Craft Beer Marketing Research

Despite decades of domination by a few large companies, the American beer market has seen a dramatic resurgence of microbreweries. Contrary to conventional oligopolistic market theories, small firms have consistently gained market share from their entrenched competitors. Researchers have attributed this success to ‘neolocalism.’ Through their marketing, microbreweries appeal to consumers’ desire for connections to real people and distinctive products from local places. However, no study has verified whether this pattern is most characteristic of microbreweries. With newer firms threatening their market share, larger firms might adopt neolocal claims, but little empirical attention has been directed at large brewers, and mid-sized, regional firms have been largely ignored by researchers. This paper uses content analysis of beer packaging to investigate the nature of the appeals made to consumers. I find that while microbreweries do make neolocal claims, regional breweries are more likely to associate their products with places on a local scale. Large breweries make few such claims, but instead rely on ‘reflexive branding’: marketing that refers back to the brand itself rather than borrowing existing symbolism from people or places. These findings partly support the neolocal perspective, but also challenge our expectations of which firms use neolocal appeals the most.

Este trabalho investiga o uso da linguagem na construção cultural da cerveja, através da emergência de suas representações mentais, públicas e culturais. Também são explorados os mecanismos de propagação e disseminação destas representações, construindo um mapeamento do objeto cultural cerveja na sociedade brasileira contemporânea. Através de conceitos da Psicologia, Ciências cognitivas e Pragmática Linguística, são explorados microfenômenos individuais que contribuem para os macrofenômenos sociais, ou movimento culturais amplos relacionados à cerveja. A base teórica da investigação se constrói sobre a Teoria da Relevância e a Epidemiologia das Representações, com aplicação de seus conceitos na exploração do uso da linguagem no direcionamento de comportamentos, próprios e alheios, e interferência na percepção sensorial individual.

Project paper, Executive Master of Management, Norway Business School (BI), summer 2014 (in Norwegian): A marketing analysis of Norwegian craft beer brewery Nøgne Ø, paying special attention to the brand in the wake of major brewery corporation Hansa Borg’s acquisition in the fall of 2013 and the practice of «cultural branding» among craft beer companies. How will the rigid «us-against-them» ethos of the craft beer community against major corporations challenge the Nøgne Ø brand, and how can the brand steer clear of controversy and avoid the ideological craft beer pitfalls of its new ownership? Based on aa qualitative survey among a group of craft beer enthusiasts and theories on different branding approaches, the paper suggests different ways for the Nøgne Ø brand to grow without alienating its core customers.

Esta pesquisa foi desenvolvida ao longo do ano de 2015 apresentando como principal objetivo identificar a possibilidade de desenvolvimento do turismo de experiência entre três cervejarias artesanais da cidade de Curitiba, Paraná. Neste sentido foram estabelecidos como objetivos específicos: verificar o modelo que pode ser seguido, em países que já exploram este segmento, envolvendo o turismo cervejeiro; e identificar quais as experiências cada cervejaria artesanal pode vir a oferecer aos visitantes. Para o desenvolvimento desta pesquisa foram utilizados métodos de pesquisa bibliográfica e estudo de caso. As análises para obtenção de resultados se deram por meio de um emparelhamento entre a teoria e a realidade encontrada nas cervejarias Asgard, Bier Hoff e Bodebrown. O referencial teórico apresenta o conceito de temas como: Turismo, Cerveja e Experiência. E a relação entre a segmentação de turismo de experiência e o turismo cervejeiro. Por fim apresentam-se as considerações finais que respondem à problemática que permeia esta pesquisa: De que maneira o turismo de experiência pode se fazer presente e agregar valor junto às cervejarias artesanais na cidade de Curitiba – PR? Com o embasamento teórico, foi possível concluir que o turismo de experiência se faz presente em serviços oferecidos pelas três cervejarias curitibanas, contudo sem o destaque e a promoção de relevância por parte das marcas. Este estudo descreve detalhadamente quais as experiências que estão em maior evidência em cada uma das cervejarias que são objetos de estudo.

