Developing a data-driven marketing plan for a craft beer company

An American Beer manufacturer named Liberty Brew, established in Ohio just 2 years ago, is now considering an expansion into a new market: Montgomery County, MD. The quality of the new product is considered to be higher than average.

The Data-Driven-Innovation team was asked to provide an action plan for the ‘Go to Market strategy’ of Liberty Brew.

Therefore, the team decided to divide the methodology into two main parts.

First, the team delved deeply into the analysis of the market and competitors: alcoholic beverages in Montgomery County (Maryland), the persona of the target consumers, and methods to sell the product.

The second part consisted of planning a ‘Go to Market strategy’, based on the takeaways of part one.

Additionally, design thinking was applied to take advantage of an empathetic approach. After that, the team focused on an appealing proposal to make the future consumers enthusiastic about Liberty Brew‘s new product.

The project aimed to highlight the breakthroughs that data analysis skills are able to provide in terms of useful insights. The final proposal unveiled the potentialities of mixing an analytical approach, which is data-based, and creativity.

Introduction

An analysis of the total number of cases of each alcoholic product (beer, wine, liquor, kegs) sold by month from 2017 to 2020 aimed to determine the dominant product of the market and the period of the year to initiate the proposed marketing strategy in correlation with major American holidays and events.

MARKET ANALYSIS

The team investigated similar profiles to Liberty Brew’s company, trying to anticipate and overcome any potential difficulties. For instance, we have detected two factors to consider the re-launch of BrewDog’s products.

On the one hand, starting from 2020, the company has been facing a steady decline in sales.

On the other hand, the rate of adoption of e-commerce retail has been following a positive trend, and future projections confirm that this trend is not ready to stop. For this reason, the team thinks that BrewDog should set up its own e-commerce platform.

However, for a successful launch, it’s crucial to address the primary reasons for shoppers to abandon their digital carts. In particular, the most relevant pain points are high shipping costs, buggy discount codes, and long shipping times.

DESIGN THINKING

An analysis of the age distribution and of the median household income by county in Maryland identifies the persona of the target consumers of our product to be wealthier, established professionals in the age range of 25 to 54 years of age.

TARGET PERSONA

COMPETITORS ANALYSIS

Heineken USA, Crown Imports, Miller Brewing Company, and Anheuser-Busch Inc. have dominated Montgomery County’s beer market from 2017 and 2020. The top ten selling products, primarily 12 oz bottles, belong to these competitors and highlight features such as varied bottle pack sizes (24, 18, singles) and a preference for light beers in cans. Understanding these trends is crucial for product design and pricing strategies.

Liberty Brew's target persona is a wealthier consumer, which helps them break into this new market, which is more costly, by enabling them to increase the price slightly above average. Additionally, the team will leverage the psychological pricing ending in 9. The team also plans on mimicking popular features from flagship competitors, such as large-necked bottles and similar packaging size parity with 18 and 24 PK options. Finally, a later market expansion will introduce a cost-effective light beer in cans to appeal to diverse price points.

MARKETING STRATEGY PROPOSAL

Liberty Brew’s beer will be distributed through warehouses and retail outlets but additionally, they will offer their product via e-commerce on the official Liberty Brew website. Indeed, there is a significant post-COVID-19 trend towards increased online shopping. Integrating an e-commerce platform on the website will enable them to establish a direct and efficient Business-to-Consumer (B2C) channel, expand their reach to a wider consumer base, and allow them to gather valuable consumer behavioural data to inform data-driven decision-making. The team’s proposal for the product promotion strategy unfolds through a meticulously planned three-phase approach, which follows.

The dominant product sold is beer, and the analysis indicates that the ideal timeframe to introduce Liberty Brew’s new beer to the Montgomery County market is from April through June, given the increase in alcohol sales in this period. The marketing strategy will extend through July, coinciding with the major American holiday Independence Day (July 4), which contributes to the heightened alcohol sales.

Announcement and Preliminary Social Media Promotion

Liberty Brew will officially announce their product on April 7th, coinciding with National Beer Day. The initial campaign will focus heavily on leveraging social media, where local influencers will be engaged to enhance the product’s visibility. Additionally, Liberty Brew will promote a subscription option for online purchases, offering incentives like free shipping for recurring customers to foster loyalty and boost preliminary sales.

Official Launch and Welcome Events

Liberty Brew’s market launch would be set for May, specifically during the week dedicated to American Craft Beer. For this occasion, the team is organizing two main events in Gaithersburg: a music festival and a networking event. These events are designed to create a fun and engaging environment where attendees can taste Liberty Brew’s beer for the first time, facilitating positive word-of-mouth through network effects.

Conclusion

This is just a summary of the work done. Feel free to reach out for more insights and here is the download to the poster used for Luiss UNLEASH 2024.

Consolidation and Ongoing Presence

Following the launch, Liberty Brew’s beer will consistently appear at local festivals and other events, becoming an integral part of their brand experience. This includes participation in established festivals such as self-guided brewery tours and outdoor music events, thereby strengthening brand image and maintaining consumer interest over time.