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	<item>
		<title>Big data: what’s in it for a beverage producer?</title>
		<link>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/big-data-whats-in-it-for-a-beverage-producer/</link>
					<comments>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/big-data-whats-in-it-for-a-beverage-producer/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Juste Akmenskyte]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Dec 2015 11:56:43 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[How To]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beverage Business Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.drinkpreneur.com/?p=3956</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>This is obviously the age of big data. It is so big that we do not always make the best (or any) use of it. Sometimes because we do not have direct access to this data or because we simply do not know how to handle it. Below are a few thoughts on how to [&#8230;]</p>
The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/big-data-whats-in-it-for-a-beverage-producer/">Big data: what’s in it for a beverage producer?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/drinkpreneur_bigdatawordbubble-590x240.jpg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3957" src="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/drinkpreneur_bigdatawordbubble-590x240.jpg" alt="Big data: what’s in it for a beverage producer?" width="590" height="240" srcset="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/drinkpreneur_bigdatawordbubble-590x240.jpg 590w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/drinkpreneur_bigdatawordbubble-590x240-300x122.jpg 300w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/drinkpreneur_bigdatawordbubble-590x240-200x81.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This is obviously the age of big data. It is so big that we do not always make the best (or any) use of it. Sometimes because we do not have direct access to this data or because we simply do not know how to handle it. Below are a few thoughts on how to ‘get along’ with all this information and make good use of it.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Understanding what information you need and why</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The data would not be as ‘big’ anymore, if we predefined what we would like to get out of it as a result. When you try to bite too big of a piece, you naturally end up unable to swallow it, however it is data that has to serve you and not the other way round. And that is why you need to set clear goals. They would give you direction and therefore ability to focus on specific data instead of trying to grasp it all.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Focus on data that would help you predict demand, better plan promotions and other actions that would encourage desired shopper reaction. In other words you need to be able to take some action based on this knowledge. Pay utmost attention to buying habits of your target audience. What they buy? How do they buy? How does that depend on the season, price, promotions and various market fluctuations? In combination with what other items is your product purchased, etc.?</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Segment marketing</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Today’s retailers have lots of important shopper details available that could help boost in-store sales. Introduction of loyalty programs allow tracking what same shopper purchases in various retail points and even online. Such extensive knowledge allows allocating shoppers into groups (segments) based on actual patterns of their behavior rather than some sociol-demographic data, as it is still quite popular to do.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Retailer knowing that particular clients tend to buy i.e. bottled water may target a promotion of your bottled water brand not just to anyone but to the ones who are most likely to purchase it. If it’s a quality product and consumer is satisfied after first trying it, it is likely he could switch to your product even after the discount period is over.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">It does not mean that giving a discount to a necessary audience would do the job, however in combination with quality of communication and the beverage itself, as well as competitive pricing it is way easier to show the benefits of your product, because shopper is already interested in this category of goods.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Shopper engagement</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Knowledge about customer segments allows better targeted communication and therefore bigger shopper engagement. If you have information about shopping patterns and are able to make a personalized offer to a certain segment instead of offering the same thing for all, you are more likely to attract shoppers to make the purchase.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As mentioned in my previous post, by using location-based advertising you could increase engagement even more, since shoppers are already nearby and most likely have intent to buy. Having in mind that most of the buying decisions in FMCG sector are made in-store, you are definitely missing out if you are not making impact when person is already ready to purchase.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I hope this gives you some food for thought. Good luck handling the data that is not just big but also relevant and applicable.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Original article was published in <a title="Beverage Industry Blog" href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/big-data-whats-in-it-for-a-beverage-producer" target="_blank">Beverage Industry Blog</a></p>The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/big-data-whats-in-it-for-a-beverage-producer/">Big data: what’s in it for a beverage producer?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></content:encoded>
					
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		<title>Selling your beverages in-store: getting out of the box</title>
		<link>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/selling-your-beverages-in-store-getting-out-of-the-box/</link>
					<comments>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/selling-your-beverages-in-store-getting-out-of-the-box/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Juste Akmenskyte]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 11 Dec 2015 11:23:48 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[How To]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beverage Business Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.drinkpreneur.com/?p=3939</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Even though e-commerce is gaining its popularity in beverage industry, the biggest portion of sales still come from in-store shopping. Different distribution channels have their particularities, however shall we focus on larger retail stores such as supermarkets this time? Competition in beverage industry is so big and getting into known supermarkets is sometimes a great [&#8230;]</p>
The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/selling-your-beverages-in-store-getting-out-of-the-box/">Selling your beverages in-store: getting out of the box</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="blog_post_thumb"><a href="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/drinkpreneur_wedding_drink_ideas.jpg"><img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3940" src="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/drinkpreneur_wedding_drink_ideas.jpg" alt="Selling your beverages" width="600" height="399" srcset="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/drinkpreneur_wedding_drink_ideas.jpg 600w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/drinkpreneur_wedding_drink_ideas-300x199.jpg 300w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/drinkpreneur_wedding_drink_ideas-200x133.jpg 200w" sizes="(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></a></div>
<div class="excerpt">
