Natalie Wong 1

Narragansett Beer Assignment

The History
124 years. 6 Men. One idea. On December 29th, 1890 Narragansett
Beer was born. Created by six German-American men, who utilized their
talent of beer crafting and together decided to create their own brewery.
With the launch of the brewery being in Cranston, RI production was vibrant
and increased rapidly. Built off the idea off the idea of family and community,
Narragansett beer would become the largest brewery in New England by the
year 1914. Production was slightly hindered in 1920 with probation; however,
Narragansett beer was given permission to produce their product for
medicinal purposes. Though in 1933 prohibition was repealed and Rudolf
Haffenreffer became President and owner of Narragansett Brewery. Under
the leadership and guidance of Haffenreffer, the company in 1934 teamed up
with the infamous Dr. Seuss who created the iconic images that Narragansett
used to advertise their products. In 1944 Narragansett began what was one
of their largest and most vital relationship, Narragansett beer teamed up
with America's favorite pastime, baseball. Narragansett began by teaming up
with the Boston Braves, which lead to Narragansett Beer becoming the
official sponsor to the Boston Red Sox's. This relationship lasted 31 years and
gained an incredible amount of publicity for the brand. In 1951, Curt Gowdy
became the spokesperson for the beer and the Hi Neighbor phrase took off.
By the year 1955 Gansett Beer reached its peak in the market being 65% of
all beer in New England. To continue the strong publicity Narragansett Beer

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teamed up with Irene Hennessy and the iconic Gansett girls were created.
The girls traveled around the nation promoting the beer and other products.
Narragansett Beer reached a huge milestone for the company in 1959, by
celebrating the brewing of their 1 millionth barrel. In honor of this milestone
Narragansett Beer gave each of their employees a gold plated bottle. This
notion shows how Narragansett Beer valued their employees and didn't only
consider their external reputation but also cared about their internal
reputation. 1961 Narragansett beer entered the television advertising market
by creating comedic ads that aired on local stations. However, the
company's biggest change occurred in 1965 when Falstaff Brewery bought
the company for 17 million dollars and 2 million dollars in Falstaff stock. After
the change in leadership the company still managed strong community
relationships by sponsoring multiple musical festivals, an example being the
Newport Folk Festival. That by 1972 the company was producing 1.7 million
barrels a year. Narragansett Beer made its Hollywood debut in 1975 by being
featured in a key scene in the movie Jaws. Though Narragansett Beer was
continuing to generate positive publicity, the company was internally
undergoing many changes, changes that would be detrimental to the
company. Narragansett Beer moved the brewery from Rhode Island to
Indiana, which weakened the company's foundation of being built on
community relations. The move to Indiana caused consumers to no longer
desire the product since they felt the beer was now changed and wasn't the
beer their family grew up on. Sales rapidly plummeted and the brewing of

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Narragansett beer came to an end. That by 1998 the original Narragansett
Brewery in Cranston, RI was completely demolished. Nevertheless,
Narragansett Beer was restored in 2005 by Rhode Island investors and
current CEO Mark Hellendrung. Under the leadership of Hellendrung and the
help of Bill Anderson who helped restore the original taste of the beer,
Narragansett Beer was once again in full force. That by 2010 Narragansett
Beer had sold its millionth case since its restoration in 2005. Hellendrung
brought back the strong community relations and message that Narragansett
Beer was once built on. For example, Narragansett Beer teamed up with
Del's Lemonade a local Rhode Island business and created a summer
shandy, a product that was nostalgic and personal to the company's major
consumers. An initiative such as this is what has helped put Narragansett
Beer back on the market as a competitive beer and the company continues
to grow. Narragansett Beer has become an award winning beer since the relaunch. Hellenburg's hopes to bring the brewery back to Rhode Island from
its current location in New York consumers, and make Narragansett Beer
what it once was. As Narragansett beer grows it is important for the
company to know and their target audience and foster the relationship with
their major consumers.

