Zilong Wang (Michael)
Mountain Man Case Study
ADMN 400 R34
October 29, 2014
1. Mountain Man Brewing Company started in 1925, and this company spent 80 years to produce one kind of bear, Mountain Man Lager. Mountain Man Lager is a bitter-tasting beer, also known as West Virginia’s beer. Other notable accomplishments include eight straight titles as “Best Beer in West Virginia” and “America’s Championship Lager” at the American Beer Championship. MMBC stands out in the market because of its deep history, status as an independent, non-corporate and family owned regional based brewery, confirming an originality desired by its core consumers. This is only product for Mountain Man Brewing Company for a long time, but after Chris became the president of this company, he thinks the product needs to be updated for market situation. Then he came out the idea about the light beer, different with the bitter- tasting beer, light beer is more suitable for young age consumer.
2. According to the Exhibit 2, this chart illustrates Mountain Man Brewing Company’s key customers group as blue-collar, middle-to-lower income male over the age 45. This contrasts greatly to the average profile of non-gender specific younger drinkers with higher household incomes. And blue-collar male consumed nearly 60% of MMBC’s product for each year.
3. In present market situation, MMBC is facing many big companies, it strategy is not spending a lot of expense on advertising or paying attention to sales promotion. MMBC’s promotion basically focuses on the grass-root marketing (sharing and separating the experience about the beer by people rather than lifestyle commercial) and making its products into off-premise location. It is a good idea because their core costumer, blue-collar male, consumed 60% of their beer. In the article Abelli list the data for us; Mountain Man Lager boasted a 53% brand loyalty rate compared to 42% for Budweiser and 36% for Bud Light. It shows that consumers of MMBC have strong loyalty with their beer and MMBC also set up the promotion plan basing on that.
4. Brand is the "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's product distinct from those of other sellers." Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising. The way to build a strong brand is to put customers and their needs at the center of every decision the company makes. Over time, “customer-centric” actions create differentiation in the market place and build emotional connections with customer, and this is where MMBC has made its mark on the beer industry. Brand is the personality that identifies a product, making the value of a strong brand for a company priceless. In the face of an increasingly fragmented media and powerful retailers, brand managers cannot afford to be steering their brands in the wrong direction. MMBC understands the importance of brand management, and has focused on creating a high degree of brand awareness.
Brand equity is the sum of customers’ assessments of a brand’s intangible qualities, positive or negative. Creating brand equity often takes years and involves continuous attention to consumer trends and preferences to maintain. The distinctive bitter flavor and above average alcohol content accounted for much of MMBC’s brand equity. Exhibit 4 outlines the process of creating customer equity, which is essential to the brands success. MMBC invested in a large number of branding activities to build “brand equity”. To achieve this, MNBC utilized off-premise locations such as liquor stores and supermarkets for promotion of Mountain Man. As a result, MMBC was able to capture 70% of its beer sales at off-premise locations, the same as other, larger brands.
5. In the general market, competition from wine and spirits-based drinks, an increase in the federal excise tax, initiatives encouraging moderation and personal responsibility, and increasing health concerns have made 2.3% decline in US beer market. And basing on