Online Case

Good Beer Company

www.bestbeerjob.com
Welcome to Good Beer Company !
During this role play simulation, you will be in the role of the two managers responsible for Good Beer
Brewing Company’s product line. The Brewery has been considering the introduction of seasonal
beers to the current product portfolio. Your team has been test marketing a number of seasonal beer
products, with the ultimate goal of identifying two to add to the current product portfolio.

The COO of Good Beer has asked that you submit your recommendations regarding the two new
seasonal products to be added to the current portfolio.

The CMO also has high expectations for the launch of the two new products and expects you submit
him a marketing campaign. He referred to the 360° campaign used by Corona x Parley and mentioned
it could be a good way for you to start with the seasonal beers…and dropped it on your desk.

The recommendations and plans are expected to be uploaded on the following platform by the 21st of
March 23:59: https://bit.ly/2TZDvLX in either a YouTube or Vimeo link format.

Today is March 7th of this year.

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 E-mail

Date: January 10th, This Year

Subject: New Seasonal Products
To: You, Product Portfolio Manager
From: Chris Ericson, COO Good Beer Brewing Co.

I know that you and your team have been test marketing a number of seasonal products with the idea of introducing
two new seasonal beers to our current product portfolio. I would like to meet with you on May 6th to discuss your
new product recommendations. In preparation for that meeting, please review the current competitive landscape,
data on test market results and internal operational issues that may impact the new product introduction. During our
discussion, I would also like you to present proposals on a marketing plan to introduce the two new seasonal
products.

The goal of this new product introduction is to increase the total net revenue of our product line by 28% during this
next fiscal year. In achieving this goal you should focus on increasing product volume without exceeding the
maximum monthly capacity of our brewery, but also make sure that the profitability of the operations is maintained.

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 E-mail

Date: January 10th, This Year

Subject: Summary of Current Products
To: You, Manager Product Portfolio
From: John Wente, General Manager, Good Beer Brewery

Per your request, attached is data related to the products in our current product portfolio. As you know, our brewery
can brew up to 14,000 Hectoliters (HL) of product per month. At the current time we have excess capacity to add
seasonal products, as long as we do not exceed our current limit of 14,000 HL per month. In the attached data
charts, I have provided Sales and Costs for the last 12 months and Projected Net Revenue for the next 12 months.
I have also provided our current production volumes by product and season.

I am pulling together data on the seasonal products we test marketed, and will be following up with that information
shortly.

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 Data

Uploaded: January 10th, This Year

Subject: Data on Current Products
Access: You, Manager Product Portfolio
From: John Wente, General Manager, Good Beer Brewery

Sales, Costs and Projected Net Current Production In Hectoliters (HL)

Revenue by Product By Season and Product

Current Sales (Last Cost (Last Projected Net Revenue Current

Fall Winter Spring Summer
Products 12 Months) 12 Months) (Next 12 Months) Products

Golden Ale $1,900,550 $840,455 $1,070,306 Golden Ale 9,500 HL 9,500 HL 11,250 HL 11,250 HL

Light Lager $3,202,850 $1,335,000 $1,869,992 Light Lager 10,500 HL 10,2500 HL 12,750 HL 15,450 HL

Wild Brew $987,000 $609,000 $380,609 Wild Brew 11,750 HL 11,500 HL 9,750 HL 7,000 HL

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 E-mail

Date: January 10th, This Year

Subject: Increasing Ingredient Costs
To: You, Manager Product Portfolio
From: Tanya Gillespie, Purchasing Manager

I understand that you are considering a number of new seasonal products for inclusion in our portfolio of products. Therefore, I
wanted you to be aware of upcoming increasing in some ingredient costs, which will impact the costs, and therefore the
revenue associated with some of those new products. I have just received word of these cost increases from our vendors, so
they have not yet been figured into the anticipated revenue (next 12 months) for any of our test market products.

The prices associated with citrus and berry flavorings will be increasing over and above the amount we anticipated when we
did our cost projections for the next 12 months. These increases will impact the following products:
- Afternoon Ale (which combines a mild citrus flavor with selected spices)
- Spring Fever Lime (which has a strong citrus flavor, specifically lime flavoring)
- Spring Fever Berry (which as a strong raspberry flavor)

The increase in these fruit flavors will result in a 0.5 percent increase in projected costs for both Afternoon Ale and Spring
Fever Lime, and a 0.25 percent increase in project costs for Spring Fever Berry. When making decisions about the seasonal
products to add to our product portfolio, I would encourage you to consider the impact of these cost increases on the overall
cost of the product.

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 E-mail

Date: January 10th, This Year

Subject: Test Marketed Products – Results
To: You, Manager Product Portfolio
From: John Wente, General Manager, Good Beer Brewery

As a follow-up to my email from yesterday, I have provided information (in the attached data tables) regarding the seasonal
products that we have been test marketing. The attached data includes, by product, the target age group, the projected sales,
and projected net revenue over the next 12 months. I have also included a projection of volume, in HL, that would need to be
brewed each season for each product. Keep in mind, our total brewing capacity is 14,000 HL per month. So, when selecting
seasonal products, it is important to select those products that maximize the volume being produced by the brewery, while
ensuring that our total product portfolio does not exceed our production capacity at any time during the year. I hope this
information is helpful as you prepare for your meeting with Chris.

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 Data (1/2)

Uploaded: January 10th, This Year

Subject: Data on Test Marketed Products
Access: You, Manager Product Portfolio
From: John Wente, General Manager, Good Beer Brewery

Target Market and Anticipated Sales

and Revenue By Product

Test Marketed Target Projected Sales Projected Net Revenue

Seasonal Product Age Group (Next 12 Months) (Next 12 Months)
Afternoon Ale 21-25 $990,588 $505,200
Summer Ale 35-55 $1,726,667 $518,000
Spring Fever Lime 25-35 $1,329,411 $452,000
Spring Fever Berry 21-25 $776,250 $310,500
Fall Harvest 56+ $733,333 $418,000
Golden Ale: Octoberfest 35-55 $1,137,714 $398,200
Winter Wonderland 25-35 $1,002,500 $513,145
Wild Brew: Holiday Ale 56+ $1,631,250 $522,000

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 Data (2/2)

Uploaded: January 10th, This Year

Subject: Data on Test Marketed Products
Access: You, Manager Product Portfolio
From: John Wente, General Manager, Good Beer Brewery

Anticipated Volumes (in Hectoliters) Next

12 Months By Product and Season

Test Marketed
Fall Winter Spring Summer
Seasonal Product
Afternoon Ale 4,000 4,000 5,000 5,850
Summer Ale 4,150 4,000 6,500 7,100
Spring Fever Lime 3,900 3,500 7,000 4,500
Spring Fever Berry 2,500 1,700 4,200 2,350
Fall Harvest 6,000 5,350 3,250 2,400
Golden Ale: Octoberfest 6,350 4,000 2,750 2,200
Winter Wonderland 4,200 6,500 4,000 2,350
Wild Brew: Holiday Ale 6,000 9,000 2,000 1,000

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 E-mail

Date: January 10th, This Year

Subject: Customer Base By Age Group
To: You, Manager Product Portfolio
From: Laura Callahan, Manager, Sales

Per your request, below I have summarized Good Beer’s current customer base by age group
- 21 – 25 years old: 18%
- 25 – 35 years old: 25%
- 35 – 55 years old: 30%
- 56 years old or older 27%

As you can see from the above data, the 21-25 year olds represent the smallest percentage of our customer based (18%). As
a result, Sales has implemented a major push to increase sales in the 21 -25 age group. As you are considering seasonal
products to add to our portfolio, I hope you will give careful review to the products that target this age group.

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 E-mail

Date: January 11th, This Year

Subject: Customer Base By Age Group
To: You, Manager Product Portfolio
From: Chris Ericson, COO Good Beer Brewing Co.

As you think about your plans for introducing two new seasonal products into our portfolio of products, please do not be
limited by our traditional methods for marketing products (e.g., radio and TV spots, print advertising, and billboard and bus
stop ads). I want you to develop an innovative approach to the marketing of these two new seasonal products. I believe that in
order to keep up with changes in media and the delivery of advertising content, we need to find new ways of promoting our
products. I believe that applying new and innovative approaches to marketing these products is the only way to ensure that
we achieve our target of 28% net revenue growth over last year.

