Celebrity-backed spirits brand investments have exploded in recent years, and it could have potential long-term implications for emerging and craft spirits brands.
- One immediate affect is an increase in competition against other brands. Simple economics: more supply for the same amount of demand means that less product is purchased. This is particularly hard-hitting for non-celeb tequila brand owners competing against brands like The Rock’s Teremana and Clooney’s Casamigos which have sold for high-dollar acquisitions.
- On the plus side for craft distillers though, often these celebrities simply own a brand, but they don’t start up a distillery. Rather, they find a distillery that is already in a position to produce high-quality spirits and has excess capacity. Or, as in the case of Aviation Gin, a great craft distillery is founded and Ryan Reynolds hops on board for an already established brand.
- Another ramification is the amount of investment money that is now going into branding and advertising. Movie and TV stars in particular care very deeply about their image and the image of their spirits brand. They realize the importance of spending money to make something aesthetically pleasing for their consumers.
- By encouraging consumers to branch out from their staples, it opens the door for consumers to be more open to other spirits brands as well. Of course, this is more prevalent among millennials and Gen Z consumers who are gaining a larger and larger market share every year.
In light of this, a strong sales & marketing strategy has no longer become a “nice to have”. Spirits brands competing with multi-million dollar marketing budgets have to be able to adapt. Distributors are able to push through products that are spending big dollars on POS and tastings compared to smaller brands.
But all is not lost! Gaining consumers is key to winning in the space and it is definitely possible. However, it is also crucial to know what is important to distributors and retailers. It is important to not get pushed around in the ecommerce space. It is important to understand the difficulties of growth.
These are the things we will be talking about at the “Spirits Sales & Marketing Conference”…