Abstract
This paper proposes an in-depth analysis of the branding strategies implemented by agricultural craft breweries in Italy. For small-scale companies operating in the emerging craft beer sector, effective branding strategies play a key role in differentiating themselves from their competitors and gaining competitive advantages. The paper focuses on the concept of sustainability and its relation to Neolocalism. In addition, the paper analyses to what extent the craft brewing companies leverage the status of agricultural craft breweries. A mixed-method approach is adopted in the analysis. A Web Content Analysis (WebCa) led to the extrapolation of relevant information from the company websites. The data were coded according to a 1/0 binary scheme (presence/absence) and subjected to cluster analysis. The results highlight the presence of six different typologies of strategies implemented by the agricultural craft breweries, thus identifying six clusters. The six clusters differ in their emphasis on both agricultural brewery status and the components characterising the corporate brand and the attributes defining the concept of sustainability.
Highlights
According to the research questions and the results obtained from the descriptive analysis, which showed that almost all breweries include spatial references in the components defining the brand, the cluster analysis was carried out on four of the six variables considered (Intangible_a, Tangible_a, local commodity production, sustainability)
The cluster analysis (Table 4) identified six homogeneous groups of companies, according to the selected variables, which presumably correspond to different branding strategies: (1) place and raw materials origin; (2) status of agricultural breweries and product characteristics; (3) 100% agricultural breweries; (4) status of agricultural brewery, culture and identity; (5) sustainable breweries; (6) values, culture and products
The research focuses on two main aspects: sustainability and the status of craft agricultural breweries
Summary
Many researchers have identified the change in consumer tastes towards products with marked naturalness and authenticity as the driver of the rise and spread of the phenomenon [5,6,7,8]. The concept of authenticity has gradually taken on the meaning of “local”, identifying those products whose peculiarity is represented by the close link with a specific territory. When analysed from the producer’s point of view, the concept of authenticity is closely linked to that of Neolocalism [12,13,14]. Companies that engage in neolocal practices define their authenticity and uniqueness according to their roots and connection to a specific territory [11,12,13]
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