How having Wingman by your side can boost your bottom line

With consumers constantly evolving, having a stand-out beer on the bar can help give you that point of difference against competitors.

Clever design and a taste to keep your customers keep coming back for more, Wingman is the perfect partner to your drinks offering.

BrewDog introduced Wingman to its headline range last year. The 4.3% ABV brew takes inspiration from US craft beer brands, aiming to cater to the modern drinker while recruiting new fans through its casual and playful positioning.

This is clear with its marketing with the Wingman Eagle character taking centre stage, helping to ensure the brew is instantly recognisable.

BrewDog on-trade customer marketing manager Ben Lockwood outlined the history of the brand and how it has performed in recent months.

He said: ‘When we introduced Wingman at the end of last year, we’d identified a huge opportunity within the session IPA category for a high-quality product for the modern drinker, with casual and playful positioning and fantastic stand-out.

“The success has been phenomenal, with Wingman becoming the fastest growing craft brand in the top 10, at +138% [in the] past 12 weeks , as well as the fastest growing session IPA in the on-trade .
“This sub-category continues to grow in popularity, now worth £322m a year and in 7.7% growth , and is having a real moment as one of the most valuable styles of craft beer on draught in the on-trade.”

Wingman has been integral to that growth, Lockwood explained, partly driven by its popularity with music fans.

“We couldn’t be happier with how it’s landed with consumers across pubs and bars in the UK. Importantly, at UK festivals this summer, we had over 500,000 serves of Wingman with amazing feedback from festivalgoers,” he said.

“We’re having lots of fun with pubs and drinkers, which is exactly what hospitality should be about – right now more than ever’.

“The three partners that we worked with across this project have had great success since introducing Wingman in their venues – showing the opportunity to deliver choice to their guests and profit for their business.”

One of those partners was Mitchells & Butlers, which launched Wingman as the first craft beer to be on draught across its 149 Ember Inns estate earlier in the year.

Operations director Jo Crump said: “It’s important for us to continually review our range to ensure we have the styles of beer that our visitors want to drink, providing variety and keeping things interesting.

“With the growth of craft beer becoming ever more relevant to the mainstream beer drinker, Wingman made a great option for our guests.

“We were particularly drawn to the session-strength ABV, making it more accessible and we have had a really positive response since launch, delivering great appeal to our customer base.

“It provides fantastic stand out at the bar and has helped us to deliver more choice to our guests through a broader draught beer range, which has made our offering more exciting and helped recruit new and lapsed drinkers.”

Fellow partner was QSR business Eat The Bird, which has stocked the beer for the past 18 months at all three of its sites in the West Country.

The multiple operator, which has venues in Taunton, Exeter and Cardiff, is a burger and fried chicken firm, offering craft beers, homemade cocktails and soft drinks, providing customers with ‘good honest grub and decent vibes’.

Operations manager Adam Stock said: “Wingman is a familiar brand for customers to enjoy. We have local beers on too and offering a BrewDog brand gives customers that sense of security if they don’t want to have a beer they haven’t heard of.

“As a restaurant, it helps us and that’s the guaranteed income that everyone likes and knows BrewDog.”

Eat The Bird has a varied demographic with many guests returning to the sites on a regular basis.

“[Customers who eat in] include young professionals, families, largely aged 20 to 40 but we do get quite a wide range,” Stock added.

“Our sites in Taunton and Exeter, are particularly reliant on repeat custom and locals so having that constant brand on tap really does help returnability.

“[Wingman] has got the flavours that go well with fried chicken and beef burgers. It has got a citrusy twang to it, it’s a bit fruity so it cuts through the fattiness of the food and it’s a refreshing IPA.”

The business sells 300 pints a week, on average, across its trio of sites, proving its popularity with guests.

“It sells a treat, which says a lot more than any feedback can. Customers love it, it’s a consistent product, it fits in well with our food, it’s a recognisable name and looks relatively hipster,” Stock said.

He echoed Crump’s comments around the accessibility of Wingman resulting in a boost to the bottom line.

“With a 4.3% ABV, it’s not too heavy and is sessionable so we know we can get more than one pint out per person.”

But it wasn’t just the taste impressed Stock, the look of Wingman is something else he highlighted as working well for his business.

He said: “The branding works really well. The fact there is a character of the Wingman fits with the burger joint theme. The Wingman is the guy that’s by your side and it’s the perfect beer to go alongside your burger.”

The marketing was something that also impressed Azeem Khokhar, owner of gastro restaurant the Last Outpost in Hither Green, south-east London.

After installing Wingman earlier this year, the brew has proved popular with customers thanks to both its taste and look.

Khokhar said: “People drink five or six. As an IPA, it goes down so smoothly and is a big hit. Everyone loves it.

“I put in the Wingman with a question mark as I already had a couple of IPAs that were doing well but it has ended up being one of the most popular drinks at the site.”

The Last Outpost sells between four and six kegs of the beer a week on average and Khokhar advised fellow operators to consider stocking Wingman.

“I’ve travelled the world and from the first taste, it was a real pacifier. I’ve watched it with customers as well, everyone that has drunk it has big smiles on their face so I would recommend it.”