Creating the ecommerce experience for a new craft beer club
In light of the growing consumer appetite for food and drink subscription models, WPNC recently developed a new beer product offering for Laithwaite’s: Brew Republic.
A beer club focused on independence and craft, bringing fans and brewers closer together in an environment where consumers can buy and discover more about the beers on sale – but also the people behind them.
The wider WPNC agency worked across market insight, target customer definition, proposition development, brand creation, marketing strategy and assets. This was then all transformed into an engaging online experience through an ecommerce platform.
Stakeholder engagement and ideation
We took the customer personas and proposition development work through to an ideation workshop with key stakeholders to map the key online journeys and ideate around how to bring the proposition to life online.
Creating an ecommerce site to support the pilot
Given this was a pilot with a quick turn around we needed to limit the amount of development work required whilst delivering a compelling experience that supported the objectives of the project.
Following the analysis of several potential tools, we built the back end using Shopify with a customised front end. We created a step by step subscription journey to guide the user through the process, with a supporting shop, gifting and loyalty journey, all things that had been identified as important to adding to the product and online experience.
Online content to drive engagement
To stand out from other craft beer offerings in the market, the proposition and marketing strategy was focused on engaging customers with relevant content that tapped into their key motivations, bringing the brand promise to life.
The online content designed to support this showcases the independent brewers behind the beers on offer, so that consumers experience more than just the product.
Beer choice guidance, drinking tips and inspirational stories behind each brew top off the experience.
Testing and learning
The Brew Republic website has been built on over time based on key learnings from the pilot and as the product has adapted. Shopify has proven to be a a robust a adaptable platform that has continued to be used following the successful pilot.
Client and agency collaboration was key throughout the process, none more so than at the discovery stage. We used co-creation workshops to develop propositions and customer journey planning, and establish rich territories for the creation and design of the brand, logos and other imagery.
Dan Martin, Digital Strategy Director, WPNC
Brew Republic treats brewing like a craft and showcases the best this vibrant and booming industry has to offer. We hope our community helps craft beer enthusiasts get together to try new beers and discover more about the fascinating stories behind them. WPNC has been brilliant to work with. From discovery, through to branding and launch, it has been a smooth and collaborative process with the agency.
Michael Johnson, Brew Republic’s Commercial Director