Problem Definition
Boston Beer Company (BBC) has enjoyed much success with their craft beers with Samuel Adams as their main focus. Being the leader of this segment, overtopping five of their competitors combined (Exhibit 1), the company now must decide how to take advantage of the light beer market. Boston Lightship, their current light beer, had been a small contributor in BBC’s product line. Currently, it is facing dwindling sales with product volumes down from 12 000 cases per month to 3000 cases per month.
Conclusively, BBC needs to make a decision on whether they should continue with their current light beer, Lightship or introduce a new brew. If they continue with Lightship, would more marketing be needed or a reposition in consumer
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Introduce new beer and eliminate Lightship
By eliminating Lightship and introducing a new beer, it will signal to consumers that a real change has occurred with BBC’s product offering. It will show consumers that the new beer is a “fresh and improved” version that is the best in the light beer market. Additionally, it will be able to escape any of the negative connotations Lightship had while on the market. However, this alternative includes high risks, as BBC will be introducing a new product onto the market.
3. Introduce new beer and leave Lightship on the market
This alternative allows BBC to not put all their eggs into one basket as they can explore both options. However, this will mean more financial strain on the company as they need to sustain one product while launching another. As Lightship was not successful in the marketplace, leaving it on the market poses an area of high potential losses. Additionally, by introducing a new beer and leaving Lightship on the market will send contradicting messages to consumers: Lightship is the number one beer on the market… but so is our new beer. This would immediately drive consumers to competitors.
Critical Issues
1. Beer labels: Boston Lightship did not have Samuel Adams
The author chooses t0 write the report about Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light because it is the best-selling beer in the world. In this report the author has outlined in detail the current status by using the SWOT and PESTLE analysis of the company Anheuser-Busch
Cons- It will cost the company $4.69 more per barrel to produce a light beer. There is no guarantee the new product will be a success. It could possible hurt the brand name.
Using clever and borderline juvenile material Bud Light has seen much success in their targeted consumers in American males of the ages 18-49. With great success we believe Bud Light has the potential to increase its reach and share by advancing marketing opportunities to females and exploiting their other product lines. In doing so Bud Light must take a different approach from its perceived masculinity to an all-around and more suitable approach to our female audience.
Consumer demand for robust ale was not being fulfilled with the current beers on the market. In 1991 Jeff Lebesch and his wife Kim started the company out of their basement. They focused on the rich flavor and unique concept. Their focus on social and environmental responsibility has set them apart from brewing companies on the market. Jeff and his wife wanted to promote a product while being innovative and socially responsible. They designed their core values and mission statement while hiking in a national park (Ferrell, 2010). In addition they wanted to promote the brand and corporate citizenship (Ferrell, 2010). Although the product is alcohol they encourage consumers to be responsible. Also, they have sponsored events, dinners and philanthropic causes to help gain consumer loyalty. In 2013, USA named NBB as 6 out of 15 best brewing companies (Franklin, 2013). Also, the company has increased is competitive advantage with is stance on environmental conscience brewing. They were the first brewery to utilize wind power generator, even with an increase cost of .025 per kilowatt (Asher, Bidner and Greene, 2003). Also, they utilize light tunnels, windows and recycled steam to reduce their carbon footprint (Gorski, 2013). In 2002 NBB participated in the LEED-EB pilot program (Ferrell, 2010). Furthermore, the company donates $1 for every barrel of beer sold to each of the 26 states territories and distributed $700,000 in 2012 (What we are about, 2013). Despite
The next project was bottling Gordon Biersch signature beer and retailing it. This had three biggest challenges: this project was entirely Gordon’s baby and demanded time and attention; secondly the freshness of the bottled beer versus the freshly brewed was an issue for which they decided the beer would have a shelf life no longer than three months. Thirdly and the most exciting challenge was the head-to-head competition with other microbreweries and premium beers. Despite the tough competitive environment, Gordon Biersch aimed to achieve 11% of the market in three years (by 1996). This retail venture required huge investment, thus they decided to start small to prove to the investors that they could pull it off.
