...Case Study: Mountain Man Brewing Company Situation/Background Analysis: Mountain Man Brewing Company (MMBC), located at West Virginia State, was a family-owned beer company, which possessed respectable market shares in the Central East beer region of the United State. Thanks to the unique bitter flavor and the high quality of its only product -- Mountain Man Lager, which was selected as the “Best Beer in West Virginia” and “America’s Championship Lager” recently, the small company gained a national well-known reputation and therefore was able to survive in the fierce competition of the U.S beer market. In addition, the core customers of MMBC, baby boomers, blue-collar, middle-to-lower income and mid-aged men, still shared their ultimate loyalty to the brand and formed a stable, large portion of annually profits to the company. In spite of all the strengths above, in 2005, the company encountered the first decline on products sale during its 80-years history. Based on market researches, the company believed that this decline was induced mainly by two reasons: 1. Over the past 6 years, the traditional premium beer segment to which MMBC belongs had shrunk, due to the growing light beer segment. 2. Mountain Man Lager, as MMBC’s core product, is not popular among younger drinkers who constitute the vital consumer segment for beer companies. Such a decline became a clear alarm to the MMBC management team after the company had seen so many other regional breweries disappear in the...
Words: 330 - Pages: 2
...Case Overview/Selection/Assignments BrandScape Dates and Assignments Because of the tight seven-week scheduling of this course, we need to arrange for teams and team assignments for both the BrandScape and Case Assignments right away. To facilitate this process, the assignments and dates are outlined here. Please, as soon as is possible, sign up for the BrandScape date as well as the case of your choice. Please indicate your team by name, names of all team members, and your preferences with #1 (Most Desired) through and including - #5 (Least Desired.) If you’re not yet on a team, please let me know, along with your preferences. I’ll try to accommodate preferences as much as I can. (On the other hand, I will need your forbearance, because it usually is not possible to give everyone their first choice.) Team Name: _______________________________________________ Team Members:____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ BrandScape Dates/Assignments. (Be Sure to check the brand you select with Dr. Oliva) BrandScape 1, Wednesday, November 7, 2012 Preference # _______(1Most Desired-5 Least) BrandScape 2, Monday, November 12, 2012 Preference # _______ BrandScape 3, Monday, November 26, 2012 Preference # _______ BrandScape 4, Monday, December 3, 2012 Preference # _______ BrandScape 5, Monday December 10, 2012 Preference # _______ BrandScape 6, (7) Wednesday...
Words: 1548 - Pages: 7
...MOUNTAIN MAN BREWING COMPANY Bringing the Brand to Light CASE STUDY ON BRAND MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCT INTRODUCTION Mountain Man a well-known brewing company is planning to introduce a new product line of beers. This case analysis and decides whether Mountain Man should go with its product introduction or not considering its financial health and brand value. Narendhiran S 2012H149236P 1. INTRODUCTION Company: Mountain Man Brewing Company is a family owned brewery located in West Virginia, established in 1925.Mountain Man brewed only one beer Mountain Man Lager also known as “west Virginia’s Beer” and a “Working man’s beer”. The company is experiencing a decline in sales by 2% due to changes in the preferences of beer drinkers. Present Position in the Market: Product – Mountain Man Lager, Bitter flavoured beer with slightly higher than average alcohol content and darker color. To accentuate its dark color, the beer was packed in a brown bottle, with its original 1925 design of crew of coal miners printed in the front. Mountain Man’s main differentiation from its competitors is its product. Price – Mountain Man Lager was priced similar to its competitors. Its price is $2.25 for a 12 ounce serving draft beer in a bar and $4.49 for a six-pack in a local convenience stores. Place – Their primary market was in East Central Beer Region – Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia. MMBC’s beer is mainly sold in liquor stores and super markets. Promotion – MMBC did not...
Words: 1013 - Pages: 5
...| | | Study of Mountain Man Brewing Case | Student Name Institution Name Date By the year 2005, the barrels that mountain man lager sold were well over 520,000 barrels. This translates to the brand receiving revenue of slightly above $50 million. The beer also holds a respectable market share and a top market position in West Virginia for a period of 50 years and also the states it is distributed in. the revenues recorded however were 2% less than the revenues that had been received in the previous year. But despite this decrement, the company still managed to register profits. The company is also experiencing trouble trying to maintain its own sales in the premium beers segment due to increased competition from the larger companies. But due to the increasing changes in the demographics of the drinkers’ alcohol consumption. The young drinkers who are between the ages of 21 – 27 years are spending twice as much on alcohol that those aged over 35 years. The company’s profitability in the next five years may increase. This is because the young consumers are the working class division and they are the target consumers for the beer. So by 2010, the drink may have regained its status in the market share and hence an increase in the profits. MMBC has used its brand supremacy to influence consumer buying traits. Their brand has played the most significant part in the decisions they make while purchasing beer. Some of the deliberations that customers make when selecting their...
