Marketing Plan for Sierra Nevada Brewery

New Belgium Brewing Co. (NBB) is a craft beer leader that embraces sustainability and corporate responsibility. For New Belgium, social, ethical, and environmental responsibilities are as important to the company’s operations as profitability. For New Belgium, business is as much about improving the local community as it is about making beer.

Marketing plan is always based on information regarding product, customers, market and competitors. The best way to analyze all this information is through a SWOT analysis. SWOT stand for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This analysis takes into account both internal and external factors, internals being strengths and weakness, and external being opportunities and threats (Kotler & Keller, 2009).

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

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

In 2014, Hewlett Packard’s (HP’s) headquarters in Palo Alto, California partnered with SolarCity, a clean renewable energy solar provider, to outfit their headquarters with over 4,000 solar panels (Canales, 2014, para. 1). HP, a 75-year plus veteran of international technologies, understands the importance of creating and investing in sustainable solutions throughout its value chain. HP states: “We set bold targets to lead the IT sector. We are committed to sourcing 50% renewable electricity for our operations by 2025 and reducing operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 25% compared to 2015,” (“Living Progress,” 2017, para. 5). This commitment is not limited by HP to their products and services, but extends to, literally, their work environment. A small, but significant step to demonstrating this belief, is their project of installing solar panels over the heads of their top decision makers. “… [The] 1 megawatt system… is expected to offset more than 20 percent of HP’s current power usage onsite… [the] installation is expected to help HP reduce its utility power costs by approximately one million dollars over the next two decades,” (Canales, 2014, para. 1). To a company that earned a net income of 3.1 million in 2016 (“Cash Flow,” 2017) one

Earlier in this class I had put together a power point presentation to the Board of Directors of

Project: Alternative Energy Organization: City of Seattle, Washington Requestor/Sponsor: MAYORS NAME City of Seattle Mayor

Like states above, one of the changes made in the past couple years had been the addition of solar panels on top of the campus cafeteria. Although they’re small, it’s a step into the right direction towards renewable energy powering

The second part will present the SWOT analysis based on internal and external environment. The last section is to set the marketing objectives for developing the marketing strategies.

New Belgium Brewing strives to reduce it’s impact on the environment. NBB invested in a wind turbine, making it the first fully wind powered brewery in the United States. NBB has also incorporated a steam condenser that captures and reuses hot

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.

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,

Table Of Contents 1.0 2.0 3.0 Introduction Executive Summary Situation Analysis 3.1 Identification Of The Problem 3.2 Market Analysis 3.3 SWOT Analysis 3.4 Target Market Marketing Communication Strategy 4.1 Marketing Communication Plan/Objectives 4.2 Marketing Budget 4.3 Schedule for Key Marketing Communication Activities 4.4 Promotional Strategies 4.4.1 Advertising Strategies 4.4.2 Promotion and Public Relations 4.4.3 Sales Force 4.4.4 Comprehensive Support Program 4.5 Product Strategies 4.6 Distribution Strategies 4.7 Pricing Strategies 4.7.1 Potential Customer 4.7.2 Sales Forecast 4.7.3 Return on Investment (ROI) Conclusion

Based in St. Louis, Missouri, Anheuser-Busch is the leading American brewer. The company is one of the largest theme park operators in the United States, a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and one of the world’s largest recyclers of aluminum cans. Our diverse background also includes malt production, rice milling, real estate development, turf farming, label printing and transportation services.

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).