As a big reader, what’s on peoples’ bookshelves is usually of interest. During a recent trip, one of the books friends had on a shelf was the 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, by Ries and Trout.

A piece in the intro hit home with me as it directly applies to Women Enjoying Beer’s goals:

“…programs themselves were based on assumptions that were flawed…”

The context is that there are lots of great people and good ideas. The crux of the issue is that if a process is based on incorrect assumptions, then failure in some way is inevitable.

Turn assumptions upside down

Said another way, if you do your front-end research, make sure the assumptions you’re basing decisions on are accurate and authentic, AND THEN you can prepare for success.

What are you doing to figure out how to reach 70% of the majority population (at 50.9%) – women?

Make extra sure that there are no assumptions. Women like beer and want to be engaged in the conversation, accurately and appropriately. And you can only get even that far if you toss out everything previously related to women and beer.

Assumptions and stereotypes are dangerous and usually exaggerated in some fashion, be it in a big way or small – it’s still exaggeration. And therefore inaccurate.

Start over, start fresh, and you’ll make real progress.

One of the best resources I have come across, and then promptly devoured, was this book. Judy Langer is an extremely accomplished and still seemingly very excited researcher.

Her book helped me understand what I needed to understand to conduct proper research. It’s a tome for qualitative research.

Like Judy, I highly enjoy the research part of Women Enjoying Beer. And quite frankly I was surprised with how engrossing it is. Interesting people who want to talk and share and ponder, tons of eye opening insights, lots of repeat ideas (which is good = trends, patterns), and in general interesting psychology.

The reward is even greater for all parties since you’ve done well by the subjects and the clients.

It should be productive fun – this book helps make it so for me.

You ask them. You talk to them about beer – about why they like it, what they want from it and what they don’t want from it.

Ginger & Gayle Goschie of Goschie (Hops) Farms are glad to talk about beer

Hold a focus group – WEB does them a lot to make sure information is current and to give an opportunity to get a group together to talk about all things beer.

They key for a successful focus group is be prepared. Have a short list of specific questions you want them to answer, between 12 and 20 is a good number. WEB just had a focus group in Portland OR and the 12 women who showed up were all directed to and back to these questions.

It’s easy to get sidetracked and to let one or two members of the FG dominate the group. You need the leader of the focus group to stay on track. Use diplomacy – introduce the group the format, tell them how it’s going to unfold including that you may guide them back on track if it gets too far off topic.

Encourage them. If they want to talk about other things, the pub or brewery where you are meeting would most likely be glad to have them stay afterwards and talk it out over a beer.

Be focused and we all come out ahead, women & men & beer alike.

All value, all the time.

Wouldn’t that be a dream channel for real life?

All value, all the time

Well, if you’re in the beer business, you can make this a reality and attract millions more consumers. Millions seems to lofty? Consider even dozens or hundreds more consumers would make a difference.

How? By properly courting the female consumer.

Let me tell you about value for the female consumer.

Value for women includes:

• Time value otherwise known as the experience. If they are going to take the time to do something, they want it to be worth while.
• Enjoyment value. They want the involvement to be enjoyable.
• Educational value. Women like to and want to learn. A better educated consumer is a great thing for the beer community too.
• Dollar value. Be it $8 for a six pack of canned beer they want or $22 for a dinner table bottle of special beer they want to share (like yummy Bruery Beers). Whatever the price tag, it’s not the low or high of the actual dollar – it’s how much it’s worth to them.

Value.

One of the top three things women consider in their relationship to beer. Drink that up.

What tools are in your tool box?

Adage from Sullivision: Tools left in the toolbox never built anything.

And, adding to that, unless you pick up the tools to build something new or repair something in need of attention, you’re never going to get anywhere.

For those of you in the beer business community – breweries, restaurants, vendors, suppliers, retailers, distributors – you’ll never go one step farther earning female market share unless you pick up the right tool to genuinely garner the female beer consumers’ attention. You don’t deserve it if you don’t use the right tools and you’ll certainly pay for it if you use the wrong tools.

How do you know which tools to use?

Ask women what they want, gather data from them, apply it properly. As a specialist, I can tell you that there are so many ill fated attempts to market to women because the lens is all wrong.

The lens has to be from the woman’s perspective; not from yours, no matter how smart you think you are (or actually are). And regardless of if you’re a women in the industry – being of the industry is different than being the consumer.