<p style="text-align: justify;">Even though e-commerce is gaining its popularity in beverage industry, the biggest portion of sales still come from in-store shopping. Different distribution channels have their particularities, however shall we focus on larger retail stores such as supermarkets this time?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Competition in beverage industry is so big and getting into known supermarkets is sometimes a great deal of an achievement. Nevertheless selling your beverages in supermarkets means high competition for a place in a shopping basket, not only among other beverage products but also among many other kinds of goods. Obviously, getting on the shelves is not enough, the biggest challenge of all is to stand out and attract attention. No matter how good your product may be, if shoppers do not notice it, you are done, therefore it is always a good idea to invest in exceptional packaging design. However there are more good ideas worth considering.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Observe how shoppers behave</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There are lots of measuring techniques that allow you checking how people buy your product or products similar to yours, however you may not always have resources for that. A pretty good alternative is to spend some time in some of the retail points observing how people buy beverage products. How much time they spend selecting? What catches their attention first? Do they seem to hesitate and take their time to consider what they’re about to purchase? Do they check the ingredients and nutrition information? How do they pick unknown and new products? How do they react to promotions?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The key point here is that no matter how much information you may gather surveying people and asking how they behave or would behave in certain circumstances, the most valuable data would still be received observing them in real life situations. And that’s not because people would be lying or hiding something from you, it’s because some of the decisions are made irrationally without putting much thought into them.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">By the way, if you are having a focus group in order to figure out what packaging to pick, what flavors, communication or other aspects to put emphasis on, do not just read the report but also observe how people behave throughout the process. You would be surprised how much you can learn from that.</p>
<h3><strong>Try location based mobile ads</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Yes, you can boost in-store sales with the help of smart phones. This can be done via various tools such as xADs or well familiar Google AdWords. Not so long ago Facebook has also introduced so-called local awareness ads which are shown depending on viewers’ location. When the person is somewhere nearby the ad would be more relevant to him or her and therefore is more likely to encourage action.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">With well-crafted messages and visuals, as well as some time spent on selecting the right audience, you are very likely to motivate people to check you out on-shelves in the near-by retail point.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Be creative when applying in-store marketing</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Point of sales displays, retail media, taste tests, promotions and other means are commonly used by marketers in order to get product noticed in-store. However, there are sometimes so many promoted products that it’s still difficult to stand out. This means additional costs but not always satisfactory sales results.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A good way to stand out of the crowd and attract even those who had no intention of purchasing any kinds of beverages is by using the same well know methods, however doing that in a somewhat unexpected way. For example here’s a refrigerator with transparent LED screen which helps choose the most suitable drink:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wnZDUvmHIN0" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This definitely catches shopper’s attention and encourages purchase by showing that that is the exact match for their needs. However, you one does not necessarily need new technology to stand out. I believe <a href="https://twitter.com/cannonjw/status/575810159609425921" target="_blank">this display by Guinness</a> did not come unnoticed by any of the visitors of the store.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I am sure you have seen many more examples of brands getting creative in-store. Is there something you really liked and feel like sharing? If so, feel free to get in touch directly or leave a comment below.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Original article was published in <a title="Beverage Industry Blog" href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/selling-your-beverages-in-store-getting-out-of-the-box" target="_blank">Beverage Industry Blog</a></p>
</div>The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/selling-your-beverages-in-store-getting-out-of-the-box/">Selling your beverages in-store: getting out of the box</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></content:encoded>
					
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		<item>
		<title>Storytelling in Non-alcoholic Beverage Advertising</title>
		<link>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/storytelling-in-non-alcoholic-beverage-advertising/</link>
					<comments>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/storytelling-in-non-alcoholic-beverage-advertising/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Juste Akmenskyte]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 18 Nov 2015 09:00:58 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[How To]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beverage Business Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Soft Drink]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.drinkpreneur.com/?p=3870</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Not long ago, I’ve written about story themes that are quite common in alcohol advertising. However storytelling is no exception in ads for non-alcoholic drinks. Here I further discuss a few themes that can be noticed throughout the years of non-alcoholic beverage (including drinkable water) advertising. Cuteness overload Well maybe not overload but still, it [&#8230;]</p>
The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/storytelling-in-non-alcoholic-beverage-advertising/">Storytelling in Non-alcoholic Beverage Advertising</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_screen-shot-2015-06-21-at-22.14.19-e1436336489662.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3871" src="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_screen-shot-2015-06-21-at-22.14.19-e1436336489662.png" alt="Storytelling in Non-alcoholic Beverage Advertising" width="1110" height="611" srcset="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_screen-shot-2015-06-21-at-22.14.19-e1436336489662.png 1110w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_screen-shot-2015-06-21-at-22.14.19-e1436336489662-300x165.png 300w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_screen-shot-2015-06-21-at-22.14.19-e1436336489662-1024x563.png 1024w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_screen-shot-2015-06-21-at-22.14.19-e1436336489662-200x110.png 200w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_screen-shot-2015-06-21-at-22.14.19-e1436336489662-800x440.png 800w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px" /></a>Not long ago, I’ve written about story themes that are quite common in <a href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/alcohol-advertising-its-a-lot-about-storytelling" target="_blank">alcohol advertising</a>. However storytelling is no exception in ads for non-alcoholic drinks. Here I further discuss a few themes that can be noticed throughout the years of non-alcoholic beverage (including drinkable water) advertising.</p>
