Brew up a Bubbling 'Founding Story'

Case Study: Origin Story - BrewDog (brewery & pub-chain)

I’m not much of a beer alcohol-person, but that does not mean I cannot appreciate a well-crafted beer or ‘Founding Story’.¹

Company: BrewDog

Product/Service: Multinational brewery and pub chain
Location: Ellon, Scotland.

About: With production of over 800,000hl, the company claims to be the "#1 Craft Brewer in Europe". James Watt and Martin Dickie found it in 2007.
- wiki

I came across BrewDog’s website two years ago. The ‘Founding Story’ they had on their About Us page was intriguing enough to be included in my reference bank and workshop case-studies.

Here’s a screen-grab (2020):

The story format…

1. The WHO, WHEN, WHERE: Martin & James, 2007, UK

2. A PROBLEM: What Martin and James were drinking was boring, but they could not find alternatives

3. INSIGHT: They loved beer, knew what they wanted, nobody was making it, so they decided to craft it

4. ACTION taken: They borrowed money, started brewing & selling their craft beers

5. MISSON/VISION: Make others as passionate about craft beer as they are

They have, since then, revamped their history page: keeping two of the photos and some of the text, removing the ‘mission’ and merging the ‘insight’.

Screen-grab (2022):

The revised version, out of context, is not as impactful. However, if you go to the current page, the shortened text does work within the reworked format.

Exercise

Use the Who/When/Where. Problem. Insight. Action. Mission/Vision format to write or rewrite your founding/origin story.

---

"How well does the founder's life explain what they're doing at their company?"
- Scott Weiss, Venture Capitalist, Andreessen Horowitz

1. Fair Warning: I’ve never had BrewDog beer. And so, any claim I have made here regarding the quality of the beers is to be taken with a pinch of salt, a slice of lime, and cheap tequila.