Old Wisconsin is a family-owned sausage company from the heart of Wisconsin that believes everyone should experience the authentically handcrafted, hardwood-smoked flavor of Wisconsin. This summer, the company custom-built a mobile pedal-powered Smokehouse that hit the streets of Chicago, Illinois, to bring the big flavors of Wisconsin to the big city and generate consumer trial.

Old Wisconsin is leveraging the mobile Smokehouse to bolster its marketing efforts and drive brand and product awareness with consumers.

“At Old Wisconsin, we operate under the notion that tasting is believing,” said Jeff Weber, national brand manager at Old Wisconsin. “There is a common misconception that meat snacks are only what you eat when you have change left in your pocket or a moment to spare. The mobile Smokehouse was a perfect way to engage with our audience in an authentic way, place the product in consumers’ hands, generate trial, and review and leverage word of mouth to spread brand messaging.”

Old Wisconsin took the Smokehouse to the streets of Chicago in search of people in need of a protein pick-me-up — from parks to outdoor concerts, bars or wherever there was activity, Old Wisconsin was there to deliver a tasty snack packed with nourishing protein and the divine, signature Old Wisconsin smokehouse flavor.

The mobile Smokehouse featured a one-of-a-kind experience with rustic wooden planks, a functioning wood-burning smokestack and an experience inside that transported big city slickers to the Northwoods of Wisconsin with the sights and sounds of nature surrounding them. Once inside, consumers had the chance to taste a variety of products, which included: bites and sticks, summer sausage, Natural Cut™ and Big Smokey varieties.

Consumers loved the taste of the Old Wisconsin products, and their reactions were captured and turned into branded “Tastemonial” videos that will be featured in a variety of ad formats this fall, including :15, :30 and :60 pre-roll, mid-roll and in-video banner ads on Hulu, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, and in eight high-priority markets: Minneapolis, Chicago, Grand Rapids, Tampa, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Des Moines and Milwaukee.

The Old Wisconsin Smokehouse made its first event appearance at the 16th Packers Family Night on July 31 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and through the end of October, the Smokehouse will continue to make stops at select events throughout the Midwest.

To learn more and to view the Tastemonial videos, visit www.YouTube.com/DiscoverOldWisconsin.

Source: Old Wisconsin/Carl Buddig Co.