You’re not the woman, she is. Ask her, act on that information and you’ll both come out ahead.

Like Marti Barletta says, the first rule of marketing is to understand your market. The second? Understand your consumer.

Here, here!

Unless my interpretation’s wrong (and I hope it is) the initiative is still missing the point.

The point for marketing to ANY SEGMENT is to educate, ask them what they want, then engage them accordingly. Yes, I know we are in different countries – the premise is the same.

Authentically and accurately marketing to the market share you are pursuing.

I find the statement by this writer (if it is accurate to the Bittersweet Project’s interview here) still off target.

“…with the aim of making beer more appealing to women”

It’s not about making it more appealing; it’s about finding out what the heck they want, what they don’t want and taking it forward from there.

If they don’t find it appealing in general, this is a futile exercise. You need to ask the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’ first - before you take action so you can know what action to take.

Kristy, tell me you do focus groups expressly with women to find out what they like, what they don’t like about beer – any one’s beer, not only  Molson Coors UK. Or fly me over and we can work together to make sure the point is on target – for the women, about the women, of the women.

Here ye, Here ye -

In search of Focus Group participants!!!

Requirements: Female who drinks beer, willing to talk about it, available (next) Wednesday February 24th, 7 – 830 pm, in Ashland Oregon.

If you can join us, we’re looking for up to 6 more women to contribute their opinions and thoughts, ideas and any other valid information that fits per women and beer.

Can you host one yourself with up to a dozen people? Absolutely!! Please Contact me.

Any opportunity women can offer to contribute their thoughts is exactly the information that drives WEB to assist breweries and brewers accurately and authentically develop female market share.

…I noticed that all the patrons who had bellied up were women. How refreshing.

Why is that? Because these women were comfortable in their ‘third place’? They totally enjoy good beer? They like sitting at the bar?

There’s a lot of information that many women have shared with me in focus groups, casual conversation and online about sitting at a bar. This example was rich as it’s still atypical. No reason it needs to be.

So what can you do – as  a brewpub, taproom, or bar with a strong beer commitment – to authentically attract more females into the fray? To build up the only 25 – 30 percent of women (who are the majority of the entire human population)?

Encourage the women to sit at the bar, engage in intelligent entertaining conversation, invite them back.

Change is relatively easy to affect if you are active in pursuing it - not just saying “I wish…” and “someday…”

It made my night. Then I finished my double IPA and went home.

Hats off to Ben and for looking for a new opportunity, taking action to develop his dream and inviting me into the conversation at his home in Detroit last week.

Ben and a prototype

It’s becoming somewhat regular to get contacted by people to reaching out, calling or emailing in their efforts to start a new brewery, do research and other women and beer related projects. Looking for real information to bolster their cause.

Great! It’s flattering and interesting to be tapped as a resource. Every one has a story and each one is the same and unique simultaneously.

The ongoing efforts by WEB to compile qualitative psycho graphic data continues to make more and more solid information available for members of the beer community. The information supports, redefines, and enlightens – which is exactly the goal in supporting the greater beer community.

It’s precisely why Women Enjoying Beer was created and marches forward in the name of beer.

When you think in terms of local and regional goods, what do you think of?

What does it mean to be “local”? What about “regional”?

In focus groups, women say that buying local, more and more, matters to them. When pressed for what local means to them, we do an interesting dance.

• “What does local mean to you”
• “That it comes from close by.”
• “So is an egg produced by a chicken within 50 miles local?”
• “(usually) Yes.”
• “Farther than 50 miles??”
• “No.”
• “What about your beer – how close is local?”
• (Run through similar questioning)

At the same time, because the conversation invariably turns to the fact that say hops is grown in limited areas of the world, then the definition is stretched to accommodate. And, knowing that, it’s perfectly fine with them.

They are telling us that local is a balance to strike – like everything else. Yes, they’d love it if all the ingredients were sourced locally, yet they realize that the crops are not necessarily available – so that is factored in.

Regional, well, that extends the definition even farther. If they want, say, a Midwest beer – wow! They’ve got a warehouse full of great choices. California? Same drill. Wyoming, South Dakota, North Dakota? It gets dicey simply due to sheer numbers.

So pay attention to how you advertise your ingredients. It can be a big plus – when a component is sourced close by. Just as importantly balanced out as buying organic. These are all conversations with your consumers and supporters you know. Talk it up.

Find out what it means to your patrons.

Photo courtesy of Flickr by Adrian Midgley