A Beer Using Crowd Sourcing?

[nzbrewer]

So is this going to happen?

Can't see how it is going to work to get anything other than Speight's?

[Dan]

Check out my post below - I've added a document that's an overview of what we're offering. We've put as much thought into this as we can without having a brewery partner on board, so I totally agree that if a quality microbrewery got invovled it could lead to something awesome

[Tony]

Well put Andrew.

[Dan]

Hi all,

My name is Dan Phillips, I'm one of the co-founders of OurBrew.

This thread has been intriguing reading. While a majority of you are skeptical about it working, I'm happy that we've got people talking about it. Thanks for taking the time to discuss the concept on this forum.

I've read some of the thoughts and questions you guys have had about OurBrew and thought I should try and respond to your comments so that you can understand a bit more about what we are trying to do with this project .

First up however, we want to dicsuss how we came up with OurBrew in a bit more detail so you can understand the thinking behind it.

Danis & I are from an advertsing background where we work (or have worked) on some of NZ's largest beer brands which has enabled us to develop a pretty solid understanding of how brands function within the beer market. We were intrigued in the crowdsourcing model used in other industries overseas such as the ones as shown on www.trendwatching.com and springwise.com and applied this to beer to come up with OurBrew.

With our advertising backgrounds, our focus has been on utilising OurBrew as a brand building vehicle - we don't have a brewing background and that's why we want to team up with an existing brewery so they can take care of the bits that they are best at.

We reckon NZ is a perfect place for a concept like OurBrew to blow up - we now just need to find a brewery who is willing to put it on the line a little and give it a crack, in return for giving their brewery/brand local & international exposure. And we're really lucky here as there are heaps of awesome micro breweries that make fantastic beer that we could team up with

We know that having a crowd make decision means losing control of the brew, which may result in a an average beer. However, we feel this is very much controllable by the brewer we work with. Our intention is to offer the crowd a few great beer options of which they can choose their favourite. It's a challenge for the brewer, but there is no reason we couldn't acheive this.

In addition to this, if we can introduce a crowd of enthusiastic advocates behind this new brand, imagine the impact this could have from a business perspective. (I know thats risky talk in this forum - realbeer is all about the beer, not about the business)

Hopefully this gives you all a clearer idea of the vision for OurBrew. I've added our summary/pitch document onto this thread - It'd be great if you guys could have a read & let us know what you think. If you want some more in-depth info, give us a yell too.

Cheers

Dan

[Mike Shadow]

I thought everyone in advertising knew research kills the best ideas. And you're generating a product from research? Trading off quality for brand loyalty and engagement? Interesting, and if we were to look at the NZ beer market, you might say a proven formula.

Which Agency will be developing the product packaging/advertising/pos/etc?

Surely you'll let the punters have a call on this too, to give them brand ownership?

Costs for this will be charged to the brewer? Ballpark idea of what this costs?

The 500 people you've got signed on already, do they make a financial contribution or just form your database?

Out of interest, what Beer brands and campaigns have you worked on?

And why not do this directly with that client if you have the relationship?

[Mike Shadow]

>
> Out of interest, what Beer brands and campaigns have you worked on?

[Dan]

Hi Mike,

I've worked on a number of campaings for major NZ beers, covering mainstream, premium & (big brewery) craft over the last 18 months. OurBrew is a seperate project which I am pursuing outside of my day job. Apologies if this seems evasive, but it's important to me that i keep a seperation between the two.

[Dan]

As we told our members, we've 'pitched' OurBrew to the 2 big breweries - they loved the idea, but it didn't fit with their direction for bringing new products to market... either the initial volume was too small, it didn'f fit under an exisitng brand snuggly enough or they couldn't bring the product to market quickly enough.

In addition to what Tim said, OurBrew isn't a research forum, its more about creating a two way/direct dialogue with consumers. In the internet age, we believe this is paramount for a businesses success and we're not convinced this is being done very well by any breweries at the moment.

[Andrew]

Ok - it's becoming clearer to me now where this is coming from (and that's sayin something from a boy that owns no TV).
A couple of quick questions: What do you expect the shelf lif of this venture to be and does environmental sustainability figure into the equation in any shape or form.?

[Stu McKinlay]

I don't own a TV either (there is one in my house that gets no reception) but I know enough to know that it is looking like part "Dragon's Den" part "American Idol"...

[Dan]

Sure. It's also potentially a great innovation in the way a beer brand is developed thats in line with the way consumers are thinking.

[Dan]

The shelf life really depends on the investment put behind it by the brewery. There is every possibility that it is a fad, and if a bad beer is developed through this vehicle, it won't last at all. However if a quality product is produced, and it's managed well I cant see why it wont be as successful if not more successful than any other beer in the NZ market. The bonus with OurBrew is that the day it launches, there will be at least 2500 members (plus all of the other people who know about it but aren't members) who will want to try it out. And thats without doing a huge launch camaping to support. Not many products could baost that launch day assurance of sales.

As a pressing topic that I am sure our crowd is interested in, sustainability should certainly factor into the production/distribution of the beer. This is the sort of thing we would put to a vote to the crowd. I'm not exactly sure how this would be done yet, but happy to take some guidance.

[Stu McKinlay]

I think I know how the crowd would vote.
$1 per bottle - or $2 per bottle if we plant a tree.


Don't take the feedback from here too harshly Dan. We're all into beers like five that have been released in the last week: Epic Armageddon, Hallertau Maximus Humulus Lupus, Hallertau's SOBA NHC Bock, Invercargill Smokin' bishop and Emerson's 'JP' Cherry Brown Ale - the crowd would never vote for these beers. They are designed for a smaller crowd. In the end, though some of us may participate in the crowd, our voices will be lost in the vote (we're a minor party in your first past the post environment).