<h3><strong>Cuteness overload</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Well maybe not overload but still, it is quite popular to use babies, puppies and other lovely creatures in advertising. You might think that this is an easy approach, since everyone’s heart would melt by seeing them anyway. However it can still get creative, just like in this cute and entertaining ad from Evian:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8-p0CxW87pg" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<h3><strong>Happiness</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There were a few other beverage brands whose stories somewhat related to happiness, however Coca Cola is probably the best at delivering it. It has been building on this theme for many years now and still manages to come up with something new and engaging. Watching their ads really brings some happiness into one’s life. And since a few years ago Coca Cola started making many different cases and telling stories about them, this is no longer just advertising, it’s telling and showing stories how they actually made people happy. Here is one of many great examples how Coca Cola made Denmark an even happier place to be:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/q9XOfUGmHM8" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<h3><strong>Let’s educate you a little</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Educational theme is usually used when brand owners want to make a point about the ingredients they use, their product’s value to one’s health and wellbeing etc. Since this is a rather boring piece of information they want to share, good storytelling helps getting the right message through without directly lecturing the target about some awesome ingredients they have never heard of. This educational theme is also quite common among premium water brands that want to explain why one should pay more for a bottle of their water. One of the ways to educate is through breathtaking views that somehow relate to one’s product. Not sure if I am going to purchase some water after watching this, however I would definitely go for a vacation to Fiji, where it comes from:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/juHtVC60Kuo" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<h3><strong>Sports</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">It is a popular theme throughout advertising of many different products and non-alcoholic beverages are not an exception. Sports-related ads are obviously more common for sports drinks, however there are numerous examples of this theme in advertising of water, energy drinks and other types of beverages. I believe Red Bull created some of the greatest stories featuring extreme sports. Pretty much all of them were engaging even for the ones who neither do sports nor drink Red Bull. Here is one of the greatest examples about the record-breaking free fall from space:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OcU5Duvp7JI" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<h3><strong>Persistence is the key</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This is strongly related to the previous one, since athletes are often at the center of such stories. However they are not the only ones, therefore I decided to separate the two. This theme is about the importance of not giving up and persistently striving for one’s goals. This is a lot about enhancing motivation which many of us lack sometimes when things do not go the way we expected. Here is a story about tennis player Serena Williams in one of the inspiring spots from Gatorade:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e63f6WHWPTE" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Great stories inspire great creativity. I hope the above was a boost for yours.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Original article was published in <a title="Beverage Industry Blog" href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/?p=4528&amp;preview=true&amp;preview_id=4528&amp;preview_nonce=c898400325" target="_blank">Beverage Industry Blog</a></p>The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/storytelling-in-non-alcoholic-beverage-advertising/">Storytelling in Non-alcoholic Beverage Advertising</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></content:encoded>
					
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		<title>Online Beverage Shopping: a Trend to Consider?</title>
		<link>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/online-beverage-shopping-a-trend-to-consider/</link>
					<comments>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/online-beverage-shopping-a-trend-to-consider/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Juste Akmenskyte]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Nov 2015 09:00:04 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[How To]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beverage Business Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.drinkpreneur.com/?p=3863</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Everyday more and more products are going online and grocery goods (with beverages among them) are not an exception. Beverage industry was pretty slow in terms of adoption of e-commerce in comparison to some other industries, however numbers show that the turning-point might have been reached. Let’s have a look into some of the important [&#8230;]</p>
The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/online-beverage-shopping-a-trend-to-consider/">Online Beverage Shopping: a Trend to Consider?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_iphone-624709_1920-590x240.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3866" src="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_iphone-624709_1920-590x240.jpg" alt="Online Beverage Shopping: a Trend to Consider?" width="590" height="240" srcset="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_iphone-624709_1920-590x240.jpg 590w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_iphone-624709_1920-590x240-300x122.jpg 300w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_iphone-624709_1920-590x240-200x81.jpg 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Everyday more and more products are going online and grocery goods (with beverages among them) are not an exception. Beverage industry was pretty slow in terms of adoption of e-commerce in comparison to some other industries, however numbers show that the turning-point might have been reached. Let’s have a look into some of the important trends that should give you some food for thought (if they have not done that yet).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">According to Eurostat’s data from 2013, around 8 percent of shoppers in the European Union did grocery shopping online and that was on average a 60 percent increase since 2009. However some countries are far ahead from the average, i.e. France and Netherlands witnessed increases of online grocery shopping of 200% and 100% respectively. This signifies both that more shoppers are eager to purchase online, as well as there are more retailers that offer that opportunity.</p>
<p><a href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Online-grocery-market-penetration-level-across-different-countries-in-the-EU-graph.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-4522 aligncenter" src="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Online-grocery-market-penetration-level-across-different-countries-in-the-EU-graph.png" alt="Online Beverage Shopping: a Trend to Consider?" width="805" height="422" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Revenues from online grocery shopping are expected to grow outside of Europe too. According to Statistic&#8217;s forecast, food and beverage e-commerce revenues in the US until 2018 are expected to grow approximately 10-12% each year. Penetration of online grocery shopping in the US is 20%, in comparison to 22% in the UK and approximately 8% in the entire EU.  Considering that this constitutes no more than one third of total online shopping in the same regions, there is still lots of space and potential for significant growth of online grocery shopping.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As noted in The Online Grocery Shopper study by Syndicate Plus, which is based on a survey of online grocery shoppers in Germany, Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom, approximately 55% of the respondents purchased beverages online. That is the top product category among the interviewees and it clearly shows an opportunity for the beverage retailers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Since one of the reasons for online grocery shopping is convenience of not having to lift heavy items, it is likely that shoppers would tend to purchase bigger quantities of beverages online than they would in-store. Especially in combination with price-based promotions for product packages. The more the shoppers purchase, the more they are likely to consume, so increased sales of packages does not necessarily mean that shoppers would store them and therefore purchase less frequently.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">One more interesting thing noted in the already mentioned study by Syndicate Plus is that grocery shoppers tend to shop online less frequently than they do in stores, however they tend to spend more on each online purchase. Almost 40% of shoppers spend 60 EUR or more per purchase online, however only 20% spend this much in-store. This is good news for those who already sell or consider selling online too, isn’t it? Have a look into the graph below for more details on grocery shopper’s basket sizes in-store and online.