Guinness goes blonde for U.S. market
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. Jame's Gate, Dublin. Guinness starts to target more at the American market and rolls out a brand new lager, Guinness Blonde American Lager. And it is 80% lighter in color than Guinness Draught. The reason Guinness taking such action is due to the fact that the beer sales have been down for the past five years; but craft beer is having a rapid growth and takes up 20% of overall US beer market. Some of the other largest beer companies have been taking actions as well, like Anheuser-Busch, planning to buy Blue Point Brewing Company; and Molson Coors Brewing Company also roll out a couple of its own craft beers. The competition between beer brewing companies is very intense.
The large brew companies mentioned above already feel the pinch, and start either attempting to release their own craft beers or buying the small craft brew companies to gain back their portions in this competitive market. Craft beers are known for their high quality and massive selections. That attracts a lot of customers who are often willing to try out new products instead of sticking with the same beer. But craft beers have one disadvantage: higher price than mass-produced big beers because brewers focus more on the quality instead of marketing campaigns and stock prices. That still doesn't stop craft beers taking up more and more of the U.S. beer market, because people are becoming more educated on the choices of beers. Lots of Americans' favorite beers, like Bud Light, Corona are often called "watery beer", because these brewers focus on mass produce and making benefit a lot more than putting good ingredients in the beers. It seems like big beer brewers have to work a lot harder to make better beers to fight in the increasing competition in the U.S market.
I think it is a positive thing that there is so much competition currently happening in the market for beer. I think competition is positive in any market, as it negates the effects larger companies can have on the price in the market. It also causes companies to innovate and try to get ahead of their competition, leading to overall better products for the consumers.
ReplyDeleteCompetition is always a good thing, especially in a market such as beer. If this market didn't have much or any competition, it would become monopolistic and we would see higher prices and even worse, less variety in the beer industry. All these different companies don't just replicate another's and call it their own beer. Each one has a different spin on their beer recipe to make it different than others to satisfy the always changing and ever so different taste buds of the adult population in our country. I think its wonderful to have such a diversified and highly competitive market because it leads to some great ideas and products. This could be said for a number of different industries as well.
ReplyDeleteIt's very interesting that Guinness has decided to completely rebuild a brand to better suit the market. We have scene this in many companies that when they go over seas, they are forced to enhance or change something to better suit that market. Even Coors is different in Canada and is even called Canadian Coors.
ReplyDeleteWhile the price of craft beers maybe more which is a "disadvantage," craft beer suppliers are targeting a different type of beer drinker. Craft beer drinkers tend to take more pride in the beers the drink so they are willing to pay more for a better beer. I don't think price should be a Guinness concern at all because of this. What they should be more concerned about is losing their image because they are switching from a dark, well known beer to a completely different product.
I find it nice to have a market that is competitive and it's not just 2-3 big companies that control the price while not worrying about the customer. It's refreshing to see a business reinvent themselves to suit the customer. With a highly competitive market, the customers really gain the most because they get a wide variety of product at a fair price because businesses are truely fighting for the customer's business.
ReplyDelete