a. Rather than using focus groups to test its branding and messaging, New Belgium used insiders in the bike community and brewery friends who had a personal history and knowledge of the brand. Evaluate this decision, recognizing that the sale of beer in the United States and elsewhere include imports and the fact that the branding occurred in Colorado.
NBB understands that customer retention is very important for the success and sustainability of the company. The insiders and friends have always been loyal customers to NBB and keeping them in the loop may increase efficiency. Increasing customer retention rate by 5%, increases profits by 25% to 95% (Ciotti, 2013). For NBB, communication (word-of-mouth) has always been the primary method of marketing that brought the company to a successful stand. This means the insiders and friends have probably played a great role in the marketing of the brand image. I think this decision was meant to reciprocate the loyalty proven by the NBB friends and Bike community as this might later translate to increasing customer trust and thus doubling of profits/market share. With Colorado being home of much more global beer brands such as Coors and depot of foreign popular beers like Heineken and Guinness, ensuring the widest possible input through a more traditional marketing approach may turn out to be very costly and competitive because the other major brands were already well-known than the “Big Fat Tire” Brand. So going through the already established market/customers who helped build the brand and using Television to target faraway customers was a thoughtful and economical and more strategic approach. b) New Belgium seemed to agonize over the use of the word “folly” in its advertising campaign. What do you make of the company's struggle with this decision? Explain why language is so important in advertising campaigns.

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