4 ms·
Some risks to this plan, based on my own (admittedly anecdotal) experience moving in hipster circles. #1. Create your own quasi-craft brands. Definitely the w
by parennoob 11y ago
Some risks to this plan, based on my own (admittedly anecdotal) experience moving in hipster circles.
#1. Create your own quasi-craft brands.
Definitely the worst. I actually don't mind getting an 8-pack of Coors from time to time for parties but I will not touch Blue Moon or Shock Top now because it always sparks off that awful "You know this is fake craft beer right?" conversation.
#2. Snatch up craft brews that’ll sell out.
Not bad, especially if you can keep them mostly the same and avoid plastering your name anywhere on the bottle. Runs the same risks as #1 otherwise.
#3. Defend macro brews, bash craft snobs.
Mostly neutral or high risk. First of all people who are into craft beer don't give a shit about Anheuser-Busch ads during the super bowl. Secondly craft beer has nothing to do with pumpkins.
#4. Control distribution.
This could actually work in the short term, but has high risk of antitrust action.
#5. Merge and overwhelm the marketplace.
I don't know enough about the market to say whether this would work – but I suspect they will blow a lot of money on advertising and not attract enough people.
---
I would like to suggest #6 to these companies:
#6. Draw consumers into your beer
Make a documentary about how it is made. Say the stuff that goes into it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser#The_beer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser#The_beer). A Bud Light can be pretty refreshing during summer. Basically try and do something akin to what PBR did (http://worksdesigngroup.com/pbr-brand-repositioning/ http://worksdesigngroup.com/pbr-brand-repositioning/).
- _delirium 11y agoFor #1, it depends on the audience a lot, I think. I don't think they're even going for the quasi-craft segment in the case of the specific beers you list, but for the summer-on-the-beach crowd (and they're pretty successful in that setting). The intended competitors of Blue Moon aren't craft beers; it's squarely aimed at InBev's Hoegaarden brand, introduced because MillerCoors needed something to compete with InBev in that category.
- corysama 11y agoAlso, I'm starting to see semi-big labels come out with fairly decent original crafty beers such as Sierra Nevada's Narwhal and New Belgium's La Folie. These are definitely not repackaged ShockTop and they are doing a fair job of competing with smaller brews for tap space at beer snob bars.
- jbuzbee 11y agoRegarding #1 - I drink a lot of craft beers. And I also like Blue Moon and couldn't care less what others think. And I have no problem with the big brewers branching out beyond their standard, bland brands and calling it whatever they want. After all these guys have a lot of brewing expertise in house and I think it would be great if they let small teams try out new ideas. As a Colorado guy, I think it would be great to see Coors try out a nice Stout!
- venomsnake 11y ago> "You know this is fake craft beer right?" conversation. - Does it tastes good? - Yes. - So it doesn't matter the origin. Here, solved that problem for you.
- SFLemonade 11y agoI think the origin really does matter to some people. For example, why have farmers markets made such a strong return in the U.S.? Savvy consumers want to support local business and buy products that they know were made ethically and without nasty chemicals, additives, GMOs, etc.
- jlarocco 11y agoTell that to the local, organic, GMO-free food people :-)
- srtjstjsj 11y agoScent affects taste, and scents are easily detected when ones nose is turned up. So much of alcohol preference is in social posturing, not flavor.
- _asummers 11y agoAbout #6: Discovery Channel used to have a show named Brewmasters, which followed Dog Fish Head through a large part of their process, showed what happened when things went bad, etc. However the show was canceled midseason because of pressure from an unnamed "big beer" manufacturer; at the time Budweiser was a major sponsor of Discovery Channel. A shame really, I very much enjoyed that show.