Mountain Man Brewing Company Case

What has made MMBC successful and distinguishes it from competitors?

Mountain Man Brewing Company has managed to keep its competitive edge in an increasingly competitive beer market. The reasons that helped them become successful are:

* The quality of the beer which was the product of a carefully reformulated old family recipe using high quality ingredients, resulting in a distinctively bitter flavor and a slightly than average alcohol content.

* The brand that affects the consumer’s buying decision on several factors including taste, price, the celebration, the perceived quality, brand image, tradition, and authenticity. Its brand awareness is among the highest in the beer industry, being just as recognizable among working-class males in the East Central region as Chevrolet and John Deere.

* The consumers targeted which are blue collar, middle-to-lower income men over the age of 45. Its core drinking population has helped the brand create a legacy by making it known as “West Virginia’s beer” in part because of its high loyalty rate compared to other competitors. As a result the beer has been holding the top market position among lagers in West Virginia for almost 50 years, which further adds to its outstanding legacy.

* The heritage it carries as an independent family owned brewery and award winning beer. Its history and status creates a unique sense of authenticity among its core drinkers. Furthermore, the beer has an outstanding “pedigree” of consecutive victories at the regional and national level.

* The marketing strategy that focuses on grass-root marketing to spread its beer quality message by word of mouth has proven more effective than traditional advertising, which is popular among competitors.

What has caused MMBC's decline in spite of its strong brand?

MMBC’s decline was the result of a mix between changing trends in the general beer market and the market MMBC covers. The reasons that caused MMBC’s decline are:

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