Strawberry Flavoured Beer Produced by Sydney-Based Brewery - Zeven Lemon Beerworks - Case Study Example

NEW PRODUCT ANALYSIS by Student’s Name       Code+ Course Name Professor’s Name University Name City Date Introduction Today, new products and services are developed and introduced in the market every day as the population continues to rise at a steady rate. Currently, the world’s population is estimated to stand at 7.2 billion people, with most of them living in less developed countries (Population Reference Bureau, 2014, p. 1). This means that products and services need to be developed at the same rate to match the rising global population. Many products and services are developed every day and launched into the market in different sectors of the economy. According to Comparative Performance Assessment Study (2003, ppt 4.), for every 100 ideas developed, 30 make it through development, 30 make it through testing, approximately 25 become commercialized, and 15 of those commercialized are successful. Success rate has been determined to be higher in healthcare, reaching 65% and lower in consumer commodities, which is at 51%. With that literature in mind, it becomes easier to understand why careful planning is needed in carrying out processes involved in launching a new product. This essay will analyze the process that companies follow from generating product/service concepts through launching the product on the market. The product considered in this essay is strawberry flavoured beer, produced by Sydney-based brewery- Zeven Lemon Beerworks. Identification of the Market Today, markets are becoming more interdependent and competitive, while consumers become more selective because of the wide array of products available to them. As such, companies are concerned with and dependent on product differentiation to be able to control portions of the markets they operate in (Lhotáková & Klosová, 2009, p. 3). Australian beer market is filled with several producers that entering into it with similar, undifferentiated product would mean instant failure. On the other hand, Australian beer market is big and is currently experiencing a slow but steady increase, which means that there is a future market for new products or companies (Corti & Ibrahim, 1990, p. 625-32). The 50+ age group has experienced an increase in beer drinkers as the population increases in that age group. The number of young drinkers between the ages of 18-24 and 25-34 has declined slightly. However, on the average, the amount of alcohol consumed by Australians has increased (Woodcock, n.d, p. 1-4). Besides the large and ever-growing beer market in Australia, which provides an opportunity for the entrance of other companies and success for new brands of beer, Zeven Lemon Beerworks’ founder Leimin Duong also saw another gap in the market. She understood that some Australians did not like beer that was too bitter or too sweet. They wanted something in between, with “the crisp taste of beer and the fruit appeal of cider”. Leimin Duong thought that this group of people would be heavy consumers of the strawberry flavoured beer that she developed (AFN, 2015, n.p). Product Concept Generation Product concept generation is a very important process in everyday life. Wallas created the one of the first models of creativity by dividing the creative process into four stages, that is, preparation, incubation, illumination, and verification. During preparation, all relevant knowledge about the product is gathered (Herring, 2009, p. 1). In this case, Duong got the idea of strawberry beer from an article that had information about a strawberry beer in Holland. From that, she started to learn how to brew and soon produced the beer. According to AFN (2015, n.p), she is an ex-corporate worker who quit her job to pursue passion for beer. She wanted to achieve a blend between malted barley, hops, and wheat and strawberry juice. The blend was to give a light, crisp and refreshing flavoured beer with a subtle fruit flavor. The initial taste is bitter when drinking, but culminates into a fruity sweetness. The aging population, which is also the largest consumer of beer in Australia prefers beer that is not too bitter like the traditional ones. Duong thought that the idea of blending strawberry with malted wheat, hops, and barley would produce an averagely bitter beer that would suit the aging population perfectly (Bethany, n.d, n.p). The beer is packed in 330ml bottles. The verification process was attained through testing of the beer’s performance in Sydney since 2013 and now the product is being taken nationwide. Concept Analysis before Development When one is involved in the process of brainstorming or coming up ideas – ideation- they are likely to come up with several different ideas that must be screened, sorted, and evaluated in order to pick the best of them all. According to Nobel (2013, n.p), evaluating the ideas before choosing one is of utmost importance. Clustering becomes important after a brainstorming session so as to be able to come up with the best solution to the problem. When ideas are grouped together, potential gaps or biases can be identified in the proposed solution. Additionally, grouping ideas allows for creativity such as combination of ideas to achieve a unique possibility. Brainstorming in the development of strawberry beer by Duong happened when she was reading the article on strawberry beer in Holland. After gaining the idea about possibility of developing a beer that is not traditionally bitter and not too sweet like strawberry, she started learning how to make the product. She researched the Australian beer market and consumption trends as well as demographic factors. She learned that old people drunk more beer and beer consumption was generally on the rise. Therefore, she knew that she could develop a solution to solve the gap in what is on the market and what the old people actually want. Such a brand was not currently being produced in Australia, making a market niche to exist. Duong exploited the market niche and lack of competition in strawberry beer. Analysis of the market led to launching of the product in Sydney alone to avoid market uncertainties and reduced sales due to entrance of competition. Even now, there is no competition in this brand of beer in Australia, which makes the product to continue enjoying tremendous amount of success, especially in the city of Sydney. At the time of developing strawberry blonde, there was already a rising trend in cider and product that provides