Palavras Chave: Curitiba, Turismo Cervejeiro, Turismo de Experiência

Project paper, Executive Master of Management, Norway Business School (BI), spring 2014: The craft beer trend discussed from three perspectives: customer segmentation, rhetorical approach and credibility. One of the conclusions is that there exists a knowledge barrier between the craft beer trend and regular consumers, having marketing implications for both segmentation and rhetorical approach. The craft beer discourse and its heavy focus on credibility create another such barrier. The paper compares the brewing industry with a relevant shift in polarization between independent record companies and the major companies from the 1970’s and up to today.

Neolocalism has been identified as an important component in the current boom in microbreweries. When constructed actively and consciously, it can also be deployed in marketing as a method of brand-related storytelling. This argument is strengthened here through a case study focusing on Tornio Brewery, a microbrewery located near the southern edge of the Arctic in northern Finland. The qualitative research method used here involves the identification of stories related to neolocalism from the brand narrative composed of media releases, advertisements and other promotional material, in addition to beer names and labels. The themes emerging from this material—history and heritage, Lapland and the Arctic as geographic locations, the use of local ingredients and community involvement, as well as the culture and heritage of northern Finland—are then explored. Neolocalism is shown to provide a rich vein of storytelling that can be used effectively for marketing purposes as a holistic concept. While craft brewers have already explored neolocalism in their marketing efforts, the use of professional assistance in creating all-encompassing and meditated storylines is strongly recommended.

“When vessels of hand-crafted quality beer are touched together and the eyes of the men and women who hold them meet, something magical happens — a long and frustrating day brightens, worries soften, stresses chill, and friends (or soon to be friends) connect, and The Life becomes La Vie.”
Ken Hull, Foreword
The Birth of the Craft Brew RevolutionToday, it is not unusual to enter a bar and find a laundry list of exotic beers on tap or to hear news of a local brew pub or microbrewery opening up. Such was not the case in 1984 (only five years after the legalization of homebrewing) when the editor of the Centre Daily Times approached local lawyer Ben Novak about writing a bi-weekly beer column for the paper. Collected here and available for the first time since their original publication are those newspaper columns, the very first of their kind in the United States. They harken back to a time when only a small American subculture had discovered the endless, delicious possibilities of good beer.

Seeking to introduce his readers to the wondrous variety of the burgeoning “Big Bang” in craft brewing, Novak wrote not only about the many different styles of beer, but also about the people who brewed it. Waiting for you in these pages are lessons on the varieties of beer, accounts of its important role in history (dating back to the time of the Founding Fathers and before) and stories of the brewing pioneers who launched a revolution; all are certain to educate, entertain, and enlighten. Although Novak’s subject is beer, his material has aged more like a fine wine, with most stories and beer reviews still surprisingly relevant today. It can be enjoyed both as a historical text preserving the memory of a time when the craft brew revolution was in its infancy as well as a fun primer on the art of making and enjoying craft beer.

Too often, we fail to see beyond the modern “Animal House” college culture, which teaches only mindless consumption of the cheapest swill, and we do not appreciate the complex social and gastronomical pleasures of good beer. Here is your chance to stop and smell the roses… or hops, if you prefer. Whether you are a certified “beer geek” or just discovering the wide world of beer, you will find “The Birth of the Craft Brew Revolution” as satisfying as the best porter, stout, or lager.

Orientador : Profa. Dra. Elena GodoiTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Humanas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Letras. Defesa: Curitiba, 24/06/2015Inclui referências : f. 225-231Área de concentração : Estudos linguísticosResumo: Este trabalho investiga o uso da linguagem na construção cultural da cerveja, através da emergência de suas representações mentais, públicas e culturais. Também são explorados os mecanismos de propagação e disseminação destas representações, construindo um mapeamento do objeto cultural cerveja na sociedade brasileira contemporânea. Através de conceitos da Psicologia, Ciências cognitivas e Pragmática Linguística, são explorados microfenômenos individuais que contribuem para os macrofenômenos sociais, ou movimento culturais amplos relacionados à cerveja. A base teórica da investigação se constrói sobre a Teoria da Relevância e a Epidemiologia das Representações, com aplicação de seus conceitos na exploração do uso da linguagem n...