NARRAGANSETT BEER ASSIGNMENT

Narragansett Beer Assignment

Maria Theiler
University of Rhode Island

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Overview:
The Narragansett Brewing Company was founded in 1890 and is New Englands
oldest beer company. On December 29th, 1890, the first Narragansett Beer was
produced. The company grew from there. In 1914 the company completed their bottling
line, which sparked production and made it the largest brewery in New England.
However, success did not come easily to this company. With the Prohibition Act in full
force the company faced great hardships. They were able to keep producing and selling
beer for medicinal purposes only. Prohibition came to an end and the company grew
even further through partnerships with Dr. Seuss, the Boston Red Sox, and Curt Gowdy
who coined the phrase Hi Neighbor, Have a Gansett. The companys rich history was
jeopardized when Fall Staff Brewing Corporation bought the company. The Narragansett
Brewery was demolished as well as the surrounding buildings. In 2005, a group of
investors bought the Narragansett Brewing Company and restored the beer to its original
recipe. Five short years after, the one-millionth case was sold. The company has been
growing positively ever since. Narragansett Beer has been awarded numerous awards
including a gold medal at the Great International Beer Competition. Narragansett
Brewing Company is now preparing to celebrate 125 years with 125 days of giveaways.

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Efforts are also being made in attempt to bring the beer back to its roots and open their
own brewery in Rhode Island instead of the beer being produced in New York. Opening
a brewery in Rhode Island is not the only way the company is engaging with their roots.
A program called The Made On Honor Series showcases craftsmen and women
throughout Rhode Island. On the Narragansett Beer website, numerous video are
posted showcasing a different craftsman in every episode. This series emphasizes just
how much Narragansett Brewing Company cares about the community. By caring about
the community, the company continues to have strong relationships and support from
people and companies around Rhode Island

Recommendations:
I recommend that Narragansett Beer should target veterans and military.
Narragansett beer should target veterans and military. Rhode Island is home to
71,000 veterans according to the US census. Rhode Island is also home to two Coast
Guard bases and a Naval base. Veterans and military can be targeted in numerous
ways. The first way they can be targeted is by designing a special can for veterans.
Veterans around the state will be more inclined to buy these special cans. Active military
will also be more inclined to purchase these cans in order to support veterans.
Narragansett Beer can also team up with The Wounded Warrior Project. This would
target all veterans and military directly but also anyone who is a supporter of the WWP.
Veterans also have buying power due to their age. All veterans are old enough to

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purchase alcohol therefore they have buying power and are a great demographic to
target.

I recommend that Narragansett Beer target women.

Women are known to typically not drink as much beer as men. To change this,
Narragansett Beer should target this demographic. According to the US Census, women
make up 52 percent of Rhode Island population. With this percentage, it makes women
a great target. Not only do women make up a great percentage of the population, but
women who own a business also make a dent in the population. The US Census also
states that in Rhode Island, 27.3 percent of firms are owned by women. This means that
these women have great buying power. Narragansett Beer can target women in general
with an emphasis on women who own firms.

I recommend that Narragansett Beer target Hispanics.

Narragansett Beer should target Hispanics. According to the US Census, Hispanics
make up 14 percent of Rhode Islands population and in Providence, Rhode Island
Hispanics make up 38 percent of the population. Narragansett Beer can target this
demographic by creating a special can with the label in Spanish. Advertising in Spanish
can target Providences large Hispanic population. Narragansett Beer can make
billboards and TV commercials in this language. Other beer companies, such as
Corona, have targeted Hispanics by having the labels on their packaging in Spanish.

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Narragansett Beer can also target this demographic by giving back to the community.
With a population as large as the Hispanic population in Providence, if Narragansett
Beer gave back to the community, it would be giving back to a large number of
Hispanics. This would gain the support of this demographic and make them more
inclined to purchase their products.

Competitive Analysis:
Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Blue Cross and Blue Shield is a Rhode Island based healthcare company. According
to the Blue Cross and Blue Shield website, Blue Cross and Blue Shield currently serve
85% of Fortune 100 companies and 76% of Fortune 500 companies. (www.bcbs.com).
Blue Cross and Blue Shield is a very large company, however, they have not forgotten
about the community. In Rhode Island, the company has been able to give back to the
community through volunteerism, employee fundraising, BlueAngel Community Health
Grants, and the Charitable Health Giving Program. According to their website, in 2014
6,667 volunteers served and employees raised $142,794. For the past 13 years,
BlueCross has teamed up with local organizations in Rhode Island to try and make a
difference.

Citizens Bank

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Citizens Bank is the 13th largest retail bank in the United States, according to their
website. The bank has its headquarters in Providence, Rhode Island where it first
started in 1828. In the past year, Citizens Bank colleagues contributed over 59,000
volunteer hours and one million dollars in matched donations. Organizations also have
access to funding opportunities. Citizens Bank also works with organizations through
two programs called Financial Literacy and Champions in Action. Citizens provided
funding to a nonprofit partner that aims to teach their neighbors about how to manage
their finances and help them make financial decisions. Their Champion in Action
program aims to recognize a nonprofit organization that deserves recognition. Each
champion wins numerous things including A $35,000 contribution in unrestricted funds
from Citizens Bank, Coverage from NBC 10, including public service announcements
and television profiles and Volunteer support from Citizens Bank and NBC 10.