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_average-online-grocery-shoppers-basket-size-graph.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3865" src="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_average-online-grocery-shoppers-basket-size-graph.png" alt="Online Beverage Shopping: a Trend to Consider?" width="762" height="476" srcset="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_average-online-grocery-shoppers-basket-size-graph.png 762w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_average-online-grocery-shoppers-basket-size-graph-300x187.png 300w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_average-online-grocery-shoppers-basket-size-graph-200x124.png 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 762px) 100vw, 762px" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">To sum it all up, growth of online grocery shopping is no surprise and most of beverage brands sooner or later will have to become available online. The question is whether they offer their products directly to their end consumers, which a significant portion of beverage brands already do, or will they do it via other online channels. It is quite obvious that if one does not appear where shoppers make the purchase, they are going to lose a significant portion of a pie and not only in terms of online sales but possibly in general. Especially having in mind that total uplift in beverage consumption is expected to be nowhere as high as the growth of grocery purchases made online in particular.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Original article was published in <a title="Beverage Industry Blog" href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/?p=4521&amp;preview=true&amp;preview_id=4521&amp;preview_nonce=534635065f" target="_blank">Beverage Industry Blog</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/online-beverage-shopping-a-trend-to-consider/">Online Beverage Shopping: a Trend to Consider?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></content:encoded>
					
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		<title>Alcohol Advertising: It’s a lot about Storytelling</title>
		<link>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/alcohol-advertising-its-a-lot-about-storytelling/</link>
					<comments>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/alcohol-advertising-its-a-lot-about-storytelling/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Juste Akmenskyte]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2015 13:23:53 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[How To]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alcoholic Beverages]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beverage Business Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.drinkpreneur.com/?p=3849</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>There are loads of legal restrictions related to alcohol advertising. It cannot depict drinking youth, link alcohol consumption to enhanced physical or social performance, tell or show how fun immoderate alcohol drinking may be and so on. Due to that and a huge competition on the market, the most common and probably the best option [&#8230;]</p>
The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/alcohol-advertising-its-a-lot-about-storytelling/">Alcohol Advertising: It’s a lot about Storytelling</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_beer-210197_1280-590x240.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3850" src="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_beer-210197_1280-590x240.jpg" alt="Alcohol Advertising" width="590" height="240" srcset="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_beer-210197_1280-590x240.jpg 590w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_beer-210197_1280-590x240-300x122.jpg 300w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/drinkpreneur_beer-210197_1280-590x240-200x81.jpg 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There are loads of legal restrictions related to alcohol advertising. It cannot depict drinking youth, link alcohol consumption to enhanced physical or social performance, tell or show how fun immoderate alcohol drinking may be and so on. Due to that and a huge competition on the market, the most common and probably the best option for alcohol advertising is… yes, storytelling. There are many famous brands that successfully do it, and you can notice that there are some themes that are commonly used by many throughout the years. Shall we have a look at some of them?</p>
<h3><strong>Beer goes well with sports</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Probably one of the most common themes in beer advertising is sports, and usually football. Sponsorship campaigns, video and other means of advertising related with sports has been done for years by many known beer brands. Everyone knows how strong and long-lasting relationship between football and beer is. And there is nothing bad in using this theme over and over again, as long as it works. The main challenge here is to come up with something new and engaging every time. Here is a great example how Heineken (the Creative Marketer at this year’s Cannes Lions) does it:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XBVel9utOjg" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<h3><strong>It’s a man thing</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Alcohol (especially strong alcohol) has always been more targeted at men than women, so there is a common theme featuring male friendships and deeds they do together. This is also an old and tested approach, so all one has to do is build an appealing and engaging story that their target audience could relate to. I believe Tullamore Dew Irish Whiskey did just that in this cinematographic story with a twist (yes, this one got nominated at Cannes Lions too):</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1wlmwj765WM" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Full version of the video is available <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL9yB0ne67A" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
<h3><strong>Adventure</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Adventure is also among popular themes in alcohol advertising. It is usually something exciting and somewhat unusual, with an unexpected ending, therefore can be very engaging if done well. Who could have thought that beer could be advertised by telling a story of a dog’s adventure, though?! Well Budweiser did it and it turned out quite well. Have a look if you have not seen it yet:</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xAsjRRMMg_Q" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<h3><strong>Life is about fun and experiences</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This is quite similar to the one above, however experiences can but do not necessarily relate to adventure. This theme usually features a charming James Bond type of man that does things many could just dream of. Whatever he does, it always turns out well. Those ads are often laid on a bit thick, therefore are very entertaining. Here is one more example from Heineken:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4mOHGWM3hmw" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<h3><strong>The Becoming</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">One more rather popular option is telling one’s story about the path they’ve taken to become who they are now. It usually involves stories of early rejection, great persistence and eventually glorious results. Mostly done by brands with long history, who want to emphasize their long cherished quality standards and tradition. It is a tricky thing to talk too much about oneself, however if one finds a way to engage their audience, then why not?! Here’s a rather good (over 6 minutes long, though) example from Johnnie Walker:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xX-BwG3PDVA" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Even though themes in advertising are repeating throughout the years, the stories that surround them and channels through which they are communicated differ quite significantly. Advertising is now becoming a form of art that is interesting and enjoyable to view, so even if you work with a great ad agency, it is still a good idea to have a look at what others are doing.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">One last thing I would like to add is that good storytelling starts with an in-depth understanding of those whom you are telling the story to. Tastes are changing, consumption habits are changing, pretty much everything is constantly changing, therefore no matter the common themes, you simply cannot create an engaging story if you do not know what your consumers currently care about. So do your research and then go put your creative hat on.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Original article was published in <a title="Beverage Industry Blog" href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/alcohol-advertising-its-a-lot-about-storytelling" target="_blank">Beverage Industry Blog</a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/alcohol-advertising-its-a-lot-about-storytelling/">Alcohol Advertising: It’s a lot about Storytelling</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></content:encoded>
					
