Client
Break Even Beermakers
Project
Independent client, DMBA
Team
Ana Soto, Design Lead
William Collie
Jordan Fitzgerald
Expertise & skills
Service Design
Strategic Design
Co-creation workshops
Duration
6 weeks
Location
San Francisco
Opportunity
Break Even Beermakers is a boutique brewery and beer garden located in Amador City, near Sacramento. The business relied on revenue from on-site sales through the beer garden and distribution to retailers, both directly and through third parties. However, the beer garden faced challenges due to seasonality, limited budgets, and low taproom traffic.
Solution
We collaborated to explore strategies for increasing traffic to the beer garden, driving higher-margin sales, and sharing the brand’s story through an authentic experience that fosters customer loyalty. The solution involved redesigning the taproom experience, covering the entire customer journey—from attracting visitors to creating authentic moments through tours and tastings, and ensuring the experience is shareable to build a loyal customer base.
Understanding the opportunity space
Customer segmentation for targeted craft beer offerings
Repsly.com categorizes craft beer consumer into three main types: The Novice (new to craft beer), The Experimenter (open to experimentation but pricing is a barrier), and The Connoisseur (craft beer experts).
We found this initial market segmentation valuable for designing solutions to better serve different customer groups, particularly as we aim to maximize resources efficiently.
As Break Even continues to market and develop new products we recommended the team focuses on offerings for The Experimenter and The Connoisseur because of their:
Willingness to pay a premium price for craft beer
Alignment with the brand's small-batch, craft-focused value proposition.
Business overview & challenges
Break Even Beermakers aimed to be a destination for beer enthusiasts, capturing the charm of California's past while building a loyal following and gaining industry recognition.
However, the brewery faced several challenges, including lower than expected sales, limited market penetration, and operational difficulties due to a seasonal taproom.
Hands-on & collaborative approach to rapidly develop new service offerings
As the project lead, I guided our team through a hands-on approach to identifying strategic improvements for Break Even. We visited the brewery for a site tour and conducted multiple co-creation workshop with the client to assess the current state, discover growth opportunities, and design an enhanced taproom experience.
Through this collaborative process, we uncovered Break Even’s aspirations and challenges, helping us frame the opportunity space for strategic improvements.
Opportunity areas
How might we increase traffic to the taproom to drive higher-margin sales?
How might the taproom provide an authentic and unique experience that fosters loyalty?
How might we share our brand story so customers feel they've found something unique?
A new taproom experience
We have designed a new taproom experience based on the following principles:
Drawing people in
Designing ways for our customers to become aware of the taproom experience and the Break Even brand.
Providing authentic moments
Sharing more about the brand story and brewing process and providing a tasting experience.
Making it shareable
Include photo moments in the taproom and offer ways for customers to share their experiences, either digitally or analog
Drawing people in
To drive traffic to Break Even's taproom, the strategy centers around promoting the charm of Amador City and its attractions, such as historic walking tours, hikes, and flower farms. This initiative aims to connect the taproom experience with other fun activities, encouraging visitors to make a day trip and associate Break Even with memorable adventures.
To enhance visibility, the campaign we recommended a digital revamp of the website that highlights the brewery’s story, taproom details, and local attractions, alongside physical advertising through word-of-mouth, QR codes on cans, kegs, and promotional materials.
Providing authentic moments
The new taproom experience aims to provide an engaging tour that connects visitors to the brand and history while showcasing the passion behind beer-making.
✨ Signature moment ✨
The experience would cover the history of Break Even and Amador City, explain the beer-making process with copper kettles, and highlight the use of local ingredients. Guests would be able to touch and feel raw materials, sample beers paired with tasty snacks, and have the chance to shop for merch.
This approach aims to create memorable experiences, encouraging guests to enjoy and purchase more beers, food and merch while deepening their connection to the brand and the charm of Amador City, fostering a sense of community.
Making it shareable
To create shareable moments during the tour, it's important to have photo opportunities that encourage guests to capture their experience. The tour guide would actively offer to take pictures and promote BE’s social media by encouraging guests to tag the brewery in their posts.
Additionally, to continue the Amador City campaign, we could provide postcards for guests to send to friends. The experience would end with a follow up after the tour for feedback, and personalize communications.
Why a new taproom experience?
Increase traffic to make higher margin sales
The goal of this experience is to increase taproom traffic, leading to higher-margin sales and reducing the impact of seasonal fluctuations. Based on initial financial forecasting, I projected potential growth of 18%-39%, depending on the number of guests. This strategy aims to create a more consistent revenue stream and capitalize on higher guest turnout.
Encourage visitors visit and stay longer
The goal is to create experiential moments that encourage visitors to stay longer and make the trip to Amador City worthwhile. By offering differentiated and memorable brand experiences, guests can engage more deeply with the brand, while increasing overall traffic to the taproom.
Foster customer loyalty
Building a deeper relationship with customers and foster loyalty through meaningful experiences. When consumers engage with a brand beyond the product, they become more connected and engaged. These experiences encourage word-of-mouth promotions, making customers more likely to share their experiences and return.
Phased launch for a cost-effective experience development
We planned a phased approach to launch an MVP with limited resources to begin learning and further developing the experience.
The MVP (Phase 1) will be managed by the founder, who will eventually transition out after training the staff and developing the script. Initially, we will use limited aids like a map, with the intention of adding multi-sensory elements later. The tasting menu will also be developed in phases to minimize the need for additional glassware, allowing us to start cost-effectively.
Project learnings
01
Collaborated with Break Even Beermakers and introduced them to design processes to rapidly explore and develop new service propositions.
02
Developed a new service experience tailored for the needs of a small business, considering its limitations. Created an implementation plan through a phased strategy to ensure a cost-effective launch and facilitate rapid learning.
03
The financial forecasts I developed helped the team get onboard with the new concept. By outlining projected revenue growth I was able to illustrate the viability and profitability of the initiative.