Marketing BS mini-briefing: Athletic Brewing
A new experiment
The number one “complaint” I get from those who enjoy this newsletter is that both the essays and briefings are LONG. People say things like “I always read your essays, but I save them for when I have time”. I am glad people enjoy them, but I don’t relish the idea that I am adding to never-ending to-do lists.
The other common question I receive is, “how long does it take you to write these things?”. Longer than I would like. An essay usually takes me about a day, plus the time for my editor. The briefings take about 4 hours (plus the time to collect the links, which I would be doing anyway). This year I decided to re-prioritize how I would be spending my time, and the result was that the only content I have sent from Marketing BS has been podcasts with Peter Fader.
Starting today, I am going to try something new. I am going to share 1-3 pieces of marketing or technology news and give my take. I am going to try and do this with more regularity. The goal will be to provide value, but keep it short. Ideally you see Marketing BS in your inbox, and open it right away as you know you can get value, and it will be quick.
Let’s give it a go!
Athletic Brewing is a non-alcoholic beer manufacturer. They just launched a new coffee-based product with added protein, targeting the pre-workout market. Two lessons from this:
This is an example of targeting an “occasion”. The goal of marketing usually starts with obtaining awareness of a product. But awareness is not enough. In order for a product to be “selected” it needs to be CONSIDERED, and then win in the consideration set. Athletic Brewing is trying to to create consideration for their (weird) product for the “pre-workout occasion”. Good luck with that.
The target audience of any product is much bigger than most managers give it credit for. Gatorade “targets” athletes, but if it were only purchased by endurance athletes it would be a niche product. Instead its real audience is “people who want to feel good about drinking a sugary beverage”. If they are smart Athletic Brewing is using the “pre-workout occasion” to create awareness of their product, but the team internally understands they need to go after a much bigger market.
That’s it! I promised I would keep it short.
Keep it simple (and short),
Edward