I am working with the Marketing Director to develop a marketing budget for these two new seasonal products, but at this point
I do not want our creativity to be limited by a specific budget number. Please come to our meeting today with multiple
innovative, yet practical, ideas for marketing the two new seasonal products. Your creative ideas will help us determine the
appropriate budget for these two products.

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 E-mail (1/2)

Date: January 11th, This Year

Subject: Test Marketed Products – Results
To: You, Manager Product Portfolio
From: Richard Mahon, Manager Competitive Analysis

Since you have been asked to recommend two new seasonal products for our portfolio, I thought that some information on the
competition’s actions related to seasonal products might be of interest. I have provided information on our four largest
competitors.
1) In recent months, all four of our competitors focused their product development and their marketing to focus on the Spring
and Summer seasons.
- Great Lakes Brewing Company: recently introduced 3 new products specifically targeted to the Spring and Summer
Seasons, Great Lakes Wit Beer (with orange and coriander flavors), Huron Blueberry Ale, and Superior Ginger Flavor Ale
- Jacobsen Brewers have targeted their radio and TV spend on Spring and Summer Events such as, The Summer Olympics,
The World Cup, the All-Star Game (US), Soccer in selected cities, Cinco de Mayo (Mexico), Canada Day (Canada) The
Fourth of July (US), and Spring Festival (China).
- Hudson Brewing Company has followed an approach similar to Jacobsen and is specifically targeting major sporting events
occurring in the spring and summer months.
- Baja Brewing has created two new products: Baja Summer Pilsner, a slightly sweet, malty and hoppy tasting larger, and
Baja Maibock.

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 E-mail (2/2)

Date: January 11th, This Year

Subject: Test Marketed Products – Results
To: You, Manager Product Portfolio
From: Richard Mahon, Manager Competitive Analysis

2) Both Jacobsen and Baja Brewery have either eliminated fruit flavored beers from their portfolio or reduced production
volume and market spend on those products.
- Of the 3 fruit flavored products in their portfolio, Jacobsen has ceased production of Vanilla Porter, Watermelon Wheat, and
reduced production volume of Blueberry Ale by 25%.
- Baja Brewery has two fruit flavored beers in their portfolio. They have eliminated market funds for the promotion of their
Baja Berry Wheat beer. They have also ceased production of West Coast Peach Wheat beer.

3) All four major competitors are reducing their focus on products geared toward the winter months. Each of the major
competitors plan to reduce the volume they produce of their winter season beers.

4) There seems to be an increase focus on consumers who are 56 years or older.

- Great Lakes’ Huron Blueberry Ale and Superior Ginger are both geared toward the 56+ market.
- Both Jacobsen and Baja have targeted their print advertisement to magazines favored by readers 56 or older.
- Hudson has introduced a Pumpkin Ale that is specifically geared to the 56+ market segment.

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DIFFERENT LEVERS THAT CAN BE ACTIVATED IN A 360° CAMPAIGN
MEDIA & COMMUNICATION
Utilize Press Kits, PR, Events,
Livestreaming, Digital &
Influencers to communicate
about Corona in an authentic
way focusing on Better World
message
EVENTS & EXPERIENTIAL
Create a meaningful
activation story with a kick
off 1 or more key cities to
smaller activations in
coastal areas involving
consumers
PARTNERSHIPS & EVENTS
Amplification of activation &
experiential leveraging local
partnerships (eg. Italian
NGOs)
PACKAGING TRADE MARKETING
Special Edition Packs Develop marketing concept into
high visibility and super premium
execution in On & Off Trade to
drive ROS & increase penetration
ON-TRADE
WORK ON TWO LEVELS
CONSUMER: propose a mechanic that can
live in On trade bars and works on better
world concept
BAR STAFF: propose a mechanic that
engage the staff to propose Corona to
consumers leveraging better world concept
OFF-TRADE
PROMO ON PACK: propose a promo on pack
linked to better world concept
PROMO MECHANIC: propose a mechanic to
sustain rotations and volumes using better world
assets
14