Analee Santaromita

PRS 340
Monday/ Wednesday 3:00pm
10/26/2015
Narragansett Beer Community Relations
Hi neighbor, have a Gansett! One of the most well known Rhode
Island- born companies is Narragansett Beer. The first Narragansett Beer
was brewed in 1890 in Cranston, and by 1914 the companys bottling line
was officially created. Following this, Gansett beer was dubbed the largest
brewery in all of New England. By the time the 1920s rolled around
prohibition was in full swing, but the IRS allowed Narragansett Beer to brew
and sell alcohol for medicinal purposes. In the 30s prohibition finally came to
a close, which was when Dr. Seuss was hired to create images to iconize the
company that are still used today. The infamous beer can was seen in the
movie Jaws, which remains to be a notable appearance to people today.
Narragansett Beer did not just keep to itself, they had relations all over
the map. Over the course of 30 years, Narragansett Beer maintained and
nourished a relationship with baseball. The famous beer was served at
games for teams including the Boston Braves as well as the Red Sox. During
this time, the famous saying Hi neighbor, have a Gansett was coined by
the legendary sports reporter, Curt Gowdy. Hi neighbor girls were hired to
escort people on brewery tours as well as participate in promotional events
for the popular company. Narragansett Beer also sponsored the highly
populated Newport Folk Festival.

After much time of company success Fall Staff Brewing Corporation

purchased Narragansett Beer for over a whopping 17 million dollars in 1965.
The company faced a downward spiral when the Fall Staff Brewing
Corporation let go of staff and moved the production of the Beer to Indiana
and demolished the admired Narragansett Brewery. Thankfully a group of
investors came to the rescue and purchased back Narragansett Beer in 2005
(Narragansett Beer).
The beer has been brought back to its original recipe, and has earned
first place at the Great International Beer Competition. Today, Narragansett
Beer is thriving and has been reestablished as an American and classic
beverage. The company stands by its motto, made on honor, sold on merit
showing the dedication and passion the brewery has to its consumer and to
its community. Gansett girls represent the beer by posing for old- fashioned
photos holding the famous beverage. Overall the company promotes itself
by creating a traditional image that dates back to when they first started up
in the early 1900s. Narragansett Beer is a household name and they are
successful in their efforts to gain their wonderful reputation back. Although,
the company faces the challenge to measure up to the success and support
they had received before they were sold as well as increasing their footprint.
Community relations and target audience consideration play a crucial role in
the present and future success of Narragansett Beer.
Target Audience is a specific group of people that would have the most
impact and be most affected by something or someone. In order for a

company to succeed, they must research their audiences to decipher which

specific groups of people advertising and relations should be catered to. In
order to develop an effective community relations program, Narragansett
Beer must narrow in on three specific publics.

Women (ages 25-50)

Narragansett Beer should focus in on Women ages 25-50 when

developing a community relations plan. This is because according to the
Census, women represent about 52% of Rhode Island, beating out men.
Beer in general has also gained the reputation to be primarily a mans drink.
In creating and innovative and out of the box community relations program
geared towards women, Narragansett Beer would not only break through the
stereotype and appeal to women, but they would also potentially gain the
most prevalent gender in Rhode Islands attention and support.
Another reason why this company should focus in on their women
audience is because of how relevant they are in the workforce. According to
the census, 27,358 women in Rhode Island are full time workers. At the
same time, women own 27.3% of firms that are established in Rhode Island.
This shows that it is getting more normal for women to be in charge of a
company, as well as full time workers, as opposed to years ago when men
were clearly favored in the workforce. When people are under stress at
work, they tend to go home or out to a bar to unwind. Narragansett Beer
would profit from catering their relations and advertising to this audience
because working women will want to socially drink after a long week of work.

Hispanics
The population of residents of Hispanic descent is rapidly increasing in

the state of Rhode Island. According to the Census, 14% or Rhode Islanders
are Hispanic or Latino, beating out every other ethnicity, including African
Americans, Asians, Hawaiians, etc. Because there are so many Hispanics
coming to Rhode Island, this means that more and more of them are
submerged into the workforce. Just like as mentioned above, they will enjoy
going out to a bar and having a beer on their free time to allow the stress of
their daily schedule to subside.
According to Rhode Islands 2015 Health Facts on health.ri.gov, 35.8%
of Hispanics living in Rhode Island are living in poverty. Compared to the
9.3% Whites living in poverty here, this is a large number. This means that
Narragansett Beer can target this large audience by providing affordable
alcohol.
Veterans
Veterans in general value loyalty and tradition and represent a unique
group of individuals in any community. According to the Census, 70,621
veterans call Rhode Island home. This means that veterans account for a
large population of the state, making them a wonderful group to target.
Narragansett Beer as a company, as mentioned previously, prides
themselves on tradition and their original recipe. Since this is the case,
Veterans would appreciate this companys traditional and loyal efforts.
In order for a company to be successful, they must maintain community
relations. One company in Rhode Island that has a smart outlook on

community relations is Cox Communications. Cox has been declared a

leading telecommunications company in the nation, being the third largest in
the nation. Cox also generates positive media attention and increases its
footprint as a direct result of their strategic efforts. One of the many
community relations Cox has is their outreach, called cable in the classroom,
where they provide commercial- free television programming and online
resources to 81,000 different schools. Cox Communications continues their
efforts by awarding annual scholarships to high school students that are
going on to college to pursue a job in Communications. They also distribute
grant money to support children going to school in K-12th grade (Cox
Communications). As you can see, Cox is smart in the way that they
maintain their community relations, helping them increase their footprint as
well as increase their sales.
In addition, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island succeeds in creating
and maintaining community relations. For over 70 years, Blue Cross Blue
Shield has consistently provided people with superior health insurance that
is reliable and affordable. They also preach on their corporate- social
responsibility by investing in the local community as well as improving the
health of Rhode Islanders. Blue Cross Blue Shield does this by funding a free
clinic, holding community wellness events, and by providing BlueAngel
community health grants for Rhode Islanders that are uninsured and need
help. Blue Cross Blue Shield also uses these BlueAngel grants to continue
our focus on Rhode Islands children and funding for initiatives that