The Recommendation

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There are three target audiences that I would focus on when building
community relations in Rhode Island these groups are Rhode Island Veterans,
Women from ages 21-34, and White Men from ages 35-54. First, the reason I
have chosen to focus on the Rhode Island Veteran Population as a target
audience is due to the fact they fall into the age range of target beer
drinkers. A recent survey that was conducted showed that beer drinkers 55
and above are gaining a stronger liking for beer, the number went from 31%
to 38% within in the last year (Crowell). Given this, RI veterans fall right into
this category, and with that number increasing Narragansett Beer should
utilize that audience. In addition, Rhode Island veterans are about 70,000
people of the entire RI population, which is an impactful number. RI veterans
are a loyal and tight knit community, which are ideal traits a company wants
to see in consumers. Narragansett beer wants to create a strong relationship
with consumers that will continue to increase product sales. Furthermore, RI
veterans have chosen to retire within in the state which means they are
consumers that will be staying around and have a consist impact on the
community. Also this population was alive and mostly likely consuming the
product when the company was at their peak, so they are familiar with
product and its strong values, which it was built on. The next target
audience, I would recommend Narragansett Beer to focus on would be
Women from ages 21-34. This is due to many reasons the first being that
there has been an increase in womens consumption of alcohol. For example,
the amount of Americans heavy drinking rose 17.2% from the years 2005-

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2012, and that increase was mainly due to women increasing their
consumption of alcohol (Ostrov). Currently 51.5% of the RI population is
female, and this number is only expected to increase within the next year.
While 27% of that population are female business owners in RI. Which brings
me to why I chose this specific age range to focus on this is because it is
younger women who consume more alcohol and there is a large population
of young businesswomen who are looking to grow their brand and presence
n the community. They are also the women who have money, and with a
company such as Narragansett beer who is focusing on growing their
footprint in Rhode Island. The company will need passionate and motivated
investors in order to help restore the brewery to what it once was. If
Narragansett Beer shows support to women they could build brand loyalty to
more than half the consumers in RI. The last population I have chosen to
focus on are White Men ranging from ages 34-54. I have chosen this
population as my final recommendation because men still are large amount
of the RI Population and have a strong loyalty to the product of beer. An
article written by Eric Ho, stated that 53% of men say beer is their drink of
choice, and since Narragansett Beers feature product is beer it is a logical
move to focus on audience that already has a liking for the general product.
In addition, 43% of men in this specific age range also stated that beer is
their number one choice of alcoholic beverages (Saad). Another key point is
that Narragansett Beer is soon going to be considered a crafted beer, which
men in this age range prefer crafted beer, and have the income to purchase

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products such as these. In the article, Who Drinks Craft Beer?: The Info
graphic, shows multiple pie and bar charts that men of this age prefer what
is known as a crafted beer. Given this, men are still an ideal audience
because they have a desire for the product. All in all, these are the
populations that I believe Narragansett Beer should focus their community
relations on, in order to build up the reputation of the brand.

Critical Analysis
CVS is a multi-million dollar company thats headquarters are based in
Woonsocket, RI. CVS has donated countless time and money to the Rhode
Island community and has a nearly flawless reputation with the Rhode Island
Community. The largest initiative that the company has launched is their CVS
Health campaign. This initiative pledges that volunteers assist in Community
Health Centers, planting community gardens, or providing executing
guidance through nonprofit board service ("Colleague Volunteerism and Support.).
Just in the year 2014, CVS employees donated more than $1.3 million hours
in volunteers service ("Colleague Volunteerism and Support.). Not only does CVS
give back to their communities in promoting healthy styles but that are also
a huge supporter of education. CVS made the largest corporate donation
ever to the University of Rhode in 2009. President of CVS Larry Merlo stated,
Rhode Island is CVS Caremarks home, so we are very proud to support the
expansion of the URI College of Pharmacys educational programs and
facilities. CVS also sponsors additionL college grants given to students not

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only in Rhode Island but nationwide. CVS is a corporation that never forgets
where they started and contuse to have a huge positive footprint on the
state. Narragansett Beer should be inspired by the strong Community
Relations that CVS has built with the state and get involved in multiple
ventures that impact Rhode Island in a positive way.
Citizens Bank is another company that cares deeply about their
Community Relations; their goal is to make sure their company has a positive
impact on their local communities. They fulfill this duty by partnering with
local non-profit organizations, so that they can build vital relationships with
the surrounding community ("Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money.") The
programs that Citizens Bank assist with are those helping people who are in
need of food and clothing, need of affordable housing, heating their homes,
and developing better job skills ("Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money.") These
initiatives are ones that every community wants and promotes because they
want their community to run to the best of their ability and that the
members of the community are safe and well taken care of, so that they
continue to use their business and service. Another initiative that Citizens
Bank has is their financial literacy programs, which help community
members develop healthy financial habits. Narragansett Beer can learn from
Citizens Banks initiatives in the fact that they should take into consideration
the needs and safety of the community members. A Goal of Narragansett
Beer is to bring back the brewery in order for this to occur Narragansett Beer

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needs to make sure that the decision will have a positive impact on the
surrounding community such as Citizens Bank does.
Starbucks is a company that has a grand community presents across
the nation. Their mission is, We have always believed Starbucks can and
should have a positive impact on the communities we serve. One person,
one cup and one neighborhood at a time. A huge a initiative that Starbucks
takes a vital part in is the green initiative, their goal is always to reduce their
environmental impact. A main part of this initiative is that Starbucks is
promoting recycling and reducing waste by encouraging customers recycle
or use reusable cups when consuming their products. In addition, their other
major initiative is providing clean water to countries of coffee-growing
communities, and that they have safe work and living environments since
their work is so vital to their companys success. In addition, Starbucks
pledged in 2008 to reduce their water consumption by 25% in company
stores by 2015. They have currently cut water production by 23%, which is
an astonishing number. Starbucks really takes to heart their community
goals and has made an immense impact on the nation, and is company who
cares about how they effect not only the country but the world. Narragansett
Beer should look at this initiative by this company and begin to set goals of
how they want to impact the country as a whole, and show consumers finite
facts of what they want to change. This will help Narragansett Beer not only
increase their footprint in New England but the entire country.
The last companys initiative that I have chosen to analyze is

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Dominos. Their company focuses their community relations on lending a
helping hand to Australian and New Zealand companies. They do this by
their dough raiser program, which a program where they sell pizza in order to
raise funds for a local community non-profit organizations. Dominos also
strongly believes in giving back to places where Natural Disaster has hit and
placed families in hard financial and emotional times, the company has
assisted in helping thousands of families during times such as these.
Dominos is a company that focuses on communities in crisis and need, and
has a very structured community relations project, which their ownership is
deeply passionate about. Narragansett Beer can learn from this by also
creating a very structured base system, which clearly sates who their focus
is geared to and have a plan that relates to the message they are sending.
Pizza is a comfort food and Dominos has chosen to assist communities in
need after deviation, making it so that consumers associated the brand with
warmth and light in dark times. Narragansett should remember to take the
deeper meaning of their product into consideration when choosing whom to
build their community relations with.
Conclusion
Narragansett Beer is a company rich in history, and a company who
once had a strong reputation within its target area of consumers. After its
hiatus the company has continued to grow rapidly and is on its way to
regaining the strength it once had in the beer market. I believe that if

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Narragansett Beer constructs a strong community relations plan such as the
National Companies I mentioned earlier they will have great success in not
only New England but nationally. The target audiences I selected I believe
will be build them a loyal and profitable consumer base, so that they product
can flourish. Narragansett Beer is a company that was built on strong values
and has immense potential to leave a large footprint on the state of Rhode
Island such as CVS and Citizens Banks. With the right guidance and focus
Narragansett Beer will no doubt exude success.

Works Cited
Christensen, Erik. "10 Things You Didn't Know about Narragansett." Thrillist. N.p., 07 Aug. 2014.
Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
"Citizens Helping Citizens Manage Money." Financial Literacy. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
"Colleague Volunteerism and Support." Colleague Volunteerism and Support. CVS Health, n.d. Web.
26 Oct. 2015.
"College of Pharmacy." College of Pharmacy. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.

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Crowell, Chris. "Survey: Women Drinking More Beer, Men Drinking Less?" Craft Brewing Business.
N.p., 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
Ho, Eric. "Beer or Wine? The Answer May Depend on Your Gender | TIME.com." NewsFeed Beer or
Wine The Answer May Depend on Your Gender Comments. TIme, 2 Apr. 2013. Web. 26 Oct.
2015.
"In the Community." In the Community. Domino's Pizza Enterprises, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
Ostrov, Barbara. "Women Drinking More - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 29 Apr. 2015.
Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
"Rhode Island QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau." Rhode Island QuickFacts from the US Census
Bureau. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
"Water and Energy Conservation." Starbucks Coffee Company. Starbucks Corporation, n.d. Web. 26
Oct. 2015.
"Who Drinks Craft Beer? - Infogram, Charts & Infographics." Who Drinks Craft Beer? - Infogram,
Charts & Infographics. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.