How do you successfully compete in an industry dominated by a few giant companies? You concentrate on one of Michael Porter's generic strategies, either focused low cost or focused differentiation (easier said than done, of course). A new documentary, Beer Wars, takes a look at the challenges small brewers face in an industry with a couple of giant players. I haven't seen the movie yet but it looks pretty fascinating (although I imagine there will be a lot of gnashing of teeth over "unfair" competitive practices of the big players).
CNN has a short video about the documentary included in a story about rising beer prices.
And the trailer via Youtube.
P.S. Many of you might not know, but some of the early influential work in the field of strategic management was performed on the beer industry (by researchers from Purdue University).
Count me in for market research!
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