Client: Abita Brewing Company Company Overview: Not only was Abita Brewing Company Louisiana s first craft brewery, they are the largest craft brewery in the state and the 14 th largest in the country. It was founded in 1986 and currently resides in a town about 30 miles out of New Orleans, Abita Springs. After much success in its first year of business, Abita had brewed 1,500 barrels of beer. Currently, Abita brews 151,000 barrels of beer and 9,100 barrels of root beer. Abita prides itself on its extremely dedicated workers who hand craft their beer with the freshest ingredients. Abita Springs, LA is lucky enough to have the freshest water, which is used in Abita Beer. With these fresh ingredients, Abita produces seven year-round beers, five seasonal beers, four Harvest Brews, and Big Beers. Abita embodies every thing Louisiana and puts everything it has into producing culture on tap. Problem: Currently, Abita s objective is to maintain and preserve a loyal consumer base. While Abita is the largest craft brewery in the state, according to an article in the Business Report, The state ranks No. 42 for its number of craft breweries; the ranking falls to No. 49 ahead only of Mississippi for craft breweries per capita, including only adults 21 and over (Whitten). Abita currently relies heavily on Louisiana locavores, or, proud Louisianans that want only locally brewed beer and nothing else. Although this has grown Abita into the largest craft brewery in Louisiana, its sales are beginning to plateau as they neglect consumers that reside outside of the southern Louisiana area. Nationally, Abita is not considered a mass distributor of craft beer and is only sold in 46 states. While Abita continues to have a resilient brand image in Louisiana, it needs to strive for growth in that brand image for the consumers outside of Louisiana as well. Objective: To expand Abita s brand image into other states besides Louisiana and be highly regarded on a national level. To mold Abita into a mass distributor of craft beer nationally and expand the consumer market to top beer drinking states. While Abita may be available in 46 out of 50 states, these consumers are currently not as loyal as Louisianans. Other consumers need a taste of Louisiana. This will be changed with stronger brand awareness and growth outside the Louisiana craft beer market. Target Audience: Demographics: Young adults, women, ages 21-35, all race and ethnicities, top beer-drinking states outside of Louisiana (Texas, Mississippi, Nebraska, Maine, North Dakota, New Hampshire, Montana, South Dakota, Vermont, Wisconsin, Nevada) city/urban setting, middle-range income. Psychographics: These adults are members of Generation Y. Currently in the craft beer market, millennials account for the highest number of consumers (The Brewers Association). Especially young women, which account for 15% percent of the craft volume, according to the Brewers Association. These consumers want good
quality, more variety and persistent availability in their craft beer choices. These millennials are drawn to the idea of locally owned and made, they want to experience something that is specific and unique to a certain culture with authenticity. Millennials are constantly using social media and technology to connect with their craft beer distributers and will continue to do so. Their choice of craft beers are determined by the level of social media activity and engagement the company utilizes. These consumers are daring, they love to try new products that provide new experiences in their lives. They want a craft brewery that is inventive and unique. Our target audience view craft beer as an experience, an escape from the worries of every day life. Competitors: New Orleans Lager & Ale Brewing Company: Nola Brewing Company was founded when owner Kirk Coco realized there were no longer any breweries in New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Dixie Beer, which had long been brewed in New Orleans, had relocated out of the state, leaving a hole in a city that once taken pride in its breweries. Kirk Coco teamed up with former Dixie Beer brewer Peter Caddoo to start New Orleans Brewery in 2008, and it has been producing signature craft beers ever since. NOLA focuses mainly on promotion through events like crawfish cookoffs and at local bars and pubs. They also have an extremely active social media presence and participate in dinners and fundraisers. Tin Roof Beer: Founded by childhood friends Charles Caldwell and William McGehee, Tin Roof Brewing Company was made to bring a quality-handcrafted brand to the South. Caldwell had spent time in Colorado and had experienced their culture of microbreweries, and McGehee acquired his taste for craft beers while studying abroad in Europe. The two founded Tin Roof Brewing Company in 2010 in hopes to create a distinctly Southern brand. Tin Roof has a very active social media presence and interactive website. Their promotion initiatives involve showing their rich Louisiana culture of food, fun and festivities. Anheuser Busch: Anheuser Busch distributes Budweiser, which is an American style lager founded in 1876. Budweiser has focused mainly on large advertising initiatives. From successful Super Bowl ads to sponsoring the World Cup, Budweiser is an internationally recognized brand. It is important to note not only other craft beer competitors, but also large beer distributers that are beginning to add craft beer to their line of beer options. Budweiser recently came out with a commercial mocking craft beer breweries with lines like let them sip their pumpkin peach ale. Bottom Line: Experience the Craft Tone: Enticing Rationale: According to the business report, the state ranks No. 42 for its number of craft breweries; the ranking falls to No. 49 ahead only of Mississippi for craft breweries per capita, including only adults 21 and over (Whitten). Abita will strive to make them reputable on a national level, and thus bring the Louisiana craft brews into the hands of other thirsty consumers. Also, according to the Brewers Association, distributer should focus their efforts on breweries that are strong in their home market, are innovative,
connect with their consumers socially and digitally and are authentic. Millennials want to experience the craft; Abita Brewing Company can give that to you. Sources: https://www.businessreport.com/business/news-brewbrew-market www.abita.com https://www.brewersassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/demographics-of-craft-beer.pdf https://www.brewersassociation.org/communicating-craft/6-characteristics-of-millennial-beer-drinkersyou-need-to-know/ http://anheuser-busch.com/index.php/our-beers/ http://www.tinroofbeer.com/our-story/ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-states-where-people-drink-the-most-beer-2015-07-07
Advertisement Choices: For this campaign I chose to do three print ads, social media components, three outdoor ads (one with a digital component), and guerilla advertisements. Outdoor Advertisements (with digital/social component): To begin, the bus stop advertisements are a fun engaging way for viewers to put themselves right in the center of Louisiana culture. Viewers will be able to place their face into the Mardi Gras themed cut outs and take pictures and share with their friends. These advertisements will engage consumers, bring each passerby together and be a traditional yet sharable form of media. The third execution of an outdoor ad involves a billboard placed in central parts of top beer drinking cities. These share your experience ads will allow consumers to post Instagram photos or tweets involving the hashtag #experiencethecraft. With this, Abita will then link those posts to the digital billboards across the country to engage and connect consumers across the US. Whenever the billboard changes, each new post will have the city and state next to the post accordingly. Social Media Component: The first social media component will involve a Snapchat filter that will be placed on all Snapchat users phones as a sponsored filter. This filter will be geographically located in local bars, music venues, pubs and restaurants across the country that sell Abita beer and where the target audience is most likely going to be spending their time. This is a sharable and user friendly way to gain brand awareness through earned media. The second social media component goes along with an Instagram advertisement that will be promoting the #experiencethecraft and share your experience ads mentioned in the above paragraph. This ad will let users know that they will be able to use this hashtag to be featured in one of the many digital billboards Abita will place throughout the US. Guerilla Advertisement: This advertisement will be placed in front of local music venues, pubs and bars across the US. These are the places the target market of 25-35 year olds will most likely be spending their time drinking Abita beer. The ad will involve an Abita beer bottle placed next to the doorknob of each venue. There will be an illusion of prying off the bottle cap with the doorknob as you open up your experience. By opening the experience of seeing live music or hanging out with your friends, you are opening the experience of drinking Abita.