Zaarly founder wins over TechNW panel with free beer

Here’s one of the more unique promotional gimmicks we’ve seen in some time.

Prior to the start of the e-commerce panel at the WTIA’s TechNW event this afternoon, Zaarly co-founder and chief marketing officer Eric Koester used the location-based service to have a Zaarly member deliver a six pack of beer to the stage as a way of demonstrating the service as he described it to the crowd.

The panelists cracked open the bottles of Pike IPA, and enjoyed themselves along the way. Maybe the suds helped drive the discussion forward, with plenty of chatter about the use of Facebook in e-commerce and, strangely, a long discussion of celebrity endorsements. Zaarly happens to be backed, in part, by actor Ashton Kutcher.

Zaarly lets users request items and tasks by location over the web and a mobile app.

What better way to showcase the service — and win over the fellow panelists — than a beer delivery to the stage?

Koester told us afterward that he paid $40 for the six-pack and delivery, saying that he had no idea who provided the service.