After listening to the soft hitting interview on Radio 4 and reading capitalist brewery owner James Watt's humblebrag about his 10 biggest mistakes I got to wondering what are really Brewdog's 10 biggest mistakes?
I was an early fan of Brewdog, back in the day when I had to go to specialist beer shops to find their beers. I can remember when they first got a beer in a supermarket and I've watched their growth ever since. Having said that, I also went off Brewdog early on, once I realised they were twats.
What first pissed me off can't really be called one of their biggest mistakes, as they've done very well out of it, but selling off a very small part of their company to their fans, and then selling off a larger chunk at a lower price to venture capitalists seemed an incredibly cynical move.
Having tits on a beer bottle was definitely a mistake though, as it rapidly vanished from their website:
I don't remember them getting much flak for it, perhaps because they managed to hide it so quickly. But then I don't remember them getting much flak for this one either:
The email to a blogger on 27th November 2009 which included "We incurred significant expense in sending samples ... I would not have expected you to repay the favour in this way."
ReplyDeleteBloody hell! Keen on objectivity I see.
DeleteIn fairness, even in 2009 most influencers stayed bought once bought. In the same email, the "significant expense" is stated to be "around £100" btw.
DeleteI recently - as in, last year - got back into BD's beers, having been a proper fan early on and been extremely disappointed when they ditched cask beer. So that's about nine years of sales they lost to, oh, at least one person.
ReplyDeleteLast time I checked the BrewDog site at Ellon was the eighth or ninth largest brewery in Britain. Nothing wrong with success of course, but they way they constantly pretend to be some sort of virtuous underdogs is a little galling for my taste.
ReplyDeleteMore recent. The QC on Lost Lager is atrocious. You never know what you are going to get. At its best - beautiful. Often a lot less so.
ReplyDeleteWhen they interviewed people for a marketing position and then used the stuff the candidates brought to the interview, without paying them, of course.
ReplyDeleteEveryone does that ;-)
DeleteAs Phil says, the half-hearted reintroduction of their cask (one of the strengths). When the Cambridge BD opened 18 months they had an unmarked handpump on the bar which was NEVER in use.
ReplyDeleteI also find the Punk IPA that Spoons virtually give away as part of meal deals better than the one that costs a fiver in their own bars.
Let me say this though; wonderful staff, the best pub food, and the Triple Hazy Jane is my (and Mrs RM) favourite can of beer during Lockdown.
If only I could have made the same mistakes as the Bru Dog guys
ReplyDeleteWell it can't be that hard to put tits on a bottle label so there's still time!
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