啤酒巨頭擁抱小眾精釀潮流

????你是說反大型化和國際化嗎？可是，貴公司既是大公司，也是國際化公司。那么你們如何應對這一趨勢的？

????我們有自己的精釀啤酒品牌。我們也在尋找優質的收購目標，希望能建立合伙關系，吸引一批培育過優質企業的人才。大公司很難培育小品牌。這根本就不可能。大公司很難能一貫如一、堅持不懈地創立一個小品牌。而這正是小企業最擅長的事情。

????您認為精釀啤酒的忠實消費者們會接受這一模式嗎？

????精釀啤酒行業內對于我們和所有大型釀酒商都有很大的爭議，因為我們就像敵人一樣。我們是外人。他們認為，我們偷了他們的概念。我們要說的是：“一切讓消費者來決定吧?！比绻覀兊漠a品讓消費者感覺足夠地道，就夠了。

????您能談談為何單獨設立Tenth and Blake部門？為什么這樣規劃公司架構？

????大多數啤酒都是以感情為訴求點，而不是功能。啤酒沒有太多不同。即便一款啤酒是不同的，也有很多啤酒的口味與它很相似。因此，要做的是努力在人們的頭腦中建立新的情感聯系。為此，需要像一家小公司一樣行動。必須用很長的時間培育。建立Tenth and Blake就是為了像一家小公司一樣緩慢細致、而且始終如一地推出產品。

????你是否認為在某種程度上，我們將回到過去？更多的整合，更原始的口味？

????我不認為精釀啤酒運動會永遠保持當前的增長態勢。這不可能。它不經濟。太多人就賺不到錢。太多人將退出這項業務。而且，我認為它會變得不那么流行。這種事在某種程度上就是趕潮流。

????大釀造公司的品牌組合將變得更大更豐富，更有層次也更多樣化，這也是我們在世界所有地方看到的現象。但不會再回到百威（Budweiser）或下一個百威擁有30%或40%的市場占有率那樣的時候了。

????對于精釀啤酒業務，或更具體地說是Tenth and Blake，您怎么看它的前景？

????Tenth and Blake是MillerCoors針對具體問題而設立的，即我們在增長方面落后于這部分市場。我們需要在這個方向上拓展我們的品牌組合。

????在某種意義上，Tenth and Blake是一個銷售或營銷組織，服務于仍在發展階段的啤酒品牌。一旦品牌成長到足夠大，就可以移入主流品牌。Blue Moon品牌目前仍由Tenth and Blake打理，但有一點幾乎不可避免，可能在不遠的未來就需要考慮將藍月亮移入主流品牌，就像其他品牌一樣。

????譯者：楊智

????Anti-big, anti-international -- you are big and you are international. So how do you play off this trend?

????We have our own craft brands. We also look selectively to acquire, or form partnerships with, or cozy up to people who have incubated good businesses. It's difficult for big companies to incubate small brands. That, at its heart, is the dilemma. To start a small brand in a credible, consistent, sticking-to-it kind of way is hard for big companies. That's what small entrepreneurs do best.

????Do you think that the core craft consumer embraces this model?

????There's a huge debate in the craft world about us, all big brewers, because we're like the enemy. We're the other guys. They think we're stealing their authenticity. What we say is, "Let the consumer decide." If we're authentic enough for the consumer, that's authentic enough for anyone.

????Could you talk about the strategy around why you have this separate Tenth and Blake division? Why did you structure the company this way?

????For most beer, the proposition is emotional. It's not functional. The beer is not that different. And even if the beer is different, there are others that taste much like it. So you're trying to create new emotional associations in people's minds. To do that, you've got to act like a small company. You've got to incubate it for a long time. Tenth and Blake is set up to introduce things slowly and carefully and consistently like a small company.

????Do you think at some point we'll revert back to where we were before? More consolidation, a less sophisticated palate?

????I don't think the craft movement in its current guise will continue to grow indefinitely. I don't think it can. It's not economic. Too many people won't make any money. Too many of them will go out of business. And I think it will become less fashionable. These things are fashion to some extent.

????Brand portfolios of big brewing companies will get bigger, more complex, more stratified, and more differentiated because those are the trends you see everywhere else in the world. But you're not going to go back to where Budweiser (BUD) or the next Budweiser has a 30 share or 40 share.

????What do you see as the future of craft and, more specifically, Tenth and Blake?

????Tenth and Blake is a creation of MillerCoors to solve a specific problem, which is that we under-index in the growth segments. We need to grow our portfolio more in that direction.

????In a sense, what Tenth and Blake represents is a selling or a marketing organization oriented toward beers still in incubation mode. Once the brands become big, they can be handed over to the mainstream. Blue Moon is still handled by Tenth and Blake, but it's almost inevitable that at some stage in the not too distant future, you might contemplate moving Blue Moon out into the mainstream and just treat it as another brand.