a crossover for beer drinkers to cider would be helpful. People prefer cider more these days and hence would like a beer-cider blend. According to the producer’s CEO, Leimin Duong, the beer has been received very well by both men and women, which makes it a unisex product. Lack of beers that were preservative-free also made it necessary to develop one (Drink bulletin, 2015, n.p). Product Development Duong started to learn how to develop beer immediately after she read the article on strawberry beer. She experimented by blending fruit into beer. From her efforts, she learned that combining strawberry juice and malted barley and wheat produced a taste that was “not too bitter but not too sweet”. The development process took a few years and involved several blending experiments to achieve the ultimate product that was finally launched into the markets. The final product was a perfect balance between cider and beer, with a moderate taste for people who like beer, but do not prefer its traditional bitter taste. Duong takes very keen interest in the production process given that she has great passion for beer herself. She quit her career to pursue passion for beer. She monitors the whole process from mixing and bottling to packaging to ensure that everything is done in the correct way (Drink bulletin, 2015, n.p; Bethany, n.d, n.p). The development process did not involve changes in the initial product. Duong had seen the gap in the market from the beginning and wanted to produce a product that would fill that market. Therefore, the product was never changed. The alcohol content in the beer has also remained constant at 4.0% like it was envisioned initially during the concept generation phase. Most importantly, the strawberry blonde beer was developed to be free of preservatives whatsoever (Bethany, n.d, n.p). Product Launch The product was launched in the year 2013 in Sydney alone. Launching in Sydney alone was meant to give the company time to observe how consumers receive and react to the new product. So far, Duong has said that the product was received well by both male and female beer drinkers. The nationwide launching of the product began this year and it can be bought at Dan Murphy’s online and Beer Bud among other stores. On 12th of March, 2015, the company maintained a stall at Taste of Sydney, while in January a stall was maintained at Food Wine Expo on the Gold Coast. In November of 2014, Zeven Lemon Beerworks also hosted a pop-up bar at Taste of Melbourne and other bars at Good Food & Wine in Sydney and Brisbane (Zevenlemon.com, 2015, n.p). Apparently, the company has been active in launching the beer through hosting stalls and bars at various events in the neighborhood of Sydney (Drink bulletin, 2015, n.p; Bethany, n.d, n.p). The nationwide campaign is targeting all major beer outlets, wholesalers, and retailers to ensure that the product is available in the whole nation. Internet advertisement plus other forms of advertisement are in heavy use to launch the product with strength (Drink bulletin, 2015, n.p; Bethany, n.d, n.p). Recommendations about Staying in the Market It is most likely that competition will set in as Zeven Lemon Beerworks continues to experience success with its new product in the Australian beer market. To keep competitors at bay and grasp the market more strongly, the company will need to differentiate the brand so that future brands are made of brands with other fruits rather than strawberry alone. Secondly, the company will need to boost its production and marketing campaigns so that the product has a deeper reach in the beer market all over the country and if possible abroad. Bigger companies with more production stand a better chance at fighting competition and remaining in the market. If research can be done to achieve optimum mixing conditions to cut down on costs and lower product price, it would be give the company a competitive advantage against competitors. Since the beer currently only comes in a 330ml bottle, it would be best to introduce different bottle sizes to suit different consumers. Additionally, the alcohol content can be varied in various products to suit different customers, especially those who prefer higher alcohol content in beer. Conclusion In conclusion, introduction of new products in the market is a challenging task that requires careful planning. Even after introducing a product or service and experiencing some success, it is not guarantee that the success will continue unless careful planning and adjustments are made. In the Australian beer industry, the strawberry lemon blonde is a new product that has caught the attention of both male and female drinkers, but the success is likely not to last long before competition sets in. To keep up with possible competition, product differentiation, price competition, and mass production are some of the strategies that Zeven Lemon Beerworks can adopt. References AFN. (2015). Accessed 26/3/15 from http://ausfoodnews.com.au/2015/03/25/sydney-brewer-launches-strawberry-flavoured-beer-to-australian-market.html Bethany. (n.d). Sydney Strawberry Beer. Accessed 26/3/15 from http://foodi.com.au/sydney-strawberry-beer/ Comparative Performance Assessment Study. (2003). Product and service innovation management. Lecture week 1 Corti, B., & Ibrahim, J. (1990). Women and alcohol--trends in Australia. The Medical Journal of Australia, 152(12), 625-632. Drinks Bulleting. (2015). Bridging the Gap Between Beer and Cider – Zeven Lemon Strawberry Blonde. Accessed 26/3/15 from http://drinksbulletin.com.au/2015/02/bridging-the-gap-between-beer-and-cider-zeven-lemon-strawberry-blonde/ Herring, S. R., Jones, B. R., & Bailey, B. P. (2009, January). Idea generation techniques among creative professionals. In System Sciences, 2009. HICSS'09. 42nd Hawaii International Conference on (pp. 1-10). IEEE. Lhotáková, M., & Klosová, A. (2009). Identification of a Target Consumer in Process Of Positioning-Theoretical and Practical Aspects. Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, 17(3), 3-24. Nobel, M. (2013). Product Concept Generation. Accessed 26/3/15 from http://sites.tufts.edu/eeseniordesignhandbook/2013/product-concept-generation/ POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU. (2014). WORLD POPULATION DATA SHEET. Accessed 26/3/15 from http://www.prb.org/pdf14/2014-world-population-data-sheet_eng.pdf Woodcock, N. (n.d). Beer Trends in Australia. Roy Morgan Research Zevenlemon. (2015). Stockists. Accessed 26/3/15 from http://zevenlemon.com.au/stockists Read More