When a business that once carried a valuation above £2bn begins exploring a sale at a fraction of that figure, it is easy to focus only on the disappointment. Yet every decline begins with a rise. And in the case of BrewDog, the rise offers more insight for marketers than the fall.
Before the financial strain, before investor unrest, before uncomfortable headlines, there was momentum. There was energy. There was belief.
The Climb: More Than Beer
BrewDog did not grow by accident. It grew because it understood something powerful: people do not just buy products; they join movements.
The founders challenged a safe, predictable beer category with bold flavours, louder branding and a rebellious tone. But the real innovation was not just in the bottle. It was in belonging.
In 2009, the brewer launched “Equity for Punks”, inviting everyday drinkers to become shareholders. For as little as £100, fans gained discounts, access to lively annual meetings in Aberdeen, and a sense of insider status. Over time, more than 200,000 people invested.
This was not passive loyalty. It was participation.
Back in 2001, academics Albert Muniz and Thomas O’Guinn described the idea of “brand communities”. They observed how customers of brands such as Harley-Davidson and Apple Inc. formed emotional bonds not just with the brand, but with each other. They called it a “consciousness of kind” — a shared identity built around a label.
BrewDog tapped into this instinct brilliantly. Investors were not just funding expansion. They were defending an attitude. They felt part of something disruptive and authentic, even as the brand entered supermarkets and opened international bars.
For marketers, the message is clear: community can accelerate penetration. A small, vocal core can create the noise that pulls in the mainstream. Devotion does not replace reach — but it can ignite it.
The Strain: When Structure Undermines Spirit
Community, however, rests on trust.
In 2017, BrewDog secured backing from a private equity investor. The deal reportedly granted preferential terms, including priority in the event of a sale and a high annual return structure. For many smaller shareholders, this altered the emotional contract. The “punks” suddenly appeared to sit at the back of the queue.
At the same time, allegations about internal culture began to circulate publicly. Whether fully accurate or not, such claims can erode brand meaning quickly. A company built on anti-corporate spirit cannot easily absorb accusations of behaving like the establishment it once criticised.
The lesson here is softer but deeper: governance is marketing. Financial structures, leadership behaviour and workplace culture all shape brand equity. If the inner reality clashes with the outer story, credibility thins.
Community and Penetration: Not Opposites
For a period, marketing thinking swung away from loyalty and towards reach and penetration. The two ideas were often framed as competitors.
But they need not be.
A passionate core rarely sustains scale on its own. Yet in early growth stages, it can provide proof, visibility and energy. Retail buyers take notice. Media amplifies noise. New customers feel safer trying something that others clearly care about.
BrewDog’s early investors helped fund expansion with roughly £75m across multiple rounds. More importantly, they acted as ambassadors. They bought the beer. They talked about it. They turned up in their thousands to AGMs that felt more like festivals than formal meetings.
Community was not decoration. It was infrastructure.
The Gentle Reminder for Marketers
When brands stumble, the failures often look obvious in hindsight: uneven investor treatment, financial overreach, cultural missteps. Most experienced managers understand these risks instinctively.
The harder skill is building ascent in the first place.
Scaling from challenger to global presence requires courage, speed and conviction. It requires creating meaning that people want to step inside. Few marketers ever get the chance — or have the capability — to engineer that kind of climb.
BrewDog’s story, therefore, is not simply a cautionary tale. It is a dual case study.
Part one shows the commercial force of authentic community.
Part two reminds us that trust, once stretched, rarely snaps back into shape.
For anyone in marketing leadership, the quiet takeaway is this:
Build belonging carefully. Protect it fiercely. Structure your growth so that the people who believed first never feel forgotten.