Week 3 – Issues for Debate: “Chick Beer”
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Note: This scenario is related to your reading, “Business-Level Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantages.”
Shazz Lewis is aiming to shake up the beer business by entering with a brew aimed specifically at women. On its website, Chick beer is described as “the only beer brand designed for women, who drink 25 percent of all beer sold in the US.” Shazz got the inspiration for Chick beer when she was looking over the more than 400 beers sold in the liquor store that she and her husband owned. She concluded, ‘”there was nothing that shouted out female.” Since women consume 700 million cases of beer a year, she saw this as a market that hasn’t received enough focus.
To best reach her target market of 21 to 35-year-old women, she crafted it to be low in calories (only 97) and have a “very mellow beer flavor” with a little less carbonation “so it doesn’t make you burp.” Still, she says this is not a weak beer. “‘It needed to be a stand-up beer—not fruity-flavored, as full-bodied as a light beer could be.” Turning to the look of the product, she designed the packaging to highlight the brand’s image. The cardboard carrier is hot pink and black in the image of a purse and includes the tagline “witness the chickness.” The bottle labels show the image of a little black dress on a hot pink background. This all has led Megan Gibson. a correspondent for Time magazine, to call the brand “‘patronizing.” Jennifer Litz, editor of Craft Business daily, commented that some beer drinkers may believe “it’s a bit too obviously pandering to create a beer specifically geared toward women.” When Lewis was questioned on the brand name and the packaging, she commented, “I happen to think all things chick are terrific. I came up with a slogan that was a little in your face. It was empowering to turn it on its head.”
Discussion Questions
Is the name and packaging of Chick beer patronizing to women, or is it empowering to turn what has been, at times, a derogatory term on its head?
How effectively does Chick beer create differentiation to draw in female beer drinkers? How successful do you think the brand could be?
What recommendations would you have for Shazz Lewis to enhance her chances of success in the beer market?
Answer the prompt and respond to at least two of your peers’ posts. You must make an initial post before you are able to view the posts of your peers. To view the discussion board rubric, click the three dots in the upper right corner and select “Show Rubric.”
