Just over four years ago, Atlantic Media Company launched Quartz as a mobile-first publisher specifically targeted to those people who consume breaking economic news and analysis via their phones (read: everyone).
The parent company, which owns The Atlantic in addition to The National Journal and other publications, started Quartz with help from sponsors Boeing, Chevron, Cadillac, and Credit Suisse; as it grew it also collaborated with several New York agency partners including KBS, MEC and Media Kitchen. These shops worked on ads appearing on Quartz products like its email newsletter, its chat app, and its website qz.com.
Tomorrow, Quartz will celebrate its anniversary by letting those agencies know how much it appreciates their work via the one universal currency: beer! (Also, economic news trivia.)
Quartz developed this sudsy surprise at Bitter & Esters, a New York company that allows customers to brew their own custom beers. It also designed the packaging (labels, bottle caps and six-pack holders) in-house and planned a multi-agency “pub crawl” to help its partners share in the fun.
“We thought beer would be a fitting way to spread cheer both internally at Quartz and externally with our partners, and it was fun to create the global economy-themed branding,” said a company spokesperson. “Agencies on Madison Avenue and beyond should be on the lookout for the series of ‘agency crawls’ that we’re kicking off this Friday. Representatives from our sales and marketing teams will be bringing cases of the Daily Brew and Yellen’s Obsession, along with accompanying snacks and festivities—including a special-edition Quartz cocktail guide that lucky trivia winners will receive as a prize.”
There are two varieties of brew: pale ale Yellen’s Obsession, named for Federal Reserve chairman Janet Yellen, and Oktoberfest Quartz Daily Brew, which references the aforementioned email newsletter.
We should have more content related to this event tomorrow. In the meantime, here is Shutterstock’s approximation of the festivities and their aftermath.