Words: 1260 - Pages: 6
...Rochester Institute of Technology | Mountain Man Brewing Company: Bringing the Brand to Light | Advanced Corporate Financial Planning | Professor Testa 1/23/2012 | | | Shaun Levine Ranjan Maitra William Weintraub Taylor Wold Objective Complete a NPV analysis to see if Mountain Man Brewing Company should implement Mountain Man Light to its existing product lines: * SWOT Analysis on Mountain Man Lager * NPV analysis for Mountain Man Lager * NPV analysis for Mountain Man Light * NPV analysis on whole company * Strategic Options Background Guntar Prangel founded the Mountain Man Beer Company (MMBC) in 1925. Mr. Prangel had reformulated an old family brew recipe using a meticulous selection of rare, Bavarian hops and unusual strains of barley, resulting in flavorful, bitter-tasting beer which the Prangel family launched as Mountain Man Lager. By the 1960s, Mountain Man Lager’s reputation as a quality beer was well entrenched throughout the East Coast region of the United States. It was February 20, 2006, in the New River coal region of West Virginia. Chris Prangel, a recent MBA graduate, had returned home a year earlier to manage the marketing operations of the Mountain Man Beer Company, a family owned business he stood to inherit in five years, when...
Words: 2220 - Pages: 9
...Case: Mountain Man Brewing Company 1. What has made the Mountain Man Brewing Company successful? What is distinctive about MMBC’s product, customers and brand equity? Reasons why MMBC has been successful: * MMBC used their history and status as an independent family owned brewery to enhance the feeling of authenticity of their brand, which resonates with its core drinkers – blue collar, middle to low income men over the age of 45. * MMBC has very high brand awareness – in a recent study, MMBC Lager was rarted as the best known regional beer, unaided response rate of 67% from the state’s (WV) adult population * There is also a high perception of quality with MMBC Lager * MMBC has won multiple awards: * In 2005, won “Best Beer in West Virginia” for the 8th year in a row * In 2005, won “America’s Championship Lager” at the American Beer Championship What is distinctive about MMBC’s: * Product * Smoothness and drinkability * Distinctive bitter flavor * Slight higher than average alcohol content * Bottle also enhance overall image of product * Original 1925 design with coal miners authenticity and history * Brown bottle accentuating the beer’s dark color taste, ‘strong’ * Customers * In stark contrast to other domestic beers, drinkers of Mountain Man Lager skews heavily towards male, 81% compared to 58% for domestic light beers and 68% for domestic premium beers * Drinkers...
Words: 1080 - Pages: 5
...Mountain Man Brewing Company! ! Case Study! ! ! Group Eleven ! Olusegun 9286 | Saranya 9290 | Omolola 9734 | Janet 10033 | Joseph 8605 ! SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATION Situational Analysis Mountain Man Beer Company (MMBC) has been a huge Success, and for the first time, the company is experiencing decline sales. It was discovered that Drinker’s preferences and taste change to light beers, and the company needs to take on a different approach to spark the sales. Most especially in the customer segment of the younger drinkers, and they were identified as the key customer segment, aged 21-27, and accounted for more than 27% of the total beer consumption. 42% of the light drinker’s were also woman. These particular customer segments are getting their preferences from other competitors of Mountain Man beer Company, which lead to the 4% decrease in the sales of Mountain Man Beer. Faced with the Prangel legacy and inheritance of the company, Chris Prangel, thinks that launching a light beer will attract a younger market segment. Others on the MMBC management team currently challenge this because they think that a light beer may stray away from the current brand strategy. The MMBC management team also feels that launching a light beer would be very expensive and could hurt Mountain Man’s key customer base and brand equity created through a grass roots and word-of-mouth marketing mix. ! Analysis of Threats and opportunities If Chris...
