sweetwater monday night young
TRANSCRIPT
DRINK IT UP: SWEETWATER BREWING CO V. MONDAY NIGHT BREWING
A comparison of digital
initiatives in the craft beer
industry
AGENDA
Company Overview
Industry Considerations
Facebook Strategy
Twitter Strategy
Instagram Strategy
Takeaway and Recommendations
COMPANY OVERVIEW: SWEETWATER BREW Came to Atlanta in 1996 for the Olympics
Officially founded in 1997, shifted locations in 2004
West-coast influenced regional brewery
Located in Atlanta and available in roughly 15 states
Notable brews: 420, Blue, IPA, Georgia Brown, Take Two Pils, and Hops Hash
Special events: 420 Fest (in its 11th year)
“Don’t float the mainstream”
COMPANY OVERVIEW: MONDAY NIGHT BREWING Founded in 2006 after beginning to brew beers in a Bible Study Group
Began contract brewing in 2011 and eventually opened brewery for public tours in 2013
Classified as microbrewery
Located in Atlanta and available in Southeast
Notable brews: Fu Manbrew, Eye Patch Ale, Drafty Kilt, Nerd Alert, and Blind Pirate
Total production: 10 beers, under 15,000 barrels yearly
“Weekends are overrated”
A NOTE ABOUT CRAFT BEER
In the state of Georgia, breweries cannot make direct sales of beer on the premises. In order to thrive, these brewers offer public tours which allows guests to receive a glass and sample some of the beers along the way. These strict regulations have also forced an alliance between most craft beer producers across the state, so the breweries compete in a different sense than other industries. While Monday Night Brewing and SweetWater both want to succeed, their success does not come at the expense of the other. Since SweetWater is a more established business in terms of longevity, each business has something to learn from one another. Monday Night Brewing can learn a lot from SweetWater’s example, but SweetWatermust also learn from Monday Night’s innovations as well to benefit the craft beer industry as a whole.
Pictured: Map of all craft breweries across Georgia
SWEETWATER BREWING CO Facebook Strategy
FACEBOOKSweetWater excels at highlighting partnerships and making use of user-generated content. With 83,281 likes, the Facebook page shares primarily images of their beers and keeps their brand vision front and
center. The idea of “Don’t float the mainstream” comes through on nearly every post, and their Facebook has a strong philanthropic and event connection. It should be noted that there exists a separate Facebook page for the 420Fest, which will occur April 17-19 in Atlanta. SweetWater, however, is missing a huge opportunity to build the community – there is no interaction between the posts to page and SweetWater. Multiple reviews, new customers, and even events seem to be ignored when observing this vital area for communication. This makes the use of user-generated content seem shallow and lazy instead of encouraging to the community on Facebook.
Average
Engagement:
Likes Comments Shares
January 131 8 8
February 134 9 4
March 157 10 14
MONDAY NIGHT BREWING Facebook Strategy
Average
Engagement:
Likes Comments Shares
January 152 12 3
February 125 7 0
March 265 21 16
While Monday Night only has 30,021 likes, the Facebook page shines
as an example of building engagement among fans. Overall,
engagement was higher and the page was cleaner – information is condensed and more user-
friendly. Although they too ignore the posts by others on their page, Monday Night has the
advantage over SweetWater in its ability to provide pertinent information without losing the
audience. Promotions for new beers are done artfully so that the consumer feels affinity more
than annoyance. Also by posting less often, this content feels more carefully selected. Monday
Night features its reviews and visits upfront, which offers a good understanding of how
consumers feel about the brewery. One thing that seemed to missing from the page was
promotion of in-house events, such as Prom Night – had there been more visibility,
there could have been a larger turnout for the event.
FACEBOOK: THE WINNER?