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		<title>Big ideas, little money: getting ready to raise capital for a beverage project</title>
		<link>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/big-ideas-little-money-getting-ready-to-raise-capital-for-a-beverage-project/</link>
					<comments>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/big-ideas-little-money-getting-ready-to-raise-capital-for-a-beverage-project/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Juste Akmenskyte]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2015 13:23:51 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[How To]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beverage Trends]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.drinkpreneur.com/?p=3826</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>Most likely all of us know that when speaking of a beverage business, there is no such thing as low budget. And we are talking about hundreds of thousands of Euros here. If you have a young business and not that many funds at hand, your best options are either crowdfunding (Pura Vida Tequila and [&#8230;]</p>
The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/big-ideas-little-money-getting-ready-to-raise-capital-for-a-beverage-project/">Big ideas, little money: getting ready to raise capital for a beverage project</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_tiny-terra-590x240.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3827" src="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_tiny-terra-590x240.jpg" alt="Big Ideas, Little Money" width="590" height="240" srcset="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_tiny-terra-590x240.jpg 590w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_tiny-terra-590x240-300x122.jpg 300w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_tiny-terra-590x240-200x81.jpg 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 590px) 100vw, 590px" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Most likely all of us know that when speaking of a beverage business, there is no such thing as low budget. And we are talking about hundreds of thousands of Euros here.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If you have a young business and not that many funds at hand, your best options are either crowdfunding (<a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pura-vida-tequila#/" target="_blank">Pura Vida Tequila</a> and <a href="https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/clearly-canadian-14-927-backers-800k-pre-sold#/" target="_blank">Clearly Canadian</a> are just a few recently funded examples) or investors. Whichever you choose, you have to do your homework. Because if you don’t, you won’t get even a sniff of your beverages reaching the shelves of retailers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Let’s talk about the must-haves when getting ready to talk to the investors.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Clear concept</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I have recently written about <a href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/7-questions-beverage-marketing-plan-has-to-cover" target="_blank">questions your marketing plan has to cover</a>. It would be a good idea to answer most of them when working on your concept too. If you have a clear picture of your idea, it will be easier to sell it to others.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Make sure you know your project head to toe. No matter how great your pitch presentation is, if you (or anyone at your team) are unable to answer the questions or are starting to make things up, investors will notice it and are likely to turn you down.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A very simple but proven way to avoid this is by listing all the inconvenient questions investors might ask and preparing to answer them in advance.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Recipe development and production of the first batch</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Even if it seems quite tangible in your imagination, it is a rather long way from basic idea to market-ready product. The beverage might not taste as good as you expected, usage of certain ingredients (or quantities of them) you planned may be forbidden by law or the drink may just lack some key attributions. So basically it involves some testing and tasting before one comes up with the right combination of ingredients.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">OK, so you have the recipe. Now you need some prototypes produced. Do you know where you will source the ingredients from? Where will the production take place? What type of packaging will you use and where will you get it from? If you do not have the necessary knowledge, time or funds for a proper research, getting help from some beverage industry experts could also be an idea to consider.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Exceptional packaging design</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">You must know by now, that competition in beverage industry is enormous, therefore your product really needs to stand out. Well chosen packaging design will serve well when attracting shoppers’ attention. So if you have limited funds, make sure you make packaging design your top priority.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Considering how hard it can be to get retailers even sell your product, you really need to make sure the drink gets noticed when it finally finds its way to the shelves. Especially if you are not likely to have a big marketing budget which you could spend on point of sale displays and other means of promotion.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Killer pitch presentation</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In order to make a great presentation, you need to understand what your target needs to hear. Most of investors evaluate similar criteria, however it is always worth doing your research to find out what a specific fund is looking for.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The better you understand what is expected from you, the better speech you can deliver. There are lots of tips about building a killer pitch presentation one Google search away, so I would not go into details. My key advice to you – when practicing your pitch, think critically and ask yourself “so what?” after each statement you make. Investors are busy people, so there is no need for waffling.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">By the way, make sure the slides you prepare are in line with your concept and support your speech but not repeat it.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Good luck bringing your ideas to life. Get in touch, if we could be of help along the way.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Original article was published in <a title="Beverage Industry Blog" href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/big-ideas-little-money-getting-ready-to-attract-funding-for-a-beverage-project" target="_blank">Beverage Industry Blog</a></p>The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/big-ideas-little-money-getting-ready-to-raise-capital-for-a-beverage-project/">Big ideas, little money: getting ready to raise capital for a beverage project</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></content:encoded>
					
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		<title>7 Questions Beverage Marketing Plan Has To Cover</title>
		<link>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/7-questions-beverage-marketing-plan-has-to-cover/</link>