Words: 1062 - Pages: 5
...Mountain Man Brewing Company (MMBC) Case study 1. What has made MMBC successful? What distinguishes it from competitors\ * Brand Loyalty * Older working class, blue collar * Effective marketing * Sales team - "Grass roots" marketing * 70% consumed at home * higher alcohol % * 2. What has caused MMBC’s decline in spite of its strong brand? Think in terms of the beer market in general, as well as the market MMBC serves. * Alternate beverages * health concerns * tax increases * Consumer changes/shift in tastes towards light beer * Limited distribution channels -shelf space * very competitive industry and capital intensive * 3. Should MMBC introduce a light beer? What are the pros and cons of doing from a qualitative perspective? Pros - * Gaining younger demographics * Diverse product portfolio * May be MMBC could create a unique Light beer Cons - * Alienate existing customers * Dilute the existing brand equity in terms of image - particularly the brand stands for Lager with higher alcohol % * Decrease/ cannibalize shelf space. * More expensive to produce * Light beer already has a strong presence. Finally, if they go with light beer with a different brand name, then think about financing - new brand, additional advertising Conclusion The launch of a new product is always going to be a risk, but...
Words: 668 - Pages: 3
...New Belgium Brewing: Ethical and Environmental Responsibility1 Although most of the companies frequently cited as examples of ethical and socially responsible firms are large corporations, it is the social responsibility initiatives of small businesses that often have the greatest impact on local communities and neighborhoods. These businesses create jobs and provide goods and services for customers in smaller markets that larger corporations often are not interested in serving. Moreover, they also contribute money, resources, and volunteer time to local causes. Their owners often serve as community and neighborhood leaders, and many choose to apply their skills and some of the fruits of their success to tackling local problems and issues that benefit everyone in the community. Managers and employees become role models for ethical and socially responsible actions. One such small business is the New Belgium Brewing Company, Inc., based in Fort Collins, Colorado. History of the New Belgium Brewing Company The idea for the New Belgium Brewing Company began with a bicycling trip through Belgium. Belgium is arguably the home of some of the world’s finest ales, some of which have been brewed for centuries in that country’s monasteries. As Jeff Lebesch, an American electrical engineer, cruised around that country on his fat-tired mountain bike, he wondered if he could produce such high-quality beers back home in Colorado. After acquiring the special strain of yeast used to brew Belgian-style...
Words: 3564 - Pages: 15
...Mountain Man Brewing Company was established as a family concern in 1925 in West Virginia by Guntar Prangle. The company brewed single-product beer, Mountain Man Lager, which won “best beer in West Virginia” and was elected as “America’s Championship Lager”. Mountain Man Lager featured quality, bitter favor and slightly higher-than-average alcohol content that uniquely contributed to the company’s brand equity. Mountain Man was a local market leader and distributed its lager in several states outside West Virginia. By 2005 Mountain Man was generating over $50 million in revenue with over 520,000 barrels of Mountain Man Lager sold. However, Mountain Man had been facing serious challenges. Its revenue was encountering a 2% yearly decrease in 2005 as it faced fierce competition. Light beer was sweeping the beer market and gained 50.4% of volume sales in market share in 2005. Thus, the objective of Mountain Man in this case study is to increase sales revenue by moving into the light beer market. Chris Prangel, son of the company’s owner, hoped to achieve three goals in his marketing campaign: 1.) To produce a light beer in the hope of attracting younger drinkers to the brand; 2.) To sustain the core brand equity of Mountain Man Lager; 3.) To maintain a steady share of its market segment by regaining the 2% annual loss. Mountain Man’s revenue was declining as it faced new products, which threatened to steal its customer base. However, Mountain Man met difficulties to make changes...
Words: 1343 - Pages: 6
...“Marketing…is the whole business seen from the point of view of its final result, that is, from the customer’s point of view. Concern and responsibility for marketing must, therefore, permeate all areas of the enterprise.” - Peter F. Drucker, People and Performance, 1977 Required Textbook • Managing Marketing in the 21st Century: Developing and Implementing the Market Strategy, 3rd ed., by Noel Capon (www.axcesscapon.com, 2012). Available through www.axcesscapon.com (as a PDF file or in paperback), as well as Amazon.com or BN.com in either paperback or electronic format and in paperback through the University Bookstore. Required Cases • Harvard Business School Cases: listed in course outline. Cases are available for purchase online through Harvard Business School Press (Coursepack Link for purchasing cases listed below with list of cases). Introduction and Overview In their never-ending search for the ultimate secret to business success, many businesses continue to overlook the most fundamental premise of all business. While their search for the ultimate “secret to success” has provided some interesting and useful concepts and theories, the ultimate secret to business success is not as secret or complex as some would have us believe. Success in business comes from creating satisfied customers. This is, or should be, the essence of all marketing activities. Yet each day, we personally encounter—or the press brings news of—CEOs...
