Friday, January 31, 2020

Boston Beer Essay Example for Free

Boston Beer Essay The biggest strength of the company is the brand image it has among the consumers . Boston Beer , specifically the Samuel Adams ,well known from the superior quality and expensive ingredients used along with the traditional brewing techniques which give it an excellent flavor , which cannot be easily copied by the other competitors . In addition the use of less water in its products also has given it a positive advantage in terms of product quality . Weaknesses: Opportunities: The idea to continue to grow in the already overcrowded market of specialty brewers is critical to the success of this company. There are currently over thirteen hundred micro-brewers in the United States with The Boston Beer Company ranked number one in overall sales and sixth in the overall domestic market. Currently the Heineken and Corona brands rank ahead of Samuel Adams in this category in the world market. In the near future the company is leaning towards owning more breweries and cutting back on the contract brewers. Currently the different cost associated with contract brewing involves raw materials, excise taxes and deposits for pallets and kegs and specialized equipment required for beer production. Brewery ownership would involve significant capital investment which could easily exceed $50 million for the combination of purchase, expansion and improvement, or for original construction. Threats: In recent years, all brewers have had to contend with a stagnant beer market and per-capita consumption that is on the decline. The reasoning behind this ongoing trend are attributed to underlying factors such as the low carbohydrate diet rave that has taken off in recent years, the unstable economy, and an increase in market share of wines and spirits. BBC should attack the light beer market. Light beer is the largest selling type of beer on the market, and accounting for five of top ten best-selling beers. As light beer becomes more popular, BBC should listen to customers and follow the trend not to be behind, while others all producing light line of beers to catch more potential customers. BBC already has their own light beer, so they can save time and money to develop the whole new product. From the taste testing, Lightship receives the highest mark, implying that it has a strong potential to success when they approach in right way. It is more about how they introduce the product to the market, rather than inventing a new product. To survive in the strong competition and grab customers’ attention, BBC clearly need to differentiate the image of Lightship from other light beers. Research shows that most of current customers of light beers want different aspects from what Lightship is designed to be. Instead of targeting the same customers with other light beers, Lightship needs to focus on other, untouched customer segment, who seek for full flavor and body with lower calories. As the market tends to trade up to high-end brands, BBC’s brand image will help launch Lightship, emphasizing its high quality and authenticity. To attract first-try customers’, the label should be changed to be more vibrant and energetic, stressing the major images that people think of light beers. There is lot more to gain by having light beer segment than to lose by giving up. Each form of research performed gives the specific contribution depending on its characteristics. A taste test is exploratory research to gain ideas and customer insights. It is designed to explore customer’s perspectives, especially how customers sees Lightship among other competitors in this case. The result shows how much drinking beer counts for part of their lives and who the potential customers of Lightship are, and the valuable comments about major characteristics of beer that they find in each competing brand. This test tells what value customers seek for the most in light beer segment, giving ideas about how BBC should approach to market. Despite of strong brand recognition of Amstel Light, Lightship is ranked in first place, implying BBC should adopt a new way of advertising to increase the brand awareness. This test would be better with questions asking what aspects participants think Lightship should have. ZMET provides hidden knowledge with more depth by eliciting customers’ deepest feelings and emotions about the product. ZMET is a projective method that uncovers the thoughts and feelings associated with the experience of light beers. Even though there are some down sides of drinking beers, people find a lot more positive sides as they see drinking light beer as some kind of rewards, refreshing and energetic activity. This implies there is enough potential for light beer segment to grow much further. ZMET result also gives direction and guideline to BBC. Conducting ZMET certainly contribute to project underlying attitudes and feelings to help BBC to understand their target customers more deeply. However, because of small sample size, there could be limitation of getting broader perspectives. I would divide the sample by age and beer consumption level to get more clear ideas to attract more focused target intensely and effectively. Another qualitative research HBS students conduct is retail research, done through interviews, which generates general ideas of current market situation and how competitors are doing. This also gives brief hints of the price points Lightship should target. I would recommend HBS student to divide the sample groups by visiting habits of customers for each type of retailers. If BBC can find out the place where most potential customers of Lightship frequently goes, it would help reduce waste and backlog of the products produced in distribution process. For example, if customers of sport bar seem to prefer light beer than customers of chic French restaurant do, BBC can save their time and money by focusing on developing improved distribution line with sport bar. The summary collage of ZMET gives valuable ideas that consumers have about their experience with light beers. The most important image associated with light beer is energy and energy giving by offering refreshment. Another image the light beers have is being simple yet great in appearance and in taste. There is duality of the experience, while they see it as rewards but effects of alcohol makes them self-conscious. Sailing represents both calmness and thirst quenching flavor which is refreshing and cold with structure. There are several images representing group activity. People see drinking light beer as the activity that they do with others, which give them group awareness. They want to be in group but to be different from others by having control. People think that the types of beer they drink tell their social status, providing them with group identity. The dilemma of light beer is shown through the hula-hoops representing the balance and control. There are tensions between control and need of releasing inhibition, blandness and simplicity, need for self and group identity, being active and being passive. Since light beers seem to be more attractive to energetic young generation and people who do not drink beers regularly and do not enjoy the heavy taste of beer, having more knowledge of their potential customer group helps BBC to target their customers more effectively without wasting effort of targeting wrong customers. BBC also could have done research about what feature of Lightship people like and dislike. The feature that customers like about Lightship should be kept, and the feature with lower mark given should be altered or discontinued. What BBC can do now is to consider the appropriate way of advertising for Lightship. Research results prove that light beer market is still growing and there is nothing wrong with the quality of Lightship. It turns out to be the awareness of Lightship is low, implying their advertising methods are not eye-catching. By altering their way of advertising, BBC can gain more trial customers, who can be turned into loyal customers. Lightship also needs to target different customer segment, which looks for full body and flavor beer with lower calories. Rather than fighting directly with strong rivals, BBC should target other customer segments by stressing its unique quality and flavor. It is worth trying launching light beer segment.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