					<comments>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/7-questions-beverage-marketing-plan-has-to-cover/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Juste Akmenskyte]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2015 11:23:55 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[How To]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Beverage Business Insights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.drinkpreneur.com/?p=3784</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>A well known fact is that many young businesses fail during the first few years of operation. One of the main reasons is that they fail to do the research and planning, therefore they tend to make reckless decisions, waste their resources and simply run out of money before getting any kind of funding. In [&#8230;]</p>
The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/7-questions-beverage-marketing-plan-has-to-cover/">7 Questions Beverage Marketing Plan Has To Cover</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_1af4f96.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3785" src="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_1af4f96.jpg" alt="7 Questions Beverage Marketing Plan Has To Cover" width="900" height="600" srcset="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_1af4f96.jpg 900w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_1af4f96-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_1af4f96-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_1af4f96-800x533.jpg 800w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_1af4f96-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A well known fact is that many young businesses fail during the first few years of operation. One of the main reasons is that they fail to do the research and planning, therefore they tend to make reckless decisions, waste their resources and simply run out of money before getting any kind of funding.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In order to avoid their mistakes, here are some of the most important questions you need to cover in your beverage marketing plan:</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Where are you going to sell your product?</strong></h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">For the starters you should decide which market(s) you are intending to sell your product in. When you do, focus your research on them specifically, try to grasp current trends and opportunities. Make sure you understand the environment you are about to operate in.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If you are not sure which market to start with, get your hands on some market reports and statistics to find out which markets could work for you.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Who are the external stakeholders that would influence your marketing efforts?</strong></h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Target consumer segment:</strong> Here you need to create a profile of your target consumer focusing not only on their socio-demographic characteristics but also paying attention to their lifestyle, interests and other things that might influence their buying decisions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Main competitors:</strong> You need to understand against whom you are going to compete and how you compare to them. The better you understand their strategies, the easier it will be to build your own.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Distributors: </strong>It is likely that you would not be selling your beverage solely through your own distribution channels, so you have to know pros and cons of the available options and select the most suitable for implementation of your marketing strategy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Partners:</strong> Take your time to look for strategic partnership opportunities. This might be the key to your marketing success, since combined efforts and resources could result in a way better outcome than you could achieve alone (or at least you would need way bigger budget and supposedly more time).</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>What product are you going to offer?</strong></h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">You probably already have a concept of the beverage you are going to offer the market. What you need to do here, is to further develop that idea considering what product would have the most potential among your target consumers, as well as would be attractive for the distributors to work with.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Spend some time researching what kinds of beverages are trending on that market, what ingredients are best to use, what are the demand forecasts for that particular category of beverages etc.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Why would your consumer care to buy your product?</strong></h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_bottle-791447_1920.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-3786" src="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_bottle-791447_1920.jpg" alt="bottle-791447_1920" width="243" height="162" srcset="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_bottle-791447_1920.jpg 1920w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_bottle-791447_1920-300x200.jpg 300w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_bottle-791447_1920-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_bottle-791447_1920-200x133.jpg 200w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_bottle-791447_1920-800x533.jpg 800w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/drinkpreneur_bottle-791447_1920-600x400.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 243px) 100vw, 243px" /></a>Here is one way to do it. Put down all features that differentiate your product from others on the market. Think well whether those are nice-to-haves or actual pain-killers for your audience. Leave only the latter and cross out all the rest. This is likely to be your competitive advantage.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If you do not seem to find any current competitive advantages, think what you could do in order to achieve them. Focus your thinking on the problem-solving of your target consumers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">When you understand what makes you better than your competition, base your positioning strategy on that and make sure to clearly communicate the value you are bringing.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Why would the distributors work with your product?</strong></h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If you have the answer to the question above – that’s the start already. In addition to that, think about what you are going to bring to the table when negotiating the terms and conditions. What value will you offer to the distributor for selling your product instead of competitors’? Are you up for selling your product under someone else’s private label or do you want to develop your own brand (or maybe both)? That is all a part of your marketing strategy, so consider all do’s and don’ts upfront.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>What are your strategic goals and what tactics you are going to use to achieve them?</strong></h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This will give the direction for your marketing activities, so don’t rush these. Don’t be afraid to be ambitious, just make sure the goals you set are actually achievable. Make them time-bound and measurable, so that you could easily track your progress along the way.</p>
<h4 style="text-align: justify;"><strong>What measures will you use to market your beverage?</strong></h4>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This part usually depends on a marketing budget you have at hand. Find out what could be suitable to you and at what cost. Make sure you understand why you are choosing one measure over the other. Keep focus on the goals and tactics that you have selected, so that your marketing implementation plan is integral and purposeful.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Looks like a lot of thinking to do? Well, you could actually dig even deeper and you probably will, since while trying to answer one question, you might come up with a new one. The more answers you have before launching your product, the more likely you are to succeed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Have anything to add to the subject? Leave a comment below or get in touch directly.</p>
