In their article, the Brewer’s Association states:

In 2009, craft brewers represented 4.3 percent of volume and 6.9 percent of retail dollars for the total U.S. beer category. With the total U.S. beer industry representing an estimated retail dollar value of $101 billion, the Brewers Association estimates the actual dollar sales figure from craft brewers in 2009 was $7 billion, up from $6.3 billion in 2008.

In the grand scheme of things, craft beer is still the needle in the haystack, but these figures have some profound implications.  First of all, Americans are drinking considerably less beer.  A nationwide drop of two percent is no small margin.  Second, some are clearly transmigrating to different suds.  And thirdly, and most importantly to me, there is room for considerable growth in the craft community, and people are ready for it.

The beauty of capitalism (sorry Michael Moore…I do know it has its flaws) is that it is very responsive to market conditions:  A struggling giant inadvertently opens the door for the little guy.  An investor who reads these figures will be less inclined than before to get in bed with a company like inBev and more interested in getting in on the ground level with a micro brewery start up…perhaps the start up that Mike and I dream of every night.

Case in point, us beer geeks aren’t the only ones to take notice of our small victory:

The 2009 growth and popularity of beer from small and independent breweries did not go unnoticed by industry observers. The National Restaurant Association Chef Survey (see results), for example, cited “locally-produced wine and beer” among its top five overall trends to watch for in 2010. In the alcohol and cocktails category, the organization ranked “locally-produced wine and beer” as its top trend, while “food-beer pairings” came in at number five on the list.

Little by little, people are tiring of conglomorate.    Herd mentality is waning.   The same capitalistic system that grew some of the beer giants to their inflated sizes is now the force that is humbling them. This gives me hope.

In my opinion, craft beer will never completely overtake big beer as long as American’s continue to bow before the one eyed monster in our living room that boasts of the macro brewers marketing budget.  Besides this, the magnanimous nature of the craft brewer has little to no room for contested market space, dollar motivated mergers/takeovers, and all around consumerism.

At this point, while I rejoice over craft beer’s growth and will continue to do so in subsequent years, I don’t mind that it is still a part of the minority/margin (and not just because my arrogance craves the esoteric).  Should the big boys completely fail and we were to wake up tomorrow with InBev, Molson-Coors, etc. a thing of the past, I would hope that marginal mom & pop diversified nature of craft beer continued on.

Here’s to all the micro and craft brewers out there eking out a living for our sake!  Cheers!

Spread the Word:

Macro brewers, on the other hand, are less product oriented and more trend oriented.  Instead of drumming up a reputation for the flavor of the beer, the macro brewer seems to drum a reputation for the brand of the beer.  On Super Bowl Sunday do the Macro Beer commercials lure you with testimonials of great pilsner flavor, or funny cool singing frogs?

Thus said, I find myself enjoying beer marketing in a what-are-they-going-to-think-up-next sense.  That is, how will these macros convince the next generation of college kids their beer is the cool beer.  This is an important task, because for the most part, like Nascar fans, macro beer drinkers are loyal to their brand.

Which brings me Natural Light’s latest campaign.

Like every campaign in its class it is over the top.  It is inundated with cool lingo and hip fonts.  There are sexy people.  There are cool college kids. And there is absolutely no mention of the flavor of Natural Light.  Natural Light is making up or their obvious ommission with the creation of new beer terminology, that when effectively placed in an ad, communicates, “you better be drinking Natty Light, or you’re screwed.”  What are these new words soon to be found in Webster’s?  Nattyisms. The first Nattyism I first saw on a billboard down the street from my house and it read:  “Natastrophe:  Proper description of when you have run out of Natty Light at the party.”

It’s brilliant.  It subtly states that a party just isn’t a party without their beer.  It buys into the brand of American consumerism that preys upon individual insecurities and yearning for the “in crowd.” What better way to coax a clueless college kid to buy your beer?

Oh Rugged Individualism, where are you?   Oh yeah…in the craft beer aisle.

Go ahead…mosey on over to the Natural Light website and indulge in pop marketing.  You know you can’t wait to see what nattyisms Natural Light and their following (the site invites consumer intellect in the form of nattyism submissions) have cooked up.

What is your definition of a Natastrophe?

What are your thoughts on Macro Marketing?

Spread the Word: