Coopers Brewery

While analyzing the beer industry in Australia it is obvious that the rivalry is not that much intense due to some common factors such as economies of scale and scope, improvements in transportation and refrigeration and changes to the Trade Practices Act. The two major national groups dominated the beer industry by accounting 94% of the total market. On the other hand, despite Cooper’s group accounted for only 3% of the total market, they were listed as the number 3. In the industry in the virtue of their differentiation strategy.

In addition, there are some other nuances such as substitute products. Considering that, soft drinks or wine could be potential substitutes for beer, however beer drinkers were loyal to their preferred taste and brand which decreased the threat of substitute products. On the other hand, beer drinkers considered as price sensitive group as they are likely to transfer to other brands when facing with the diversified beers.

The analysis indicates that the competition is considered as medium in Australian brewing industry and key driving forces should be the taste, brand reputation, price of the beer and of course the economies scale of the brewing company.

The fundamental business strategy of Coopers Brewery is applying differentiation method. Coopers was trying to satisfy the needs of target customers by providing them with natural beverages and food ingredients. In addition, their products did not contain any additives or preservatives, and was unique by appearance. As Coopers was family owned business which lead them to create a brand awareness and thus they could focus on premium markets. Usage of only natural ingredients and totally unique appearance of products helped them to compete with its rivalries due to differentiation strategy.

There are some distinct strategic capabilities of Coopers which all contribute to the competitiveness of the business. One of them is human resources, as Coopers try to choose their employees to fit the culture of the company. Additionally, all the potential candidates were interviewed by Tim, which increase the value of choosing process. In addition, Coopers’ plant had environmentally sound features, in return which made it more efficient compared other companies in the industry. Recyclable material reduced the amount of material used also additional waste.

We could see that Coopers was performing well by analyzing the case, as it accounted for 48 percent of beer sales in South Australia. Additionally, Coopers was very active market player, so that they could export its products to 26 countries. Coopers was able to open their own shop at Adelaide Airport, and be one of the major sponsor of art and sport related festivals in Australia. At the end of the case, attached financial results table indicate that Coopers was able to increase their profit over the period of time, nevertheless it is obvious that other competitors generated far more profit compared to Coopers.

...