Dominos Pizza
Dominos Pizza was founded in 1960 and is recognized as the world leader in pizza
delivery. Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Mich., Domino's is committed to supporting
initiatives and causes in its hometown while also participating in national programs that
align with our company vision and guiding principles.(dominos.com). In their roots of
southeastern Michigan, Dominos has a program called Pizza Donations. Residents in
Southeastern Michigan can email, fax, or mail a letter-requesting product for an
upcoming charitable event. Consumers from the outside southeastern Michigan are

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encouraged to do the same however franchise owners are not as inclined to donate. In
1986, a group of franchise owners came up with an idea and formed The Partners
Foundation. This foundation aims to help the 180,000 employees, specifically the ones
in need of assistance due to a time of special need or tragedy as a result of natural
disasters, unexpected afflictions, on-the-job accidents and other emergencies.
(dominos.com). Dominos also partners with St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital.

Starbucks
The first Starbucks coffee shop was opened in 1971 in Seattle. They now have over
11,000 locations in the United States alone. Starbucks does so many things to give back
to the community. Starbucks is very invested in their hometown, Seattle. They are
proud supporters of local arts including young musicians who play in their signature
benefit concert at the Paramount Theatre (Starbcks.com). There are opportunities for
youth both in the United States and in other countries around the globe. To help youth
get training and skills, Starbucks implemented programs in the United States, Canada,
United Kingdom, and China. There is also a new opportunity for youth. The Starbucks
Foundation is now using an invitation-only grant process to US and Canadian youth.
The Starbucks Foundation also helps other people in the community through Partner
Match and Community Service Grants. According to their website, These programs
provide matching grants to nonprofits where our partners made personal monetary and
time contributions. Coming together in service represents a fundamental act of

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citizenship for individuals, businesses and community members to create a stronger,

more cohesive society (Starbucks.com). Starbucks efforts go beyond their stores to the
communities where their coffee and tea are produced. Projects include improving
access to education and agricultural training, microfinance and microcredit services,
improving biodiversity conservation, and increasing levels of health, nutrition and water
sanitation (Starbucks.com). Starbucks also helps veterans and military and their
families around the United States. Starbucks has pledged to hire at least 10,000
veterans and military spouses by 2018, and the Schultz Family Foundation launched a
national initiative, Onward to Opportunity, enabling veterans and their families to make a
successful transition to civilian life (Starbucks.com). Not only have they pledged, they
created two community stores dedicated to the military. Community stores are stores
that aim to help the community around that particular store. The store teams up with a
local nonprofit and donates $0.05 to $0.15 per transaction. The Military Family Stores
donate those profits to a nonprofit programs that support veterans. In addition to the two
Military Family Stores open, Starbucks plans to open 11 additional Military Family
Stores before the end of 2015 (Starbucks.com).

Conclusion:
In conclusion, I believe Narragansett Beer is doing a great job engaging with the
community and giving back to them. Each company analyzed aims to help the local
community. Whether it is from grants, matching donations, a benefit concert or simply

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donating pizza, these companies have made a difference in their local community.
Narragansett Beer can learn a lot from what these large corporations are doing,
especially Starbucks. Narragansett Beer is actually doing similar things as Starbucks on
a smaller scale. Both companies are very invested in their local communitys art
programs. Both companies have videos on their websites of the thriving musicians and
artists from Seattle and Rhode Island. Starbucks also targets Veterans and Military.
Starbucks has many opportunities for veterans and military, which expand their footprint.
In my recommendations for Narragansett Beer I proposed that they should target
veterans and military. Starbucks is a great example why. Narragansett Beer can use
Starbucks as a reference on how to go about targeting them.
These companies engaging with the local community is also a reason why
Narragansett Beer should be targeting Hispanics. Narragansett Beers headquarters are
located in the states capital, Providence. Hispanics makeup 38 percent of Providences
population. When engaging with the community, Narragansett Beer has to take this
large demographic into consideration. Hispanics are a great demographic for the
company to target because of its large numbers and its proximity to the company. By
giving back to the community in Providence, it would be giving back to a large number of
Hispanics. This would gain the support of this demographic and make them more
inclined to purchase their products.
When researching Narragansett Beer, I was impressed by how much they had
accomplished in only ten years. However, when researching competitors I was blown

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away. Rhode Island companies such as Blue Cross and Blue Shield have teamed up
with local organizations for the past thirteen years and raised a great amount of money
for nonprofits. Another Rhode Island company that has made great strides is Citizens
Bank. The 13th largest retail bank in the United States has contributed over one million
dollars in matched donations. The company that Narragansett Beer can learn the most
from is Starbucks. Starbucks targets a variety of demographics around the world and
has created a worldwide footprint. With the recommendations I proposed, I believe the
company can grow to once again be the number one brewing company in New England
and even the country.

DominosPizza.(n.d.).RetrievedOctober25,2015,from
https://biz.dominos.com/web/
aboutdominospizza/community

CitizensBank.(n.d.).RetrievedOctober25,2015,from
https://www.citizensbank.com/community/

AboutBlueCrossandBlueShieldAssociation.(n.d.).
RetrievedOctober25,2015,from
http://www.bcbs.com/abouttheassociation/

NarragansettBeer.(n.d.).RetrievedOctober25,2015,from
http://www.narragansettbeer.com

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Starbucks.(n.d.).RetrievedOctober25,2015,from
http://www.starbucks.com/responsibility/
Community

USCensus.(n.d.).RetrievedOctober26,2015,from
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/
44000.html

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