One of the weaknesses to distributing Coors beer in the two counties is the competition of other domestic and microbrew beers. Although the consumer and retailer willingness to buy Coors beer is high, will they actually purchase Coors beer when it becomes available to them? The questionnaires have strong feedback for Coors beer in the Delaware counties but people may become biased by their customer loyalty to other beer brand. There is a big enough marker share for Coors to be implemented, but will Brownlow be able to succeed in this competitive industry.
This had an adverse affect on the Amsterdam Brewery and other stakeholders too because it had failed to translate into increased sales of the product offsite. The owner got confused to make decision that whether he should continue to focus on building the original products or should keep releasing and promoting new products.
According to Boston Beer Portfolio (1997) showing that Boston Lager and Seasonals have grown by 5% and 10% respectively since 1996. Moreover, if we take a look at Exhibit 7 showing men preferences over regular beer we will see that 45% of weekly servings are SAM (Boston Beer Product). People may rely on their past experience of drinking regular beer by BBC and take a chance to try light beer by the same company, switching from Bud and Amstel to Lightship.
In order to stay on top of the industry, The Boston Beer Company needs to find new, innovative ways of being the most appealing craft beer available to the average consumer. While The Boston Beer Company offers many different varieties of seasonal beer, they should begin to shift their focus to year-round specialty beers, such as a line of regional flavors based on their consumer’s regional taste preferences.
To further decrease the likelihood of cannibalization and to diversify its location offerings and customer base, the memorandum recommends that MMBC launch MMLight into on-premise locations (such as bars and restaurants). Industry observers remark that the crucial consumer segment for beer companies are younger drinkers ages 21-27 years who are not yet loyal to a brand of beer. Women and younger drinkers typically prefer light beer. These groups frequently visit on-premise locations and represent an exciting market for MMBC. For questions or concerns, please feel free to e-mail mducker2@illinois.edu or call 217.381.9578.
Should MMBC introduce a light beer, why and why not? (20 pts) Using the POP/POD framework, how would you position Mountain Man Light if it is launched (in answering this question, be sure to discuss the POPs and PODs of your chosen strategy)? (10 pts) POP: The basic product offering that everyone in the game provided as customers expectation. For Mountain Man Light, it is alcoholic beverage which offers the same product feature like refreshing and thirst quenching. In addition, similar to all beer brands, it has also shared similar characteristics, such as ingredients, relative price, production, product design and package.
New Belgium brewery has increasingly grew throughout the years since their development in 1991. Despite the dominance of the “Big Three” (Budweiser, Miller, and Coors), NBB needs to be aggressive and strive to invest in the attractive beer industry in able to grow more. If positioned correctly, NBB and its main brand, Fat Tire, can continually grow. An evaluation of the industry, the business itself, its brands, and the customers and competitors is needed in order to be continuously successful.
As marketing manager of the RBG business, Ivan Guillen must propose a solution to repair Pillsbury refrigerated baked goods (RGB)’s business performance. Since the refrigerated-cookie product line consisted of 62% of RBG’s unit sales and over 75% of the company’s profits, Guillen found it appropriate to alter this segment in the market. Proposing this idea to GMCC would require Guillen to consider all the challenges he faces. Guillen will have to discover a strategy to increase household penetration since it has fallen to 24% in the past few years. The lack in market penetration has
Competitive brewers will introduce newer styles of beers to meet beer drinkers’ new preferences, more specifically lighter beers. However, both styles will be kept under the same brand
The Excellent Beer and Beverage Distribution (EBBD) was advised that the Kentucky Hooch and Brewing Company (KHBC) would reveal another advancement and promoting effort that would put KHBC’s flagship beer, Kentucky Swamp Brew, in the mind of every college student in the Midwest. We are a notable provider of this brewery, as we give it to the vast majority of our retail clients. . In view of this data, and the habits gathered about college students, EBBD anticipated an increase in orders a few weeks after the advertising campaign hit. I accepted accountability of arranging and estimating all requests from