Boston Beer Case
2.
Boston Beer showed a promising growth as a company with a dozen reps in 1989 to a company going public in 1995, which was considered to have made a mark in the specialty brewing business. It successfully changed the consumer preferences from cheaper beers made by large breweries to expensive specialty brewers within its niche. With their variety of crafted beer, Boston Beer captured a niche market and proved itself a number of times by winning numerous competitions for its best taste. It placed itself correctly in the market and with rightly target advertising campaigns with captured its target audience, therefor following the 4 P’s rightly. With a portfolio so strong it was only fair for investors to see a potentially successful venture …show more content…
in Boston Beers. I think it wouldn’t fair of a company with such a small start and operations to show profit so fast but it did show a steady growth. So I think Jim Koc proved to be a great executive who made profits in spite of competition from major brewer’s in his niche market.
Boston Beers had a Controlled growth approach where it controlled its expansions by not over extending its resources and took a more conservative approach.
But later it took steps to change its strategy from using other micro breweries to owning its own breweries which made its profits go down but as with any growing company it slowly made its way up. Now although it looked like it couldn’t keep up with the initial stock price but its controlled growth approach helped it have good profit during the year 2007 and ultimately showed great profits (increase in stock price to $ 109 by 2010) to those investors who kept faith and stood along by building a financially strong company. Also on a different note most investors with diversified portfolios generally make sure to invest in companies only after they see a trend in its stock …show more content…
prices.
4.
Retailers are often faced with beer going sour with the increasing time lag between production and consumptions. The problem of maintaining the freshness of the beer is often critical where foreign brewers started adding more preservatives to keep their beers fresher. Here is where Jim saw an opportunity for locally brewed specialty beers which could reach the local or national markets relatively faster and also save the retailers from the loses caused by spoiled beers. Jim made sure his products had the quality and the right marketing for people to come and buy these products. For a retailer to carry his beer, they need the right marketing and quality which Jim made sure were available. Another issue faced by retailers is that with the increasing numbers of beverage lines carried by big companies the support they received from their sale reps wasn’t enough and Boston Beer with its limited variety of beers had a very hands on sales reps which was more helpful for the retailers.
7.
Boston Beer made its entry in the market by differentiating itself from the large production brewed mass marketed beers as a locally brewed specialty beer where it attracted a niche market and people related to the company with its slogan of independence..
It was this differentiation that helped it earn a special place in the market and with consumers. Its advertisements were targeted to audience who appreciated a locally grown and brewed beer. But today with many giant brewers also coming up with a line of specialty beers, Boston Beer must constantly try to differentiate itself with quality, taste etc. Competing with these brands was never Boston Beers forte because it saw itself in a different market but it must make sure that the aura of richness they created in the peoples mind is not lost. This is because consumers not only relate to the quality of the product but also its uniqueness, and Boston Beer must constantly reinvent itself in this market to make sure they are ahead of the market in this category. Therefore as long as its positioning, differentiation and segmentation strategies are strong within its niche market it will continue to be effective against the giant
breweries.
8.
No, I don’t see this as a problem because Boston Beer has always been experimenting with a variety of beers with some being seasonal and some being introduced every now and then. I think it’s a good strategy because it keeps the consumers engaged and wanting them to taste some of the other specialty beers they would come up with. Removing some varieties from production maybe (assumption) because either it had some resource scarcity or maybe because the market didn’t respond well to it. This is more of a adaptive strategy because it is responding to the requirement in the market.
Boston Beer showed a promising growth as a company with a dozen reps in 1989 to a company going public in 1995, which was considered to have made a mark in the specialty brewing business. It successfully changed the consumer preferences from cheaper beers made by large breweries to expensive specialty brewers within its niche. With their variety of crafted beer, Boston Beer captured a niche market and proved itself a number of times by winning numerous competitions for its best taste. It placed itself correctly in the market and with rightly target advertising campaigns with captured its target audience, therefor following the 4 P’s rightly. With a portfolio so strong it was only fair for investors to see a potentially successful venture …show more content…
in Boston Beers. I think it wouldn’t fair of a company with such a small start and operations to show profit so fast but it did show a steady growth. So I think Jim Koc proved to be a great executive who made profits in spite of competition from major brewer’s in his niche market.
Boston Beers had a Controlled growth approach where it controlled its expansions by not over extending its resources and took a more conservative approach.
But later it took steps to change its strategy from using other micro breweries to owning its own breweries which made its profits go down but as with any growing company it slowly made its way up. Now although it looked like it couldn’t keep up with the initial stock price but its controlled growth approach helped it have good profit during the year 2007 and ultimately showed great profits (increase in stock price to $ 109 by 2010) to those investors who kept faith and stood along by building a financially strong company. Also on a different note most investors with diversified portfolios generally make sure to invest in companies only after they see a trend in its stock …show more content…
prices.
4.
Retailers are often faced with beer going sour with the increasing time lag between production and consumptions. The problem of maintaining the freshness of the beer is often critical where foreign brewers started adding more preservatives to keep their beers fresher. Here is where Jim saw an opportunity for locally brewed specialty beers which could reach the local or national markets relatively faster and also save the retailers from the loses caused by spoiled beers. Jim made sure his products had the quality and the right marketing for people to come and buy these products. For a retailer to carry his beer, they need the right marketing and quality which Jim made sure were available. Another issue faced by retailers is that with the increasing numbers of beverage lines carried by big companies the support they received from their sale reps wasn’t enough and Boston Beer with its limited variety of beers had a very hands on sales reps which was more helpful for the retailers.
7.
Boston Beer made its entry in the market by differentiating itself from the large production brewed mass marketed beers as a locally brewed specialty beer where it attracted a niche market and people related to the company with its slogan of independence..
It was this differentiation that helped it earn a special place in the market and with consumers. Its advertisements were targeted to audience who appreciated a locally grown and brewed beer. But today with many giant brewers also coming up with a line of specialty beers, Boston Beer must constantly try to differentiate itself with quality, taste etc. Competing with these brands was never Boston Beers forte because it saw itself in a different market but it must make sure that the aura of richness they created in the peoples mind is not lost. This is because consumers not only relate to the quality of the product but also its uniqueness, and Boston Beer must constantly reinvent itself in this market to make sure they are ahead of the market in this category. Therefore as long as its positioning, differentiation and segmentation strategies are strong within its niche market it will continue to be effective against the giant
breweries.
8.
No, I don’t see this as a problem because Boston Beer has always been experimenting with a variety of beers with some being seasonal and some being introduced every now and then. I think it’s a good strategy because it keeps the consumers engaged and wanting them to taste some of the other specialty beers they would come up with. Removing some varieties from production maybe (assumption) because either it had some resource scarcity or maybe because the market didn’t respond well to it. This is more of a adaptive strategy because it is responding to the requirement in the market.