20 voucher with the email to sweeten the offer, again, knowing that a birthday will result in extra revenue splurges such as dessert and bottle(s) of wine. For the customer, this email comes at the right time with a compelling discount. We customers feel inclined to repay the business that remembered our special day. The cost of putting together this offer is negligible, and the results can be tracked through email clicks and voucher redemptions.

The second example is from a local pizza chain called Donatos. It’s one of several large citywide chains and competes with the big guys such as Papa John’s and Domino’s. As I detailed on my Challenge Dividend blog a few months ago, I was pleasantly surprised one weekend to get a call from the manager of my neighborhood Donatos store. She saw that I placed an order during the past week, and called to ask for any feedback.

I was pretty blown away that a store manager would bother to make such a phone call. This small, focused, and personal effort makes a big difference in my mind when my wife asks me where we should order from on pizza night. I now know that someone appreciates my business and sees that I am important. Further, results of this effort can be tracked by simply looking at whether I order more often in the months ahead.

I love that both of these examples use specific insights to add value to consumers’ lives, they take very little time or money investment, and they are completely measurable back to the original business objective of driving loyalty. So if these guys can do it, what’s holding you back?

In the weeks and months ahead, I will use this space to more fully detail a model for meaningful marketing. One of the features of our model is a grouping of the kinds of meaning that brands can provide. We call one level of meaningful marketing “Connection.” Connection marketing brings consumers closer to brands on a deeper, emotional level. It can be entertainment, experiences, a creative outlet, or social interaction.

Perhaps no product category better exemplifies meaningful connections than beer. Beer brands - and alcohol brands in general - depend on forming personal bonds with the people who drink them. After all, the category does not fulfill a true “need,” we often make beer choices in a social setting, and we tend to form loyalty to brands that reflect who we are (or who we want to be). As a result, great beer marketing is meaningful when it connects us closer to the brand and to others who share the same mind-set.

Recently I’ve come across three examples of beer marketing that hold high meaning for the specific consumers they target. This is the first of a series of three posts on meaningful beer marketing.

First up: Sam Adams

Sam Adams represents a cross between mass and class. It is an “entry point” in the microbrew category that adds higher quality to the traditional mix of nationally advertised brands. The target is likely someone who believes in paying for quality and likes to try new things, but wants a drink that is consistently enjoyable.

A few months ago I personally joined the Sam Adams brand world by purchasing a set of glassware that is specifically designed to maximize the experience of drinking Sam Adams beer. Founder Jim Koch met with a maker of wine glasses and wondered if glassware could do for beer what it has done for wine: Improve the taste and experience. I was already a fan of the brand, but when I read about this glass in Fortune I had to have it. You can see in the diagram below that the glass has several features that are designed to bring out the best in this beer, including laser etching on the bottom that produces a steady stream of bubbles.

I spent $30 for a set of four branded glasses and couldn’t wait to test them out on my own. Sure enough, my experience was excellent. I really do believe that these beer glasses improve the taste experience of the beer - and I won’t use anything else in my basement bar. Further, whenever friends come over and I’m serving drinks, I cannot wait to pour them a Sam Adams into my special glasses so that they can test the taste for themselves. Net, I paid $30 to become an ultra-loyal advocate for Sam Adams. That’s meaningful marketing.

When purchasing these glasses I also chose to opt into the Sam Adams email newsletter. As a digital marketing strategist, I’ve seen a hell of a lot of email newsletters. Many lack focus and feeling - but Sam Adams delivers. The newsletters are focused on the art of craft beers. Of course, there is mention of new seasonal brews that are arriving from the brand. But there is a lot of space dedicated to education about beer ingredients and helpful tips for home brewers. In other words, Sam Adams is driving consumer interest in making their own beer instead of buying Sam Adams. It’s similar to my post a few days ago about Tylenol using ads to help solve headaches without buying the brand. Despite a small risk to lower sales from home brewing, this builds a passion around craft brews and a deeper connection with the Sam Adams brand. It also pays off later in the year with the “Long Shot” home brewing contest, in which two winners get their work turned into a seasonal six-pack. Who wouldn’t want to buy the best homebrew of the year?

Sam Adams deepens its connection to their consumers in the newsletter by introducing a human element. The newsletter is authored by employees Andrew and Bert (pictured below), and shows photos of other employees and brand fans throughout. The personal touch helps a giant mega-brand like Sam Adams still feel like a local microbrew. It even allowed me to instantly forgive the brand when it had a product recall that forced me to pour a few bottles down the drain.

In my next two posts I will share additional examples of meaningful connections in the beer category. In the meantime, pour yourself a cold one and ponder the possibilities for your business.