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| BrewDog Brewery rallies their army |
Last week, U.K.'s explosive start-up BrewDog brewery gave their advice on organizing and distributing shares of an equity crowdfunding campaign. They should know; BrewDog is one of equity crowdfunding's biggest stars, so far raising almost £5 million. Its unparalleled success has a lot to teach
U.S. start-ups as they construct their own strategies for amassing capital
through the crowd. Crowdlanding also asked Brew Dog about how they reached these thousands of loyal followers and how U.S. start-ups can do the same.
Target Audience
As with any marketing campaign, catering to those with no
interest in the company is a waste of resources. Brew Dog knew this intuitively, and
pinpointed only those that were already interested in the company. By making the offering known on their
website, social media pages and in the bars themselves, they immediately
informed those most interested in the company.
The interest was free to spread from there, on to Brew Dog’s friends’
friends and other beer enthusiasts. With
a quality product that is tested with emerging popularity, the statement holds
true that “if you build it, they will come.” American start-ups can likewise leverage this effective strategy. Most CEO's see their initial following as merely a positive record to show to larger, accredited investors, but presenting fans with investor options is not only simple, direct and intuitive, it also strengthens loyalty within the company. Show your first customers, clients and fans your offering and gauge their reaction; with proper presentation, it's likely they'll want in.
Presentation
Every company is good at something, does something different
than the others. This is especially true
of enterprises that have turned to the crowd.
Brew Dog lets their home-grown English punk roots show and it has become
the banner behind their campaign. Though
the details of their financial position, their plans for the investment and
other economic concerns are available through their website, most investors in
the crowd aren’t interested in the fine print.
Crowd investors are spurred by love of the company and Brew Dog’s Equity
Punks want a good brew at a good price.
Knowing this, Brew Dog presents a strong renegade position against the
sleepy details of equity finance to pique interest and then highlights their
quality product. “BrewDog is a company
that is genuinely doing something different and wants people to get excited
about it,” explains Warman. Building a market around company culture, especially the rebel innovation that surrounds crowdfunded enterprises, draws customers/investors in. Pivoting to the quality, versatility or tech disruption of the company or product will keep them in.
Legal Details
Though Brew Dog, like all companies utilizing crowdfunding,
challenges the conventional means of business funding, there’s no need to
explain why it’s still imperative to be on the right side of the law. U.S. Startups have assented by waiting for
the full acceptance of the JOBS Act before beginning their offering. Likewise, BrewDog assured their investment
plan was approved by the U.K.’s Financial Services Authority (FSA), similar to
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which American companies must comply with when the JOBS Act rules are finalized. “The EFP prospectus” which is available
online at BrewDog’s website “contains the full details of the share offering
including perks, sale price and company value calculations and potential
risks. We’ve got nothing to hide.” In the wake of mountainous corporate scandal
in the U.S. and with crowdfunding critics casting doubtful eyes from the risk
of investment fraud, this transparency and candid approach is central to
running an equity campaign. There should
be no mystery as to how to obtain the full documentation of the company and the
equity plan and the easier it is to obtain, the better. Equity crowdfunding, like its predecessor,
rewards crowdfunding, is heavily reliant on relationships, promise and trust;
an upfront attitude is the first step towards establishing those crucial
relationships.
To see how their new offering is going and for more information on Equity for Punks and their amazing beer, visit BrewDog.com
Next week; Social media, crowdfunding and storytelling: getting attention, interest and investment
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