If you follow my blog, you know I’m watching the private label spirits evolution with great interest. And I’ve also been following 7-Eleven’s focus on private label as well….so I thought the news this week that they were planning a private label beer was really interesting.
I’m not sure if “Game Day,” as the lager is called, has the stuff to make it happen. This has nothing to do with the taste or branding of the beer, but more about beer drinkers’ passionate devotion to their beer of choice – be it high end or low end.
They’ve also got a previous failure under their belt in this same space. In 2003, they launched a beer called Santiago as a means of grabbing a piece of the premium/imported beer pie, but that didn’t work. Paying premium prices for private label beer doesn’t make any sense.
But they’ve learned from their mistakes with Santiago, so this will be a premium beer selling at a budget price.
And they might be able to give the Goliaths like Anheuser-Busch a run for their money since they own the real estate.
All of this COULD appeal to 7-Eleven’s core demographic, which has been hit the hardest by the recession. They’re male, age 21 to 27, blue-collar workers, who are facing the decline of industrial jobs.
But even though it sounds good on paper, beer is a very different animal than a lot of product out there. It will be an uphill battle for 7-Eleven to even stay in the running with Game Day, let along pull off a “Two Buck Chuck” phenomenon.
What do you think? Can 7-Eleven score a touchdown with its private label brew, or will it get benched?
I just sent this post to a bunch of my friends as I agree with most of what you’re saying here and the way you’ve presented it is awesome.
Posted by: Moncler Rockar | December 29, 2011 at 09:14 PM