SweetWater Monday Night
Better overall engagement
Content more meaningful
Maintaining humor and brand voice while
promoting product consistently
More user-friendly
SWEETWATER BREWING CO Twitter Strategy
SweetWater leads craft beer not just for Georgia, but for the Southeast. It’s amassed 50, 130 followers since 2009, and it continues to grow. SweetWater possesses a deep understanding of Twitter not solely because of its ability to interact: the Twitter showcases 5 lists created by SweetWater to better identify important people to the brand and to the industry. One titled “Beer Bloggers and Tweeters” makes it clear that the brewery understands the potential power for the social network. There are 59people on the list, and SweetWater shouldleverage this community even more. Also, SweetWater’s twitter is impressive because ofthe combined replies and retweets of bothconsumers and competitors.
MONDAY NIGHT BREWING Twitter Strategy
TWITTERMonday Night does a great job when brought into the conversation, but rarely do they start the banter. Their wit comes through on replies and mentions, but the majority of content outside of these interactions are tweets of Instagram posts. This network has a lot of potential for the
microbrewery, but Monday Night needs to better focus on an official strategy for content and consider how to leverage more passionate followers. The Twitter is in its earlystages, but Monday Night is on its way to being a social success.
TWITTER: THE WINNER?
SweetWater Monday Night
More timely responses
Interacts with competitors, customers, and
other relevant contacts more often
Stronger visual content
Better used for event and product marketing
SWEETWATER BREWING CO Instagram Strategy
INSTAGRAM SweetWater has made 66 posts in 3 months and engages 23.4k
followers regularly. To be blunt, SweetWater gets Instagram. In
addition to using photos from followers, the brewery uses its beer in
photos related to current events. When the ice storm hit Atlanta, they
announced tour closing with a beer among ice cubes, making light of
the ice that hit the city last year. Even though most content are pictures
of SweetWater beers out in the world, it contributes to a consistent
branding of adventure and showcases the motto of “don’t float the
mainstream”. The top post from 2015 (as of March 10) is shown on
the left with 1,119 likes and 99 comments.
MONDAY NIGHT BREWING Instagram Strategy
Monday Night only had 11 posts in 3 months on Instagram – the highest
number of likes and comments were 423 and 33, respectively. With a
target demographic that relies heavily on mobile, Monday Night could be
using this platform a lot more not only to connect with consumers but to
establish better relationships with other businesses to increase distribution
and awareness among the craft beer community. They have amassed an
impressive 4,546 followers and only follow 371 on the network. Their
images are engaging, but there are 102 tagged photos of them unused
just from the past three months. Monday Night should be leveraging user-
generated content both through reposting and replying to their consumers
on the network.
At a glance…
4,546 followers
Average likes: 212
Average comments: 12
Tagged photos: 102
Only used 3 hashtags in 3 months
INSTAGRAM: THE WINNER?
SweetWater Monday Night
Effectively uses user-
generated content
Visuals more appealing
More consistent posting and
engagement
Quality and quantity of
followers exceeds Monday
Night’s following
OTHER CONSIDERATIONSBecause of the reality of beer distribution limitations, these breweries often use events to enhance the experience of the brewery and to contribute to the overall brand.
SweetWater wins in this category because its events (420 Fest, 420 5k) not only keep the brand top-of-mind, but also these events best reflect social entrepreneurship which is so integral to the brewery. Also, their social media better advertises these events. Monday Night can use this as a lesson to make sure their events reflect all aspects of their brewery.
Also, breweries are aware of the app Untappd, and SweetWater outpaces Monday Night in all aspects: activity, photos, visits, and followers.
Both breweries should also more fully develop their blogs and scheduling patterns.
THE TAKEAWAY Who’s the winner?
SWEETWATER BREWING CO Power on Twitter and Instagram give SweetWater the ultimate advantage
SweetWater can improve their social by curating content more carefully
The brewery’s ability to create a two-sided conversation combined with the longevity of the business will fuel SweetWater’s lead for craft beer around Georgia
SweetWater should use their business relations as a chance to build stronger distribution networks and to capitalize on their brand humor and tone
Monday Night can learn from the established brewery by incorporating the end consumer more often and more artfully
Both breweries are strong in different aspects, but recognizing the partnership and building on the relationship between them could help the industry as a whole
Recommended action: combined event marketing and more interaction between influential customers and the brewery
Additional actions: blog and websites should better be integrated into social strategy