Maureen Ogle on the Merger

Maureen Ogle has a great post up that touches on what the A-B/InBev merger means to craft brewers.

According to Maureen, author of Ambitious Brew, the big American brewers made a costly long-term error in targeting their marketing almost exclusively to the young male demographic:

First, mainstream brewers have, whether inadvertently or not, infantalized beer and beer drinking...

Second, the more beer is infantalized... the less seriously it’s taken, and the more impact the mainstream brewers’ target message has, and the more Americans are inclined to dismiss beer as a serious beverage, and the narrower the audience for beer and the more inclined mainstream brewers are to target their core audience of young men, and -- you get my drift.

Craft brewers, by focusing on the beer itself rather than the audience, have avoided the demographic trap of a shrinking young male cadre. According to Ogle, the big guys can't afford to ignore the craft segment any longer.

As they recognize this fact, they are likely to make big moves into the the craft segment (as well as imports, which the A-B/InBev deal in part presages). I am looking forward to Maureen's next post in this series...