Case Study: Big Rock

Brand plays a key role in the beer-purchasing process, along with taste, price, special occasion,

     In this paper I will be talking about the U.S. beer industry and in short an overview of the brewing industry worldwide. I will talk about the barriers to entry, economies of scale, government intervention, pricing, current market trends, product differentiation, and imports. The focus being mainly on the U.S. brewing industry oligopoly. The U.S. brewing industry has three major players: Anheuser-Busch, SAB Miller, and Coors/Molson. Anheuser-Busch is currently the largest brewer in the world, producing over 100 million barrels a year. Anheuser-Busch currently owns over 50% of the market in the United States, with Miller trailing behind at 20% and Coors at about 11% with the rest of the market occupied by imports and craft breweries. When analyzing any industry, how easy it is for newcomers to enter the market is a great importance. If there are high barriers to entry

In a world where large, corporate breweries rule the market, craft beer is created to please an audience that applauds the styles, techniques and flavors. Though craft beer can be purchased through several different outlets, the best place to thoroughly enjoy the entire experience of the specially made beer is in the brewery where it was made. The article titled, “In Lean Times, a Stout Dream” in The Wall Street Journal1 states that, despite the hard economic times and consequent consumer cutbacks, sales of craft beer, the industry 's fastest-growing segment, rose

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.

The problems that a small community would face when the major industry closes are significant job disappearances, plunging house values, and huge losses in the community's tax revenue.

The Boston Beer Company, Inc., founded in 1984, is a leading brewer in United States, offering wide variety of high quality full-flavored, handcraftedbeers. It is distinctive due to the time-honored recipe of brewing and authentic, consistent quality of alcoholic beverages. Samuel Adams Boston Lager is the pride of BBC, regular handcrafted beer “stands for quality, inner self-worth, authenticity, and unique New England or Yankee toughness” ( Martin Roper, Chief Operating Officer). Unfortunately, the company experienced the failure of conquering light beer segment

BBC should re-enter the light beer market by first abolishing the Boston Lightship brand. Not only is it an economical burden (fewer than 3,000 cases in sales does not meet the 5,000 cases cut off point), but also its brand image is virtually non-existent, and its product design contrasts with the values of light beer drinkers. While the weak image can be bolstered with increased marketing efforts, a flaw in the product design would be too much to fix. Therefore, a new light brand is proposed.

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.

Kelly Kretz is the marketing manager of Vincor’s refreshment business in Canada. In October of 2005, she is faced with demands of various new product launches. Not only does she have to manage the leading cooler brand portfolio, but also work on Project Twist. The gist of this project entails launching a new alcoholic beverage to the refreshment market. Deciding on the product characteristics, positioning, branding, packaging and distribution strategy is what follows next.

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.

With Mountain Man Beer Company (MMBC) experiencing recent declining sales for the first time in its history representing a 2% loss in revenue the previous year and prospect of continuous decline, Chris is considering launching Mountain Man Light Beer as a brand extension aligned with changes in beer drinkers’ preferences, seeking to maximize market coverage while minimizing brand overlap and at same time avoiding any brand equity damage, as its core consumer segment is quite different from the new targeted consumer segment.

Within the craft beer market, consumers have many products to chose. A product is anything offered within a market that which fulfills a want or need (Armstrong & Kotler, 2015). In 2012, over 1,750 breweries operated in the United States (U.S.), with over 1,920 the following year (Brewers,

Although sales of premium brands have fallen in a steady response to the growing popularity of the craft beer. The industry revenue has been stable over the past 5 years. As a result, from 2011 to 2016 the industry revenue is expected an increase and growth annually at 6.7 percent over the five years,with a total of $39.5 billion . (IBISWorld iExpert) In the long-term, these numbers are expected that grow 0.9 percent annually within the next five years. The potential growth will be seen in the traditional and premium beer sector. As a response, the giant companies in the industry Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors look forward into the merges and acquisitions as a strategy to maintain market dominance. The strategy is based on the

Beer Company 2 is a brewer of “seasonal and year-round beers with smaller production volume and higher prices” that “outsources most of its brewing activity” (pg. 120). It is financially conservative, and has undergone a “major cost-savings initiative to counterbalance the recent surge in packaging and freight costs” (pg. 120).