contribute to a healthy weight for all (Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode
Island). As is this all is not enough, the company also funds their charitable
giving program. They have supported over 125 local nonprofit organizations
with donations as well as event sponsorships. Overall, Blue Cross Blue Shield
makes informed decisions on their strategic community relations.
As a national company, Verizon incorporates smart community
relations into their business plan. Verizon helps connect people and
companies throughout the nation with their global networks and information
systems. Verizon also maintains relations through the philanthropy through
the Verizon Foundation. We're dedicated to solving critical social issues in
the areas of education, healthcare and energy management, particularly in
underserved communities (Verizon FiOS & Custom TV | Internet, Cable &
Phone). Verizon has developed a suite and national matching program for all
of their employees and retired employees that exercise the companys own
belief in making the world a better place. Through Verizons philanthropy
they also distribute grants and support diversity and minorities everywhere.
All in all, Verizon does a wonderful community relations program in order to
increase their national footprint.
Starbucks prides themselves in their abundance of community
relations programs. They clearly state that they want to help the
communities where their stories reside, which is almost everywhere because
of how large their footprint has become. Through the Starbucks foundation,
they teach young people the skills they need to impact our global economy.

They create opportunities for the youth in their communities with investment
plans and opportunities for communities with community service grants. In
2014 Starbucks Corporation gave $11.4 million in cash, including $1.9 million
to the Starbucks Foundation. Corporate giving included funding for
community-building programs including the Global Fund through our
partnership with (RED) and other efforts and $38.8 million in in-kind
contributions (Starbucks Coffee Company). This company has also pledged
to hire a large amount of Veterans as they transition out of their time of
service. This shows the support Starbucks has to not only veterans
themselves, but also our country in general. They have also teamed up with
the Opportunity Finance Network to help create jobs in our country and the
Starbucks Foundation has contributed five million dollars to fund grants and
initiative projects. Starbucks has an enormous list of community relations
projects, which goes hand in hand with their enormous company footprint on
our nation.
In order for Narragansett Beer to increase their footprint, they must
consider three relevant audiences to target their community relations
program on. First, women ages 25-50 years of age should be focused on. In
Rhode Island, 52% of the population is women, clearly beating out men.
Since women are becoming increasingly relevant in the workforce and we are
seeing a large amount of women becoming heads of companies, this means
that women will look to alcohol to de-stress after a long day or week of work.
According to Survey: Women Drinking More Beer, Men Drinking Less, the

amount of women drinking beer has risen since last year. At the same time,
women are more willing to try beer in order to find a new brand than men,
meaning Narragansett Beer would be more appealing to taste and try to
women rather than men. Because of many factors and opportunities,
Narragansett Beer should target the audience of women ages 25-50.
In addition to women, it would be smart for Narragansett Beer to target
the audience of Hispanics in Rhode Island. As mentioned previously, the
amount of Hispanics in Rhode Island is rapidly rising, with 14% of all Rhode
Islanders being of this ethnicity. This ethnicity beats out any other ethnicity
in the state. "Hispanics are 19 percent more likely to purchase beer than the
rest of U.S. consumers. On top of that, Hispanics will make up a large portion
of the legal drinking-age population in the future (The Subtleties Of
Marketing Beer To Latinos). Looking at these statistics, it is almost too
obvious that Narragansett Beer would increase their footprint if they were to
cater their relations to Hispanics in Rhode Island.
Lastly, Narragansett Beer would be smart to target their community
relation efforts to veterans of Rhode Island. Veterans in general have a loyal
quality about them because they served our country for a long duration of
time; they are more willing to be loyal to companies that are native to their
country. Rhode Island is home to a large number of veterans (70,621). It
would benefit Narragansett Beer indefinitely to cater their relations plans to
this group of important individuals.

Community relations are vital to begin and maintain in order for a

company to experience success. These programs must be created with a
certain audience in mind, a target audience that clearly proves to be relevant
to area in which the company associates itself with. Narragansett Beer can
use these ideas in order to make their company more successful and
increase their footprint on the state of Rhode Island.

Works Cited
"About Us." Cox Communications. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.
<https://www.cox.com/content/cox/aboutus/corporate/pages/home.html/>.
"Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island." Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct.
2015.

<https://www.bcbsri.com/>.

"Hispanics/Latinos: Answers about HIV Vaccine Research." PsycEXTRA

Dataset (2009): n.

page. Web.

"Narragansett Beer." Narragansett Beer. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.

"Starbucks Coffee Company." Starbucks Coffee Company. N.p., n.d. Web. 20
Oct. 2015. <http://www.starbucks.com/>.
"Survey: Women Drinking More Beer, Men Drinking Less?" Craft Brewing
Business. N.p., 11

Nov. 2013. Web. 22

Oct. 2015.

<http://www.craftbrewingbusiness.com/news/survey-women-drinkingbeer-men- drinking-less/>.
"The Subtleties Of Marketing Beer To Latinos." NPR. NPR, n.d. Web. 24 Oct.
2015.

<http://www.npr.org/2011/10/11/141152273/the-subtleties-of-

marketing-beer

to-latinos>.

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"Verizon FiOS & Custom TV | Internet, Cable & Phone." Verizon FiOS &
Custom TV | Internet,

Cable & Phone. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.

<http://www.verizon.com/>.

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