Mountain Man Brewing Company Case Analysis

Since the 1960’s, The Mountain Man Brewing Company brand has commanded pride amongst their consumers. Their history and status as an independent, family-owned brewery has helped them to establish the top market position among lagers in West Virginia for close to 50 years. Focusing their strengths on one core product, Mountain Man Lager, has helped them to develop excellent brand awareness and popularity amongst their core consumers, the over 45, blue-collar, middle-to-lower income male drinkers. But concentrating on one product alone has left them vulnerable to the current consumers’ changing preferences. This, along with facing declining revenues, is forcing the company to rethink their marketing strategy in an effort to remain profitable.

The company’s sole product is facing an aging demographic in an already diminishing market segment. Obtaining a market share with what most industry observers agree is the key demographic for beer companies, is vital to securing Mountain Man’s future. The younger consumer segment accounts for more than 27% of total beer consumption and is expected to continue growing. They also “spend twice as much per capita on alcoholic beverages than consumers over 35 years of age and are forecasted to grow by nearly four million by the year

In addition, over the past six years, “light beer sales in the U.S. have been growing at a compound annual rate of 4%, while traditional premium beer sales had declined annually by the same percentage.” By introducing a new product line in the light beer segment, Mountain Man Brewing Company can utilize their brand equity to capitalize on this fast-growing product category. Instead of following the same product and marketing strategy as the major domestic producers, Mountain Man can use their regional notoriety to develop a grass roots marketing campaign, which has been proven to be more cost effective and efficient in building brand awareness than traditional advertising. Already having a recognizable brand will provide exceptional benefits to the company as this plays a critical role in beer-purchasing decisions. Tapping into this market will also help offset the decline in traditional lager sales and will expand their reach to target the younger, more lucrative, key