Brew Blog

Hats off to Brew friends Nate and Nikki Weiner. This team recently re-branded the popular Read it Later app as a new, improved and free app named Pocket!

Why do we love Pocket? Pocket stores and gives you access to the content you want on any of your devices, from phones to TVs, tablets and computers, in one place. When you find an interesting article, video or web page, but don’t have time to view it, you can save the URL to Pocket, and the list of content will be visible on any device. While Read It Later was previously a paid app, now Pocket’s Android, iOS and Kindle Fire apps are free.

Pocket also lets you mark content from over 300 apps–including Flipboard, Twitter, Pulse, and Zite. With the new version of Pocket, users will see a new, cleaner UI, as well as filters for video, image and text content. Pocket has also added new organizational tools for content, so users can favorite content, tag content with categories and keywords.

The evolution from Read it Later to the new Pocket is a great success story in understanding what users are looking for in an app, and making it simple through design.

Congratulations to our long time friends Nate, Nikki, and the entire team at Pocket!

Recently, we released another film for Red Wing Shoes that detailed their Big Boot, which is certified as the world’s largest boot by the Guinness Book of World Records at a size 638 ½ D. Learn all about the process to build the 20 ft long and 7 ft wide boot here.

With all the films we have executed for Red Wing Shoes, we strive to let the heritage and authenticity of the brand speak for itself. Recently, James Careless of Onlinevideo.net profiled our film series and detailed how this tactic has enabled Red Wing to connect with their fans in the 21^st century while staying true to authenticity.

By being mindful of the brand’s heritage, our marketing approach for Red Wing has gleaned genuine results for the brand. Maurice McClurg, Red Wing’s marketing manager, elaborates on the success by stating “We typically see a 20 to 30 percent increase in website visits within two days of releasing a new video. There is a clear linkage: Our videos drive website traffic, which builds interest in the brand and, ultimately, helps drive sales stores that sell Red Wing Shoes.”

We have enjoyed working with Red Wing Shoes and helping them tell their great story, which as James Careless says, “nothing sells like the truth.”

Read the full article at Onlinevideo.net.

We’ll be sharing new films for the brands in coming months, so stay tuned.

As 2012 draws near, we look forward to all that the new year has in store for us.

While we originally released this video in 2008, we believe our message of hope still resonates in these times. And, let’s face it, there’s some good humor in here too.

Make your own message of hope and share it with your loved ones during this wonderful time of year.

From all of us at Brew, happy holidays!

The latest film for the Red Wing Shoe Company is not about their product or their company as prior films were. Yet, the story of this monumental task assumed by a handful of men and women is all about the company values. The Crazy Horse Monument – Five Against the Mountain film reflects the pride, passion and commitment to excellence that modern craftsmen dedicate their lives to, and that is the basic premise upon which Red Wing Shoes builds its reputation.

The film and others can be viewed at the Red Wing Shoes website at: http://www.redwingshoes.com/red-wing-video-series

This week, we released another video in the Red Wing film series. This film, entitled Product Testing,  illustrates the process required to ensure that Red Wing boots protect workers from occupational hazards and dramatic risks they may encounter on job sites. It profiles the lab technicians who make certain that component materials and finished products meet or exceed industry standards and uphold the Red Wing’s reputation for producing high quality, purpose-built work footwear. The craftsmanship and devotion of company employees is relayed when lead lab technician, Eric Schulz says “I test everything here along the lines that I’m going to be wearing this product or my friends and family wear this product.”

Today we’re releasing the latest video in the Red Wing film series. This short film profiles a 110-year old original chain-stitching machine that has been maintained with respect and love by generations of employees. Quite simply, they just don’t make them like that anymore. As told by the men and women who have spent decades perfecting their skill, this machine is used to achieve the signature triple stitch which adds strength to Red Wing products and indicates you’re wearing a premium-quality Red Wing boot.

While staying true to their authentic American brand heritage, Red Wing is tapping into the new media landscape beginning with a series of online videos that highlight the premium work boot story through the eyes of their employees.  We strived to portray the spirit, heritage, craftsmanship and teamwork story that is unique to Red Wing Shoes.

Special thanks to Dave Damman, the creative director on this project, Patrick Pierson, our talented director and editor, along with the film crew from Token Media.

Shoe Repair – “We’re not a throw away society.”

The Factory

The Tannery

Once again, Brew is doing our part to support the Ivey Awards: The celebration of Twin Cities theater that will take place at the State Theater in September. It’s one of the few true red carpet events in Minnesota (not that we’re the red carpet types). This year we’re continuing the theme we began last year: The juxtaposition of the elegant Ivey award winners on the red carpet against a backdrop of iconic Minnesota locations. Featured here is Dudley Riggs, the grandfather of Minnesota comedy theater and last year’s lifetime achievement award winner. Again, it was a collaboration between Brew and photographers William Clark (the portraits) and Lucas Saugen (the environments). Lucas artfully pieced the two images together. The images will be used in magazine advertising, outdoor, posters and will again be the theme for the event. Speaking of William, he will be co-directing a very cool video/commercial for a very cool car brand that we’ll be producing in August. Stay tuned for that and more Ivey’s executions.