Maybe Samuel Adams was onto something by advertising their “smallness?” I just read about another brand taking a similar “we want to be small” approach.
MillerCoors has recently launched a new brand, Colorado Native, to be produced in small quantities, and marketed solely through online and digital channels. The beer will initially be launched in Colorado only, with expansion following. MillerCoors is hoping the lack of traditional advertising will make consumers feel as if they “discovered” the beer, similar to how MC brand Blue Moon gained popularity.
Colorado Native has also used a unique, digital-based approach to gathering information about its consumers. Using a mobile phone’s camera, consumers can take a picture of the SnapTag on the logo, and send it to Colorado Native. This will provoke a series of questions about their activities, interests and opinions, and the information will be used to create future communications for each specific Colorado Native customer. For example, if I sent the SnapTag logo to Colorado Native and answered the questions, I would probably get emails/texts about deals surrounding major sporting events (like last night’s NCAA title game).
This approach will create an outstanding experience for Colorado Native drinkers (assuming the beer tastes fine) for two reasons. First, the information they are gathering is willingly provided by the consumer. They aren’t forced or tricked into providing it, so the brand will have a chance to interact directly with consumers who are genuinely interested in the brand. The early adopters of this communication will likely turn into brand advocates, which are extremely valuable for a brand that’s putting all of its eggs in the word-of-mouth basket.
Second, the end-game really is a better experience for the consumers. They are rewarded with discounted beer and information related to their own interests for simply texting about themselves for a couple minutes. If Colorado Native were to send out these discounts on Friday and Saturday afternoons (or whenever beer is purchased most), it could be very effective in driving sales. This approach would be a stark contrast to Amazon, who emails their account holders daily with book suggestions. As much as I would like to buy a book every day, it’s not realistic. If brands or companies are going to use this approach, find out when individuals purchase your products, and send the offers around those times.
I’ll leave my questions for how they plan to grow their brand outside of Colorado for a later date.
..for Boston Beer Co. and its Samuel Adams brand. The Sam Adams brand name has outgrown its sales and they would like to return to the small town feeling they once had. Rather than push a new beer or reduce their advertising, Sam Adams has chosen to highlight its own shortcomings. Like their 0.9% market share.
Small typically isn’t a good thing, but could be a valuable approach when trying to differentiate. Think about how many beer ads you see on a daily basis. Miller Lite, Bud Light, Coors Light, great taste less filling, drinkability, it’s really cold. Beer advertising is dominated by humorous ads that are borderline offensive (if not blatantly crossing that line), and directed at younger, primarily male consumers. If Sam Adams doesn’t want to be associated with made up words and goofy ads, then by all means try and get that “small shop” feel back.
However, market share may not be the best way to regain that appeal. When consumers realize they have over estimated Samuel Adams’ market share by that much, they could begin to think they have over estimated its quality as well. This would cause Samuel Adams’ “we’re still a nice, small, friendly brewery” message to be misinterpreted as “hey, we’re actually not that big, successful brand you thought we were.” Simply put, small + successful = good and exclusive. Small + unsuccessful + telling everybody about it = not so smart.
I believe Samuel Adams would be much better served by using their ads to reassure consumers of their quality, like the ad below. The majority of their ads feature Jim Koch, their Founder and President, and that speaks volumes towards their size and culture as a company. I also feel the brand may have misdiagnosed their problem, and may have to leave their comfort zone to solve it.
Samuel Adams is proud of its Boston origins, as shown by its Boston Ale beer, but that really limits the market you can immediately relate to. Sales for their “Boston Ale” beer are probably highest in the Boston area because people in Boston would like to drink a “Boston beer.” Consumers in Chicago probably aren’t big fans of the Boston Ale because “Boston” may not appeal to them. If Sam Adams wanted to build community and drive sales simultaneously, couldn’t they change the names of the beer to match the area it’s distributed to? If Samuel Adams sold the same beer in Illinois with the name “Chicago Ale,” I’d be willing to bet its sales would be higher than “Boston Ale.”
While that may appear far-fetched at first glance, think about your own purchasing behavior. I know I’m more likely to purchase items that I can relate to or reflect me as a person, and I don’t think purchasing beer is any different.
What do you think of Samuel Adams’ “small” ads? Does it make you feel like they’re more customer-oriented?
