The End of History
A few weeks ago, one of the engineers forwarded a link on a BBC article about dead animals being used for beer bottles. BrewDog, a small brewery located in Fraserburgh in Scotland introduced a limited supply of The End of History beer with the bottle is encased around a taxidermy animal. Now, my initial reaction was to revolt, but I stopped to think about the marketing aspect of this product. Was the company trying to commit suicide by soliciting the negative reactions from animal activists, or was it truly an innovation marketing strategy to create buzz?
So I began my quest to learn more.
Two childhood friends and young entrepreneurs, who had little experience in the brewing industry, founded BrewDog in 2007. Martin Dickie and James Watt had a vision to break into the mainstream brewing industry by providing an alternative, world-class beer with a bite. From the beginning, they chose to fly in the face of industry convention and traditional marketing strategies. Being naturally outspoken, they began their quest to break the mold of the staid brewing industry. These describe themselves as “14 beer nuts….from six different countries”, which gives them a combination of unique ideas and knowledge they can leverage for a competitive advantage.
The company began brewing a wide variety of alternative beers with names like Trashy Blonde, Punk IPA, Paradox, and Tactical Nuclear Penguin, each having a higher alcoholic content. They embarked on a mission to brew the strongest beer and introduced Sink the Bismark, boasting an ABV (Alcohol By Volume) of 41%. Not to be outdone, their German rivals, Schorschbrau, released a 43% beer. The BrewDog team took the challenge and released its limited supply of The End of History, boasting a 51% ABV.
Now this is not just a story about beer. It is also an entrepreneurial success story. In an article by Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, the author states ”it is not only in entrepreneurial marketing that Brewdog excels, but also financial vision. In January 2010, the company raised £503,000 in shares sold on the internet via their ‘Business Equity for Punks’ scheme which is the first time this strategy has been used in Europe. BrewDog has also teamed up with American entrepreneurs Keith Greggor and Tony Foglio to target the American market.”
Island Summer Ale
BrewDog demonstrates that innovation comes in many forms. So, as we sample our Virgin Islands Island Summer Ale, by St. John Brewers, and try to find something tasty to say about it, perhaps we should consider finding a Tactical Nuclear Penguin and have a sip of innovation.
Tell us what you think.
