restaurant marketing Archives - Page 2 of 4

Liquid to Lips and Alcohol Beverage Marketing

I've studied booze marketing and sales for years now. Liquid to lips and alcohol beverage marketing is still the most common industry term I've heard used when talking about sampling and activations. I have been on a quest to find out what brands receive from in-store sampling spends. I can't claim that my findings are definitive. I can say with confidence that my observations are accurate after 10 years of study and 3 years of operations. The prompt and motivation for this post comes from a recent email exchange with an experienced brand leader who remains convinced that marketing a…

By Shared Spirits

Three Ways to Grow Your Alcohol Beverage Brand in Nashville

Three ways to grow your alcohol beverage brand in Nashville! You know the answers already. You double down on growth with consistent in-store sampling. You sponsor events on-premise so incentives to new on-premise partners are immediately activated as a result of their bringing you onboard. You work with event pros who know how to feature your brand in ticketed and free events hosted by big Meetup organizers, event planners, and Brand Ambassador pros. So the above list is obvious. The bigger questions are with whom and how will you accomplish these basics? There are numerous options for sampling agencies in…

By Shared Spirits

Alcohol Beverage Samplings On-Premise

Alcohol beverage samplings on-premise feature hurdles in many parts of the country. The myriad of regulations involving sampling of alcohol read more like big pharma rules than regulations that should be governing something as universal as spirits, wine, and beer. In control states where liquor is sold by state owned entities, sampling is even more tough. The ability to get your spirits, wine, or beer product exposed to the market in on-premise partners, bars or restaurants can be a challenge. The hurdles are numerous. Regulations vary state to state. Interpretations of sample sizes, what alcohol licensed venues are allowed to…

By Shared Spirits

Leading the Target

Many of us grew up either hunting or playing video games or shooting skeet. The term, leading the target, simply implies that your anticipating where your target will be and against all intuition, you aim ahead of the target. It takes discipline and practice. This article shares the research gleaned from survey responses by 200 or so restaurant operators, GMs, and leaders. They detail their top initiatives and plans for the next few months. https://www.barandrestaurant.com/operations/results-are-our-state-industry-survey 25 percent cite enhanced marketing and new innovations as how they plan to solve the biggest challenges. When it comes to their biggest goals? How…

By Shared Spirits

Restaurant Operator Steve Turned his Beverage Program into an Ecomm Play

Restaurant Operator Steve Turned his Beverage Program into an Ecomm Play. It was simple with Liquid to Lips Marketing. First, why would he want to do so? According to Toast; Restaurant Informer says although beverages typically make up only 25 or 30 percent of a restaurant’s sales, putting an emphasis on your beverage program and selling it well can increase beverage sales to closer to 50 percent. Typical food cost for a restaurant sits between 25 and 35 percent, but liquor cost of goods is often closer to 20 percent, so it’s worth it to look into how developing a beverage program could be…

By Shared Spirits

Alcohol marketing with out-of-home campaigns, smart or dumb?

Spoiler alert. The question, (alcohol marketing with out-of-home campaigns, smart or dumb?) can not be answered simply with a smart or dumb. The effectiveness of alcohol brands and out-of-home advertising can vary depending on several factors such as target audience, location, creative execution, and marketing budget. Out-of-home advertising refers to advertisements that are displayed outside of people's homes, such as on billboards, bus shelters, or transit stations. This type of advertising can be especially effective for alcohol brands because it allows them to reach their target audience when they are on the go and away from their homes. For example,…

By Shared Spirits

Jack is Not Letting his Restaurant Miss Out on Post-Covid Alcohol Beverage Trends

Jack is an independent restaurant operator committed to not letting his restaurant miss out on post-covid alcohol beverage trends. What are those trends? To what is he paying attention? One major trend is that online ordering is here to stay. Jack managed to hold things steady in the midst of the toughest part of the pandemic transitioning his operation to "a branded ghost kitchen" of sorts. He ran most of his regular menu through delivery and pick up alternatives. Staff were repurposed to deliver and greet pick-up customers. A second trend Jack is watching is ownership of the customer relationship.…

By Shared Spirits

Selling “Picks and Shovels” to Our Industry

I take part in monthly calls with an exceptional group of professionals in the spirits, wine, and beer space. The alcohol beverage industry is significant globally and extremely vibrant here in the United States. More on this call and our selling picks and shovels to our industry in a bit. Revenue in the Alcoholic Drinks market amounts to US $261.10bn in 2022. The market is expected to grow annually by 10.51% (CAGR 2022-2025). The market's largest segment is the segment Beer with a market volume of US $111.50bn in 2022. Market share of spirits/wine/beer Projections How might alcoholic beverage sales increase…

By Shared Spirits

Spirits brands know what they don’t know.

Spirits brands know what they don't know. They just ignore the importance of that knowledge. The alcohol business is one of the few businesses that has no visibility on the end user of their products. Due to our three tier tax system, the tax collection and regulatory framework around liquor taxation and distribution, alcohol brands have little contact with their real customers. You know, the ones that drink their products. In our company's years of business, we have never seen a brand pursuing relationships with their end users. Massive resources are spent on retail, mass media, out of home, distributor…

By Shared Spirits

Alcohol Brands Supporting Restaurants in New Ways

It is time for us to see alcohol brands supporting restaurants in new ways. As we move into October, November, December in the alcohol industry or what is commonly known as OND, I've become fascinated by the different ways brands view their marketing priorities. I have been thinking a good deal about the adage, brands are built in the on-premise. I just haven't been seeing this adage play out in real life. Certainly, cocktail, wine, and beer culture are influenced by bar and restaurant placements. I still enjoy discovering a great cocktail at a bar when recommended by a bartender.…

Tag: restaurant marketing