<p>Original article was published in <a title="Beverage Industry Blog" href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/7-questions-beverage-marketing-plan-has-to-cover" target="_blank">Beverage Industry Blog</a></p>The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/7-questions-beverage-marketing-plan-has-to-cover/">7 Questions Beverage Marketing Plan Has To Cover</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></content:encoded>
					
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		<title>How to get to know your customers?</title>
		<link>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/how-to-get-to-know-your-customers/</link>
					<comments>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/how-to-get-to-know-your-customers/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Juste Akmenskyte]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Sep 2015 11:42:24 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[How To]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.drinkpreneur.com/?p=3694</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>If you wonder why you would even care to get to know your audience, my answer to you is an entire post from earlier this week (have a look if you have not done that yet). Now, since we have the why part covered, shall we talk about how to gather the information you need? [&#8230;]</p>
The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/how-to-get-to-know-your-customers/">How to get to know your customers?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_customers-at-the-supermar-004.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-3695 aligncenter" src="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_customers-at-the-supermar-004.jpg" alt="How to get to know your customers?" width="460" height="276" srcset="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_customers-at-the-supermar-004.jpg 460w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_customers-at-the-supermar-004-300x180.jpg 300w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_customers-at-the-supermar-004-200x120.jpg 200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 460px) 100vw, 460px" /></a>If you wonder why you would even care to get to know your audience, my answer to you is an entire post from earlier this week <a href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/why-do-you-need-to-know-your-customers" target="_blank">(have a look if you have not done that yet)</a>. Now, since we have the why part covered, shall we talk about how to gather the information you need?</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There are many methods to get the necessary answers about your customers. I will not go deep into detail describing each of them but rather provide you with some guidelines what your options could be.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Your main goal here, by the way, whichever method or combination of them you choose, is to understand the reality your audience lives in and spot the problem that they face. Try to understand their struggles and how they were dealing with them until you came along. Dig even deeper to get to know how your customers make buying decisions, what influences and encourages them to choose one thing over another.</p>
<h3><strong>Identify your target audience</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Each market is segmented and different audiences need different things, so make sure you understand who your actual target is. What you need to do here is to create a profile of your ideal customer, such that would bring the most benefit to your business (because you are likely to bring the most benefit to them of all others).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">One way to get done with this is to write down the problems your product solves. When you have the list, think of all the groups of people that face one or some of those problems. Then make your choice considering which of the groups is the biggest, which of them faces the problem more often, which of them is more likely to constantly purchase your product etc.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This will not be a very precise profile yet, however you will be building up on it making the rest of the steps listed hereafter.</p>
<h3><strong>Analyze the available sources</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">For the starters you could dig into various market reports that are already available online (at a cost or free of charge). This will get you an idea about things you need to consider as well as it will help you understand the major trends.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Checking some statistical databases in your target area is also a good way to get some valuable socio-demographic information. This will help you get an idea about the age groups and their distribution by gender, income, education, culture, health issues and other criteria that you might be interested in.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">There are also a number of online databases and tools, such as Google Trends, Social Bakers and Mention to name a few, that provide some great insights about the audience and trends on the market.</p>
<h3><strong>Monitor the data you already have at hand</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If you have been working in the beverage business for some time already, make sure you collect all the data that you possibly can. And not only collect it but analyze what it tells you about your clients. There are many tools that you can use, Facebook Audience Insights and Google Analytics being just a few of the good (and free) tools to start with.</p>
<h3><strong>Go talk to your audience</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">When taking part in various events, presenting your product in supermarkets or elsewhere, use the opportunity to not just speak up but also listen to what your customers are saying. Simply observe how people are reacting to your product, what they are commenting, what questions they ask, how they perceive your product, what they like about it and what they do not etc.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Nowadays you can also engage in a conversation with your audience with the help of social media pretty easy. Read their comments, answer their questions and ask some of your own. Make sure you properly address and learn from criticism too.</p>
<h3><strong>Conduct an in-depth market research</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">If you want more specific answers, then a proper market research is an idea to consider. There are two major types of primary market research – qualitative and quantitative. The best case scenario is to have a qualitative research (that involves a lot of open-ended questions and encourages the respondents to share their thoughts) first and then based on its results prepare a questionnaire for the quantitative part. This requires quite a lot of time and resources, however the results are likely to be more reliable.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Supposedly you will not be able (nor willing) to do it on your own, so this would require a rather significant portion of your marketing budget. A way to save some funds on a quantitative research is by using, for instance, omnibus surveys. Since there are more entities submitting questions to the same survey, the costs are lower than doing a research on your own. Usually the payment is based on the type and quantity of questions submitted. Make sure the audience that is being questioned is the one you are interested in before taking part in such survey, though.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">All in all, how deep you can dig obviously depends on your budget and other resources (time being among them). If you cannot invest in extensive market studies, spend some time analyzing at least what’s already available to you via publicly available sources or your internal databases.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">You can also initiate some surveys yourself (e.g. via internet), just make sure each of the questions you include have a perfect reason to be asked. Think thoroughly in advance what you need to find out and why.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I hope this puts you on the right track. If you have questions, comments or ideas that you would like to share with us, do not hesitate to get in touch.</p>
<p>Original article was published in <a title="Beverage Industry Blog" href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/how-to-get-to-know-your-customers" target="_blank">Beverage Industry Blog</a></p>The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/how-to-get-to-know-your-customers/">How to get to know your customers?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></content:encoded>
					
