Sleeman taps Mint as its social AOR

Canada’s third-largest brewery has tapped Toronto creative shop Mint to lead its social efforts.

Sleeman has named Mint as its AOR for social platforms, with a particular emphasis placed on elevating its presence across Instagram and Facebook through innovative content, social management and “craftier thinking,” according to Ashley White, VP at Mint.

“We are so excited to be partnering with one of Canada’s favourite breweries, helping them create content strategies that both respond to, and build culture,” White adds.

The brand has a “bold and audacious history,” as White puts it.

Though Sleeman itself was founded in the late 1980s, the Sleeman family was active during the Prohibition Era, including working with bootleggers to export their product south of the border into Michigan. A tax dispute with the Canadian parliament shut the family business down in the 1930s and the family’s license to brew beer was revoked for 50 years.

Once that revocation was up, the brand was revived by family scion John W. Sleeman, and it quickly grew to become one of the most successful in the category before it was purchased by Japanese brewing company Sapporo Breweries in 2006 for $400 million.

Mint plans to leverage its history “to stand apart and lead with a way of thinking that’s ahead of the curve” on social, says White.