{"id":1482,"date":"2015-02-06T16:09:14","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T16:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beer-syndicate.com\/blog\/?p=1482"},"modified":"2017-04-28T02:06:44","modified_gmt":"2017-04-28T02:06:44","slug":"craft-beer-means-ipa-round-2-how-to-attack-the-craft-beer-movement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beersyndicate.com\/blog\/craft-beer-means-ipa-round-2-how-to-attack-the-craft-beer-movement\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Effectively Attack the Craft Beer Movement: A Heads Up to Craft Beer"},"content":{"rendered":"

So you wanna take some wind out of the sails of the craft beer movement, huh Big Beer<\/em>?<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, before I tell you how to do that, let\u2019s talk about what you don\u2019t<\/em> do by using the following example as a case study.<\/span><\/p>\n

ANHEUSER-BOTCH: A PRICEY LESSON IN WHAT NOT<\/em> TO DO<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an epic display of advertising gaffery during the 2015 Super Bowl, Anheuser-Busch (AB) aired an $8 million, 60-second commercial which simultaneously managed to insult both craft beer culture and<\/em> Budweiser\u2019s dwindling\u00a0customer base by suggesting that the former over-thinks<\/em> beer, thereby implying that the latter is too, what\u2019s the right word<\/em>, stupid<\/strong><\/span> to be critical about how something tastes. (Link to original ad here<\/a><\/span>.)<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, Anheuser is banking that its\u00a0customers are so dumb as to be completely ignorant that the double-talking mega brewery has been snapping up craft breweries<\/span><\/a> over the last several years in an if-you-can\u2019t-beat-\u2018em,-buy-\u2018em<\/em> business strategy in order to cash in on the craft beer movement, a movement that has steadily been eating away at Budweiser\u2019s shrinking profit margins.<\/span><\/p>\n

Luckily for AB, not everyone<\/em> saw their $8 million backfiring blunder— only about 120 million people.<\/span><\/p>\n

Seriously, AB, if you wanted to know how to take the craft beer movement down a peg, you could have just asked me— and it\u2019s not by pitching a MACRO-VS-MICRO\u00a0<\/em>change of perception ploy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last time I checked, not too many people were rooting for Monsanto to crush organic farmers. [Yes, that was a subtle nod to Genetically Modified rice being found in Budweiser beer<\/a><\/span>.]<\/span><\/p>\n

THE ART OF BEER WAR<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Sun Tzu, the attributed author of the famed Chinese military treaties The Art of War<\/em>, said \u201cThe supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If we apply the above principle to Budweiser\u2019s recent shot at craft beer, we might chalk one big point up to craft beer for simply stepping out of the way while Bud proceeded to shoot itself\u00a0squarely in the foot.<\/span><\/p>\n

It makes you wonder if the\u00a0crack advertising team at Budweiser that put together their clich\u00e9-ridden anti-craft ad even knew AB owned craft breweries— which of course recalls another Sun Tzu classic:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.<\/em>\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So how can Big Beer use Sun Tzu\u2019s principles to their advantage?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

First, take a cue from Sun Tzu and Know Thyself<\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re saying that you’re embracing craft beer, then embrace craft beer.\u00a0 In AB\u2019s case, sending a mixed message to its\u00a0audience about how the brewing giant\u00a0is\u00a0both<\/em> anti and<\/em> pro craft beer makes Anheuser sound confused at best, and patronizing or hypocritical<\/a><\/span>\u00a0at worst. \u00a0At this point, quite a bit of damage control would need to be done before the public are going to \u201ctrust\u201d that AB is into craft beer for the sake of craft beer, and not just as part of their corporate strategy to make up for their steadily declining sales of Budweiser.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Craft<\/a><\/p>\n

[Chart from the Wall Street Journal<\/a><\/span>; November 23, 2014.]<\/span><\/p>\n

Or maybe Anheuser is right, and its\u00a0customer base, like the company, is just too oblivious\u00a0to notice or care that they’re perceived as dumb-dumbs. I can see the next Bud slogan already:\u00a0Budweiser-A Beer for Idiots. Because it Takes One to Know One<\/em>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Next, understand your enemy (or competition) and use their weakness to your advantage.<\/span><\/p>\n

At present, I see two areas where Big Beer could exploit the craft beer movement to their own financial benefit:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Overproduction and vague definition of IPA.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Ineffective definition of \u201ccraft beer\u201d.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    And the best part about these problems (at least as far as Big Beer is concerned), is that the craft beer industry is creating them all by itself!<\/span><\/p>\n

    Of course craft beer enthusiasts probably already see why these two issues are problematic for the craft beer movement, but let\u2019s spell it out.<\/span><\/p>\n

    THE WITTGENSTEIN EFFECT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    To paraphrase Ludwig Wittgenstein, the most influential philosopher of the 20th<\/sup> century, the meaning of a word is determined by its use<\/em><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    So what does this have to do with \u201cIPA<\/em>\u201d and \u201ccraft beer<\/em>\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

    Well, because of the runaway popularity of IPA within the craft beer market over the last 10+ years, the style has become to a large degree representative of craft beer— the poster child<\/em> of craft beer, if you will. \u00a0And because most craft brewers are more than happy to feed into (and profit from) craft beer fans\u2019 insatiable obsession with IPA-anything<\/em>, the frenzy cycle continues.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Simply slap the letters \u201cIPA\u201d on a tap or bottle, and we will almost mindlessly<\/em> buy, buy, buy— a fact that Big Beer is getting wise to.<\/span><\/p>\n