Words: 3188 - Pages: 13
...MARKETING COURSE Articles Books & Chapters Cases Course Modules Online Courses Simulations 2012 MATERIALS Harvard Business Publishing serves the finest learning institutions worldwide with a comprehensive catalog of case studies, journal articles, books, and eLearning programs, including online courses and simulations. In addition to material from Harvard Business School and Harvard Business Review, we also offer course material from these renowned institutions and publications: Babson College Business Enterprise Trust Business Expert Press Business Horizons Magazine California Management Review Darden School of Business Design Management Institute HEC Montréal Centre for Case Studies Ivey School of Business International Institute for Management Development (IMD) IESE Business School INSEAD John F. Kennedy School of Government Kellogg School of Management Perseus Books Princeton University Press Rotman Magazine Stanford Graduate School of Business Sloan Management Review Social Enterprise Knowledge Network Thunderbird School of Global Management Tsinghua University University of Hong Kong Customer service is available 8 am to 6 pm ET, Monday through Friday. Phone: 1-800-545-7685 (1-617-783-7600 outside the U.S. and Canada) Tech support is available 8 am to 8 pm ET, Monday through Thursday, 8 am to 7 pm ET Friday. Phone: 1-800-810-8858 (1-617-783-7700 outside the U.S...
Words: 5522 - Pages: 23
...chain efficiency and increased business automation. As a result, more major consumer goods companies are starting to use the Internet to do business with retailers. Therefore, Coca Cola being an important SUPPLIER, needs to provide its customers with a fast and reliable way to take purchase orders. Internet has made it possible for Coca-Cola Company to build a strong relationship with its bottling partners. Although in most cases they operate as two independent companies, internet makes it easier for them to interact with each other. The Coca-Cola Company’s business is focused on creating and marketing their brands and trademarks, while Coca-Cola bottling companies produce and package the finished beverage products and then sell and distribute them to our retail and WHOLESALE customers Coca-Cola Company's work together with more than 300 bottling partners globally and operate the most extensive beverage distribution system in the world. This Coca-Cola system owns, leases or operates more than 800 plants around the world. Coca-Cola's bottling partners range from international and publicly TRADED businesses to small, family-owned operations. Their governance and management structures are separate from those of The Coca-Cola Company. There are more than ten local bottlers in Canada but the vast majority of Coca-Cola products are manufactured and distributed by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company (CCBC).Coca-Cola uses two types of search engines in order to follow its B2C model; Crawler...
Words: 3920 - Pages: 16
...environmental forces influence organizations and how organizations can influence their environments. p. 48 Distinguish between the macroenvironment and the competitive environment. p. 48 Explain why managers and organizations should attend to economic and social developments. p. 50 Identify elements of the competitive environment. p. 55 Summarize how organizations respond to environmental uncertainty. p. 63 Define elements of an organization’s culture. p. 72 Discuss how an organization’s culture affects its response to its external environment. p. 72 LO 2 LO 3 LO 4 LO 5 LO 6 LO 7 Management Close-Up HOW CAN LARRY BLANFORD KEEP GREEN MOUNTAIN COFFEE ROASTERS PERKING? In 1981, Bob Stiller began serving his coffee to custompiece of pie or a donut. Not until the mid-1990s did cofers in a tiny Vermont café. He was focused simply on fee brewing became an art form, as the Starbucks-led giving them the highest-quality freshly roasted coffee coffee revolution began to sweep across America. at a reasonable price. As his Green...
Words: 20221 - Pages: 81
...Alaska Brand Audit Brand Inventory History Alaska has been a unique brand for many years. Originally known as Russian America because it was owned by Russia, the origin of the name Alaska is a misconception from the first Russian explorers to venture into Alaskan waters (the original Aleut word "alaxsxaq" literally meaning "object toward which the action of the sea is directed"[Alaska]). When the United States bought Alaska, even though the price was only two cents an acre, it was known for many years as “Seward’s Folly” or “Seward’s Icebox”, after William Seward, the Secretary of State who was primarily responsible for pushing the purchase from Russia through Congress. In the early days Alaska’s brand image was mostly negative. It was known as the “Frozen North”, the “land of ice and snow”, the “land without summer”. Many of these images are from the stories and poetry of Robert Service, Jack London and their contemporaries. A good example of this writing is the poem “Cremation of Sam McGee”— see appendix II, (Service). All these extreme brand images dominated perceptions of Alaska prior to the discovery of gold in the Klondike in the late 1800s. After gold was discovered these negative perceptions were softened somewhat, though they remained rather negative—in large part due to the difficulty of living in the far north. Our Brand Survey We did a brand audit of Alaska to see how well Alaska has worked past these harsh criticisms. To accomplish this we surveyed...
Words: 7487 - Pages: 30
