The Mountain Man Beer Company has defined it’s self by the unique position in which it only has one type of beer to sell. Mountain Man Lager is known as “West Virginia’s beer”, and has fostered the reputation as a legacy beer. It has won numerous awards over the years, including the reward for best beer in West Virginia over the past eight. As many companies have adopted other varieties of drinks into their product mix, MM has maintained it’s one and only Lager and has successfully done so for the entire duration of their company, almost 100 years. Mountain man’s beer is perceived as “Strong” and a “working man’s” beer largely consumed by the baby boomer generation. Its high brand loyalty built up over the past 100 years has helped it remain
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The market for light beer is currently booming as annual sales are consistently increasing by 4%. The light beer industry is the only category demonstrating any growth and is filled with a generation of twenty year olds who are looking for new brands to try. Mountain Man would be smart to enter this industry now and further its brand from the baby boomer generation to the millennials. The appeal they would have on younger drinkers could translate into newfound brand popularity and also a boost in lager sales. MM would also get a head start in the Light beer market as they are a well-known company and their brand is respected by the generation they would try to appeal to. Of course, the decision would also have inherit risks that could result in catastrophe for Mountain man. The company would be entering a field which already has a lot of big time players. Although a prominent force in the Lager industry, Mountain man would just be a little fish filled with many other bigger fish in the light beer industry. Companies such as Anheuser Busch have already established light beers with millions of dollars invested in them. MM would have to dish out millions of dollars on ad campaigns along with other newfound costs such as management of more inventory, packaging, and SG&A. They would also have to worry about how their brand reputation would be perceived after introducing a light beer. They would take on the risk of losing loyal customers that only buy mountain man for the appeal of being a rugged blue-collared company. Other companies have been in this same situation as Mountain Man and tried to expand only to lose everything they had once established. Considering all of this, it is not worth Mountain Man entering the light beer industry. Mountain Man has been successful in only selling a lager of high quality evidenced by by being “West Virginia’s beer” eight years in a row.
The market for light beer is currently booming as annual sales are consistently increasing by 4%. The light beer industry is the only category demonstrating any growth and is filled with a generation of twenty year olds who are looking for new brands to try. Mountain Man would be smart to enter this industry now and further its brand from the baby boomer generation to the millennials. The appeal they would have on younger drinkers could translate into newfound brand popularity and also a boost in lager sales. MM would also get a head start in the Light beer market as they are a well-known company and their brand is respected by the generation they would try to appeal to. Of course, the decision would also have inherit risks that could result in catastrophe for Mountain man. The company would be entering a field which already has a lot of big time players. Although a prominent force in the Lager industry, Mountain man would just be a little fish filled with many other bigger fish in the light beer industry. Companies such as Anheuser Busch have already established light beers with millions of dollars invested in them. MM would have to dish out millions of dollars on ad campaigns along with other newfound costs such as management of more inventory, packaging, and SG&A. They would also have to worry about how their brand reputation would be perceived after introducing a light beer. They would take on the risk of losing loyal customers that only buy mountain man for the appeal of being a rugged blue-collared company. Other companies have been in this same situation as Mountain Man and tried to expand only to lose everything they had once established. Considering all of this, it is not worth Mountain Man entering the light beer industry. Mountain Man has been successful in only selling a lager of high quality evidenced by by being “West Virginia’s beer” eight years in a row.