Digital Transformation & Innovation Episode 1: Tech + craft beer = a match made in heaven

There is a certain stereotype that people working in the tech industry are very likely to drink some exotic craft beer when chilling with their friends after work and to be honest I can pretty much relate to that. So for that reason, I think that this is a perfect topic to start off my “Digital Transformation and Innovation” series where I will be covering interesting stories, methodologies, and concepts that will help you master the mindset required to prevail in the ever disrupting market.

First of, let’s see what craft beer industry is all about.

Beer? Everyone loves beer. When you talk about beer most people think about big brands: Heineken, Amstel, Paulaner, Budweiser etc.

And when you think about all those beer brands first thing that comes to your mind is the taste. Light lager, light taste, light yellow color. And most of the people when they taste craft beers say they are kind of strange. That is because they are used to commercial beer taste.

Craft beer culture is not developed that much in Serbia as it is in the U.S. We still have a long way to go, but what can we learn from a very specific industry of craft beers in the U.S?

So for starters, the craft beer industry in the U.S is worth 26 billion dollars taking 12.7% of market share which is amazing. In Serbia, the craft beer industry is still sort of an underground community. But I predict overall industry rise with recent uprising of Dogma brewery. It is pretty much bound to the tech industry of Serbia. You can see Dogma on every tech meetup and event. Also, the new brewery Slif is climbing it’s way to the top with totally software controlled beer making process, excellent taste, and really fun social media campaigns.

But what is the difference between commercial beers and craft beers?

Commercial beers are 90% marketing and 10% product. While craft beers are 95% product and 5% marketing with some breweries being 100% product and 0% marketing.

Commercial beers taste similar while every craft beer has its unique taste and experience. People tend to buy specific craft beers because their friend told them it is good or they have seen many people sharing it on Untappd, sometimes because of curiosity and love for beer, while people tend to buy commercial beers mostly because of routine and marketing. When someone tries good craft beer for the first time they just get addicted to trying and drinking more and more craft beers from different breweries and from that we can conclude:

1) The craft beer industry is all about the product.

2) Their own success and sales are depended on the success and quality of the products their competitors have.

In this industry, breweries must work together if they want to survive as the industry! This is a noteworthy message on how all other industries need to operate if they want to offer quality products to their customers and especially our tech industry where good products are launched on a daily basis.

What is the value of this story for people in tech?

The first and most important value that the tech industry as a whole must understand is that your competition is, in fact, your biggest partner. Craft breweries know this. If one craft brewery gets one customer into craft beers, all other breweries have a likely customer too. We can see this already happening in tech. Think about social media. You may think that Twitter and Facebook are competitors, which is true to some degree, but they very much depend on each other. How many people do you know that tried just one social media platform in their lives? Probably none. First social media platform that someone tries introduce’s them into the social media world. So some may use Facebook as their first platform. They learn and see all the benefits of social media using Facebook. There is a really big chance they will try other social media platforms for curiosity. In the end, they may start with Facebook but end up on Twitter. This is the reason why the existence of other app and platforms is important to and a social media company such as Facebook. And this is the same reason why Facebook brought Instagram.

Another great example is Uber and Lyft. Most of the people have both Uber and Lyft installed on their phones. Good first service from Uber means Lyft will get a potential customer and vice versa.

This is a crucial point and my first advice I will give on this series. When thinking about the business model for your product, think about your competition and how you can utilize their service in your favor. Think about their business model and how you can help yourself and your competition get more customers together. Don’t be afraid to call them to a meeting to discuss this and serve them some good cold IPA.