    But here\u2019s the rub: the more IPA that is produced both in volume and variety by craft breweries, the greater the likelihood that people may come to use the term \u201ccraft beer\u201d to mean \u201cIPA\u201d.\u00a0 In other words, if the meaning of a word (or term) is determined by its use, and people use the term \u201ccraft beer\u201d to mean \u201cIPA\u201d, then \u201ccraft beer\u201d will mean \u201cIPA\u201d<\/a><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Therefore, if “craft beer” comes to mean “IPA”, then Big Beer does not directly<\/em> need to use the term\u00a0“craft beer” in its marketing in order to convey and capitalize\u00a0from the intended meaning of craft beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Now, it might sound crazy that a general term like \u201ccraft beer\u201d could come to mean a specific style of beer like \u201cIPA\u201d, but then again a similar thing happened with the word \u201ccorn\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Originally, the term \u201ccorn\u201d referred to any<\/span>\u00a0type of grain including wheat, oats, etc.\u00a0 In other words, \u201ccorn\u201d was once a general<\/em> term like the term \u201ccraft beer\u201d is today.\u00a0 But because of the abundance and popularity of \u201cmaize\u201d in the U.S., Americans began to call a specific type of grain (maize) \u201ccorn\u201d.\u00a0 And because of the global influence of the U.S., most of the rest of the English-speaking world does now too.<\/span><\/p>\n

    But even if \u201ccraft beer\u201d doesn\u2019t come to mean \u201cIPA\u201d in some broad sense as \u201ccorn\u201d came to mean \u201cmaize\u201d, there is nevertheless such a remarkably strong association between IPA and craft beer, that IPA basically implies<\/em> craft beer.<\/span><\/p>\n

    And this tacit implication is all Big Beer needs.\u00a0 But it gets even better\u2026 for Big Beer that is<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    The other problem with IPA, as beer writer Don Russell points out<\/span>, is that because of all of the divergent permutations of the style, IPA no longer means just India pale ale.\u00a0 There is DIPA, IPL, IPX, White IPA, Red IPA, Black IPA, Session IPA, single-hop IPA, bitter IPA, fruity IPA, Mango Ginger IPA\u2026 you get the idea.<\/span><\/p>\n

    So why not a Bud Light IPA<\/a><\/span><\/em>?<\/span><\/p>\n

    As Russell explains:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \u201cWhat might’ve been a sacrilege just a year ago seems inevitable today. And when it happens, craft beer will have only itself to blame, as Anheuser-Busch Inbev laughs all the way to the bank.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    Unfortunately for craft beer, AB In-Bev won\u2019t be the only one crashing the party.<\/span><\/p>\n

    By this point, you can probably already guess what Big Beer\u2019s next move is.\u00a0 Well, you don\u2019t really have to guess because it\u2019s already happening.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Big Beer is appropriating the term \u201cIPA\u201d (and its strong connotation of craft beer) and creating mass-produced non-craft beer and profiting from the good name and added value that the craft beer movement has toiled to create.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Ballantine IPA<\/a><\/span> anyone<\/em>?\u00a0 Yep, Pabst Brewing Company, the same group\u00a0that brought you Schlitz, Old Milwaukee, and Colt 45, is\u00a0stepping into the IPA market.\u00a0 I know what you\u2019re thinking: it must taste\u00a0horrible.\u00a0 Well, the good folks at BeerAdvocate (a popular beer ranking website) don\u2019t seem to think so!\u00a0 Rated an 87 (Very Good) by the general populous, and 91 (Outstanding) by \u201cThe Bros\u201d, it looks like Big Beer is nailing it!<\/span><\/p>\n

    If that doesn\u2019t send chills down craft beer\u2019s spine, how about Anheuser-Busch\u2019s take on the hoppy style with their very own Demon\u2019s Hop Yard IPA<\/em>— rated a 94 by \u201cThe Bros\u201d on BeerAdvocate!!!\u00a0 Granted, AB probably jumped the gun with their IPA offering and therefore stopped brewing it back in 2006, but now almost a decade later, the time is all but ripe for that demon to possess the beer market once again.<\/span><\/p>\n

    And remember, Big Beer isn’t just after\u00a0well-informed\u00a0craft beer drinkers\u00a0who\u00a0might know the difference between craft<\/em> and crafty<\/em>,\u00a0yet\u00a0only represent 7.8% of the overall beer market\u00a0. \u00a0No, Big Beer is also after the other 92.2% of the market which includes those who couldn’t tell you that Shock Top or Blue Moon isn’t craft beer, and\u00a0those\u00a0who may be aware of craft beer, but only want to stick their toes in the shallow end of the flavor pool.<\/span><\/p>\n

    For the Budweiser brand in particular, its\u00a0message is that the current craft beer scene is just too extreme with their peach pumpkin weirdo concoctions. \u00a0Budweiser though<\/em>? \u00a0Budweiser is safe. \u00a0Familiar. \u00a0You don’t have to be a know-it-all beer snob to enjoy our product. \u00a0 Sure we’ll do an IPA, but it will be an approachable IPA with superior drinkability<\/em>. \u00a0Something we all can enjoy without having to have a PhD in craft beer to understand. \u00a0Budweiser: The Craft Beer for Everyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

    At this point in the story, rebel craft beer is in trouble. \u00a0Lando has already sold out his friends, C3PO is in pieces, and Han Solo is frozen in carbonite.<\/span><\/p>\n

    There\u2019s just one last piece of bad news before the credits roll.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The very definition of \u201ccraft beer\u201d is ineffective. \u00a0Search your feelings.\u00a0 You know it to be true…<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

    Leave you to ponder this until next time I must. \u00a0(Sorry. \u00a0Had to.)<\/span><\/p>\n

    Cheers for now—and may the craft be with you.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n

    Like this blartical?<\/em>\u00a0 Well, thanks- you\u2019re far too kind. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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