a story :: essays research papers

A story about Chinese spirits From Classical Chinese Talkes of the Supernatural Summary: In this story Huang Yuan wakes up one morning to find a black dog guarding his house and acting like it belonged there. So Huang took the dog hunting with him and his friends. When they saw a deer, Huang let the dog loose but the dog ran too slowly and they were not able to catch the deer. Then the dog led them to a cave. After walking a bit inside the cave there were lots of trees in rows surrounded by a wall. The dog led Huang through the gate and there was a row of houses. He noticed that every single person in the ‘village’ were attractive well dressed girls. All of the girls were occupied in some sort of amusing leisurely activity: some were playing instruments and others were playing chess. After reaching the northern pavilion, Huang came across three rooms, there were two girls standing guard who smiled when they saw him as though they were expecting him. They said that the black dog had brought Miao-yin’s groom. One kept guard outside, the other went in and a few minutes later four maids came out. They told Huang that the Lady of Supreme Purity had this message for him: â€Å"I have a young daughter who has just pinned up her hair. According to a preordained decree, she should become your wife† (As noted in the footnotes, at 15 girls would pin up their hair to signify their coming of age). So Huang met Miao-yin in a magical looking room where he was impressed by her beauty and charm, they did the marriage vows and went to bed happily together that night. In a few days the groom wanted to go home to see his family and tell them what happened for a little while. His bride is sad b/c she lets him know that men and spirits have different ways of life and that they were not meant to be together for long. She lets him go, and tells him that the fact she will never see him again makes her love him all the more. She asked him that he show his feelings for her by fasting, purifying and making sacrifice on the first day of the third month. He was home before the end of one day after being escorted out of the cave by maids, however his memory was a little foggy.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

