BMC craft beer strategy

they already have bourbon county.... they've already won...

 

I read something about this kind of marketing strategy - limited time only yadayada stuff. Taco Bell does it all the time (Doritos Locos Taco, Spicy Crunch Wrap Burrito, etc). They hype it up, sell a crapload of whatever for a short period of time, then rotate in something else. Those that choose to eat the stuff rush in like moths to a flame. The sales volume spike is like ridiculously astronomical, but then sort of fades. They swap out before the volume falls and bring in the "next big thing". Creates a constant "splash" in the eyes of consumers - new adds, new hype. Of course that pisses off all the people who've gotten themselves addicted to whatever and creates the "repeat hype" for the next cycle. Sales volume, store traffic, and trial and repeat purchasers, maybe take a hit on margin, so I am told. Golden Arches has it nailed - McRib "availability" cycles with pork rib meat (allegedly) prices, for example, so that is buy low/sell high strategy to maintain margin, plus the billions and billions served. You don't see them during the summer when everybody is grillin'...

So why wouldn't any brewery (macro, micro, whatever) try the same strategy? Seems to me I've read a bunch of stuff about people lining up and camping out to get a limited release beer. Thinking like Kate the Great as an extreme - where you can be one of the "exclusive few" who have had it (no offense to the exclusive few is intended). BCBS variants, maybe a less extreme example? There is also the idea that when the limited release isn't available, you'll probably buy something else. It builds brand awareness - well, I can't get "that" right now, but they have "this". Plus the subliminal message that if it is a limited release it must be good.

The BMC folks might be trying a strategy called "good, better, best" where they have products ranging from swill to something that might be marginally almost maybe halfway decent. Seeing that a lot lately, and we've been shown examples from hotel chains to designer watches (I think it was Tag Hauer that also makes Swatch...I forget). Now, for BMC this might amount to putting a different label on the same pee, but the idea makes sense. Range of products at different price points for different target audiences. OK...AB/Inbev bought Goose Island, but just for argument's sake actually leaves them alone and doesn't change the brew but does a bang up job with distribution...hmmm... Bud Light to Goose Island is quite the range...they wanted to add a "best" category to their portfolio (ok...let the flaying being).

I think seasonal is a little different. That has some understandable logic to it - I'm not drinking a shandy during the winter and probably not drinking a big ol' RIS in the summer while I'm mowing my lawn. But that is about extending the product line and offering different products for different "consumption occassions" to meet different "need states" and "balancing volume turns with the right product mix"... I work in a food/beverage company and a little of the jargon has been assimilated...marketing group is like the Borg. But it is all about providing a range of products that the consumer is going to purchase frequently and in enough volume to make money - brand awareness and product availability for any consumption occasion.

And really...who are we kidding? Even the most altruistic brewery on the planet is still in it to make money. Might be founded on the most noble intentions, but at the end of the day it's business and money.

OK...rant mode off...hope there was something useful buried in there.

 

Yep, and they're already doing it. People should start requesting brands at their local stores, put pressure on the retailer. No one wants to lose sales. I shop mostly at bottle shops so it's not usually a problem, but I know a lot of grocers will bring in particular items if you ask. Ultimately they wan't to make you happy and keep you coming back (and spending your money). The only way things will change is if you vote with your dollar and keep voicing your opinion.

 

Brewed and sold by AB/InBev now

 

So wait... you can see A-B brewers in Chicago? All the way from Jersey?

Lame.

 

The brewmasters pack was a competition to select the beer that would end up as Budweiser Black Crown. It's not bad. All malt, low hop bitterness, cheap.

 

You can keep saying Lame. It doesn't make the fact that Goose Island is now AB/InBev any less true.
You may not care and you may choose to drink it anyway. But it doesn't make BCBS any less of an AB/InBev product.

And saying Lame makes you sound like an insolent teenage girl

 

I found it funny, lighten up.

 

All of the brewers at Goose Island came up through the original Chicago brewery. All of the beers have been developed by people who want to brew good beer. You may not care and you may choose not to drink it, but don't discount the fact that it's good beer and not (yet anyway) affected by a long-distance ownership.

As has been pointed out by others, it's the way A-B got themselves into micro-brewing without attempting some swill brewed alongside Bud. They couldn't beat 'em, why not join 'em.

I figured you (and Capt. Awesome (that's not teeny-bopper?)) didn't know the definition of asinine.

 

I'll bet you find a lot of things funny that most people wouldn't, don't you?

Any time someone tries to play the A-B card with Goose Island anymore it's just plain lame. It's been hashed over and nothing has been proven. Goose Island still makes good beer and until they don't I can't see pointing a finger at A-B like some boy who cried wolf.

 

He has a real hard on for GI....

 

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.



Getting so freaking old.

 

One'a those, eh?

 

Old and... c'mon, say it with me now... lame.

 

Goose Island does still make tremendous beer, but that doesn't mean some won't take major issue with their new ownership. Some do, you don't. No biggie. I think citing GI's offerings as Inbev's seasonals actually makes sense in a way. Inbev is trying to get the craft dollar, so they are buying up craft breweries that are willing to sell. As such, any seasonal by a craft company Inbev owns is an Inbev seasonal nonetheless. That certainly doesn't make Sofie "macro swill" but it will keep those who don't want to support Inbev away nonetheless.

 

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.

We get it. You don't like ABInbev or GI and you will not drink BCBS.


You and the other guy need to stop doing this in every damn thread. GOod lord - WE GET IT.

Every thread that even MENTIONS BMC - you have to bring up and bash GI. I am beginning to think you two are some sort of paid shills for some company. Do you think this is going to bring anyone to your "cause"? It won't - it just annoys the crap out of people. Everyone knows GI was bought out. People either care, or they don't.

 

Couldn't I just as easily say "We get it, you like ABInbev and GI and drink BCBS."

Isn't everyone's opinion welcome, or is it just those that agree with you? Additionally, unless your name is Todd or Jason, I am pretty sure you're not in a position to suggest what is and what is not OK in the forums.

Some people have different opinions than you. You may want to get used to it.

 

No, you couldn't easily say that, because I am not in 500 threads saying the same thing as you are.

It isn't about opinions at this point - you are just spamming the boards with diatribes.

It isn't your opinion that is is the problem, it is you saying the same damn thing 50x a day, over and over, carbon copy.

 

Dude, relax. Are you the police of the boards? If you don't want to read what I write, don't. I am not stealing this thread, or diverting it in any way, I am chiming in with some of my thoughts. My opinion on this matter is consistent, so when the topic comes up repeatedly, as it does, you're going to see me respond in a similar way. That doesn't make me a spammer. I wouldn't accuse someone of going on constant diatribes about Heady Topper when they talk about it's excellence in multiple threads.

If you want to participate in the conversation, by all means feel free, but if your contribution is simply going to be "we get it, stop talking" then I am afraid I am not going to be able to accommodate you.

Pick your fight somewhere else.

 

If you stop and think right there, this is probably the most rational thought about it all.

I've been into good beer for a long time, probably longer than many here at BA. Even back at the dawn of the Micro Age® people who enjoyed better beer would say, "I know A-B is big and can probably make good beer, and if they dis I'd drink it." Me included. Well, they don't seem to want to make the sort of beer we all like, but they seem willing to pay others to do so. And the fact that Goose Island is pretty successful, and profitable, it's difficult for me to believe A-B would do anything stupid to shoot themselves in the foot.

Bottom line is, if it's well-made, why not support it rather than scoff at it.