Creating value from esoteric research, for Nottingham University Business School

The fall and rise of the local brew: what real ale buffs can teach the UK economy

Brief

Major research with obvious scope for impact and engagement easily lends itself to maximum exposure, but what about more esoteric studies? Bulletin Academic prides itself on finding potential in some of the unlikeliest material. For example, could we find a wider audience for a 23-page Nottingham University Business School paper on “process innovation, horizontal product innovation and geographic dispersion”?

Strategy

Since they were based on an analysis of the history of the British brewing industry, we reasoned the study’s findings had to be of some worth to the nation’s present-day brewers and drinkers. Discussions with the author confirmed one possible extrapolation of his conclusions was that the increasingly sophisticated tastes of real ale fans, as embodied by the consumer organisation CAMRA, revitalised a struggling industry – and that Britain’s discerning drinkers and brewers could therefore serve as role models for a country battling to emerge from recession.

Impact

The story quickly took off in the media, appearing in both the specialist and mainstream press. The Guardian ran a half-page feature on the study and its author, Professor Peter Swann. CAMRA and the Society of Independent Brewers circulated our research briefing to their members, meaning it was seen by almost every independent brewer in Britain. The Business School set about forging links with the University of Nottingham’s own research brewery. Professor Swann was even invited to the Great British Beer Festival to be acclaimed by the nation’s real ale fans. Overall, various potential synergies, spin-offs and partnerships suddenly became plain though relationships established on the back of the coverage’s success in underlining the School’s research credibility. As Professor Swann remarked: “Many thanks for creating something eyecatching from what is in essence a rather ‘academic’ paper!”