Cultural Change and Shifting Views of America Essay

The Chicago World’s Fair in 1893 was a huge event! Not only because the World’s fair is a big deal, but this particular World’s fair was a hard one for Chicago to get. Many other big cities put in their bids to host the event, including New York and Washington D.C. On May 1, 1893, the gates opened at the World’s Columbian Exposition. This fair which was meant to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ first voyage also served as a showcase for a fully rebuilt Chicago. †At the core of the fair was an area that quickly became known as the White City for its buildings with white stucco siding and its streets illuminated by electric lights† (Maranzani, 2013). The Ashcan school was a group of New York city artists who wanted to capture the turn of the 20th century in New York city through realistic portraits of everyday life. These artists captured all aspects. Not just the rich and promising on Fifth Avenue, but the lower class and culturally textured immigrants. Some critics of the time did not like their choice of subjects which often included slums, alleys, and taverns that were frequented by the local working class. The Gilded age was a time when many changes in America were taking place. The economy was flourishing and so was art. Painters were depicting a realistic look at all the glories and hardships of the new age. Wealthy Americans wanted to fill their homes with beautiful things and yearned to have their image captured for posterity by having their portraits painted. These two times have something in common. Both include art that depicted realism and the things going on around them. While both covered the high and the low times, the gilded age was a postwar era that marked a cultural change for the country. Painters in this era like Winslow Homer gained fame for realistic illustrations of the Civil War. Culture inspires art. A lot of artist paint what they know or the things around them. Culture survives man through many things such as, music,  poetry, sculptures, architecture, etc. These things are all art. Think back to the ancient times that we study. Hieroglyphics were a form of communication which used pictures to convey messages. This is part of Egyptian culture, yet it is art at the same time. Art and culture is how humanity makes sense of and shares the world around us. References Maranzani, B., (2013). 7 Things You May Not Know About the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/news/7-things-you-may-not-know-about-the-1893-chicago-worlds-fair U.S History, (n.d.). Painting the Gilded Age. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/us/38f.asp Boundless, (n.d.), The Rise of Realism. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/race-empire-and-culture-in-the-gilded-age-1870-1900-21/the-rise-of-realism-161/the-rise-of-realism-861-10326/

Monday, January 6, 2020

The State of Wyoming and Energy Resources - 727 Words

The State of Wyoming has been described as one of most prolific states as far as energy resources are concerned. Please provide your take on this states resources and how they are being utilized. Does the state have a plan on how to curtail pollution in the long-run? Wyoming accounts for a major percentage of coal mined all over the United States. Wyomings Powder River Basin holds the eight largest coal mines of the United States. Wyoming obtains more than 90% of the state’sdomestic coal from Wyoming. The state is also good in the production of natural gas. Due to the excess usage of fuels, the people of the state are facing issues such as watery eyes, breath shortnessand bleeding noses due to the rise in the ozone levels.The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality warned the people with respiratory symptoms to avoid extended outdoor activities (Reynolds, 2013). In order to overcome the problems associated with the use of resources that causes pollution,the state should employ renewable sources of energy. Wyoming has abundant renewable energy resources. 47 percent of the total energy used in the United States can be obtained from Wyoming alone (Reynolds, 2013).The state adheres to the federal standards for air pollutants that are hazardous to health.The Department of Environmental Quality of Wyoming monitors the air resources by conducting inspections to keep the atmosphere clean. There are two types of minerals that we find in Earth - rock-forming and ore minerals.Show MoreRelatedWestern Ecosystems Technology Vs. Greenhunter Wind Energy1389 Words   |  6 PagesEcosystems Technology v. GreenHunter Wind Energy LCC. GreenHunter Resources, Inc. is a publicly-traded company from Delaware that focuses on water management solutions for oil and gas operations in the Eagle Ford, Marcellus and Bakken shale basins. 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Energy975 Words   |  4 PagesWhat’s next for U.S. energy? The coal industry in the United States has been a substantial job industry in states such as Wyoming, Kentucky, and Ohio providing up to over 76,000 mining careers in 2014 that area essential for the areas surrounding the mines but employment number is less than that of Arby’s, the fast food chain (Ingraham 2017). This size of the career poll brings into question what direction would be most beneficial for the United States in terms of our energy industries and where