To mark the 150th anniversary of brewing giant Beck’s, the German brewery is the latest on the AI bandwagon with a celebratory beer brewed, packaged and marketed using the on-trend technology.
Beck’s Autonomus, which will be exclusively available across the UK, Germany and Italy from 1pm tomorrow, is described as “an experiment with the latest pioneering technology – AI.” The Brewer goes on: “Harnessing its ability to collate years of human expertise, craft and creativity, Becks has produced the world’s first beer and full marketing campaign made with AI, Beck’s Autonomous. Becks Autonomous is one of the first completely machine-created beers in the world.”
The AI brew isn’t the first Beck’s first. The brewer also lays claim to the title of first to employ green bottles for its brews, first to export them in steel kegs, the first ever six-pack and even sending the first UV-protected bottles into space.
Beck’s used ChatGPT and Midjourney to design the beer, branding and marketing, requesting the technology led all editing and continued development based on its intelligence until a final version was given.
With the ability to develop delicious flavours at lightning speed, Beck’s gave AI the challenge of creating the perfect recipe. Drawn from millions of different flavour combinations, the final product is “a futuristic concoction of water, malts, hops, yeast,” and AI, obviously.
After naming the beer, Beck’s Autonomous, creating a custom logo, and designing its state-of-the-art container, Beck’s worked with AI to prepare all of the assets for its campaign. It generated imagery and a revolving 360 video of the newly developed container to showcase the limited-edition Beck’s Autonomous in all its glory. The campaign will now roll out across print, Out of Home and social media, with AI technology leading the creative process for all assets.
The final task given to the technology was to help Beck’s bring its revolutionary beverage to consumers. The AI helpfully generated a microsite where customers in the three selected markets can grab a bottle of the hi-tech brew, but they’ll have to be quick – Beck’s is releasing just 450 cans of the birthday beers across all three markets.
In a statement that may or may not have been generated by AI, Laura Salway, marketing director at Becks, said: “It’s been fascinating to see Beck’s Autonomous come to life and how we can continue to embrace new technology in the industry and across brand communications. At Beck’s we know it takes the passion of our brewers and people to make this beer that is enjoyed over the world, and we believe the multi-channel campaign for the revolutionary beer still connects with people on a human-level, despite being created and led by AI. We hope beer-fans across Europe snap up and enjoy Autonomous as a truly revolutionary drink.”