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		<title>Why do you need to know your customers?</title>
		<link>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/why-do-you-need-to-know-your-customers/</link>
					<comments>https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/why-do-you-need-to-know-your-customers/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Juste Akmenskyte]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Sep 2015 11:50:40 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[How To]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marketing]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.drinkpreneur.com/?p=3671</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[<p>And I mean not just to be aware they exist, but to actually know what your costumers have in common, what they care about, what they are interested in, what makes them engaged etc. I happened to meet quite a few business owners or other decision makers that when asked about their target audience, answered [&#8230;]</p>
The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/why-do-you-need-to-know-your-customers/">Why do you need to know your customers?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></description>
										<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_863_cover.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-3675" src="http://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_863_cover.jpg" alt="Why do you need to know your customers?" width="1735" height="1152" srcset="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_863_cover.jpg 1735w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_863_cover-300x199.jpg 300w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_863_cover-1024x679.jpg 1024w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_863_cover-200x132.jpg 200w, https://www.drinkpreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/drinkpreneur_863_cover-800x531.jpg 800w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1735px) 100vw, 1735px" /></a></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">And I mean not just to be aware they exist, but to actually know what your costumers have in common, what they care about, what they are interested in, what makes them engaged etc.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I happened to meet quite a few business owners or other decision makers that when asked about their target audience, answered something along the lines “oh, that’s pretty much everyone”. Yes, generally speaking everyone can buy your product, however especially in beverage or other FMCG businesses, you actually want to focus on those customers who are likely to do it constantly and even bring along some others.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">So here are a few main reasons why you should not skip the “get to know your target audience” part:</p>
<h3><strong>1. You would optimize your marketing expenditure</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">First things first, right? As obvious as this may sound, no one wants to spend money on things that do not work. However, here is a huge paradox – by targeting everyone (or no one in particular) you are actually just wasting your marketing budget. Some of the steps you are making might seem to work out, however you will never be able to optimize unless you know why you are doing one thing over the other and what effect that makes on your customers. The more targeted your approach is the more effective your steps are going to be both result and cost-wise.</p>
<h3><strong> 2. You would achieve bigger engagement</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The best way to engage your audience is by speaking the same language they do and showing that you care about the very same causes they do care about.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I bet you’ve heard of advertising campaigns going viral, haven’t you? No one can really give the very specific recipe how to do it, however many would agree that getting to know your customers is the starting point. Coca Cola and Red Bull marketing campaigns, to name a few, are world famous examples of how well the customer knowledge can be used to encourage their engagement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Let’s take Coca Cola, as an example. It is well known and consumed by masses all over the world, nevertheless the company uses completely different approaches to target different customers. Their campaigns are not only engaging to their target audience but as they make a story out of it and explain why they did it, the ideas they develop start to look awesome to other audiences too. Here’s one of the recent examples:</p>
<p><iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zt9SZo5ZfZU" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I am not a Latina but it still is a feel-good campaign that helps build up on my already positive attitude towards the company. So the campaign is focused on the target, however it does not mean it does not reach anyone out of the scope.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">And yes, I am aware that Coca Cola has a huge marketing budget and lots of resources at hand, however the very principle of using customer knowledge in order to speak to them can be adapted anywhere. If done right, great results can be achieved even with way smaller budgets. That’s because people simply like to share awesome stuff but you have to know what’s awesome for them (and not necessarily for you).</p>
<h3><strong>3</strong><strong>. It would help you gain a competitive advantage</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">By understanding what makes your target customers choose one product over the other, what their preferences are, what lifestyle they practice and what pains they face along the way, you would be able to spot the opportunity for your own business. The better your product is suited to kill their pains, the bigger advantage you would have against your competition. And the better you know what your customers care about, the easier it will be to spot what you offer (or could offer) that your competitors don’t.</p>
<h3><strong>4</strong><strong>. It would improve your positioning and brand image</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This one is rather straight forward – when you know your customers’ needs and what they care about, you can present yourself and your products in the most relevant way. Since there are so many competitors in the beverage industry, you really want to make sure you occupy a certain position in the minds of your customers. The more emotionally engaged they become to your brand, the easier it will be to win them over. You cannot count on, that, if you make a great product, people will simply discover it by themselves. Believe me they won’t if you do not help them to – you are the one that needs to trigger the buzz.</p>
<h3><strong> 5. It would help you create a better product and offer better service</strong></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Yes, by knowing the tastes of your customers, feeling the pulse of the market and what is trending at the time, you are likely to make a product that is better suited for your customers than just developing the idea on your own.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">I know how cool it all seems when you are excited about your own idea, however hold your horses and do some research. You do not want finding out that it’s only you that is excited about the product when it’s already on the shelves, do you? Knowing your customers you are likely to avoid this kind of mistake, since you would answer the key questions before the production has even taken place.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">From our experience it is not that difficult to keep the core of the initial idea but overcome some of the major risks that you might face, starting with different tastes and calorie intake habits and finishing with some potential health risks (e.g. due to ingredients that consumers may be allergic to).</p>
<p><strong>To sum it all up, knowledge about your audience directly impacts your marketing strategy. </strong>You can make weighted decisions only when you have the most important information at hand. Customer knowledge is that valuable piece of the puzzle that should not be avoided.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">How to get to know your customers is yet another important question which I am about to cover in my next post. For the time being, I hope you have enjoyed reading. If you have comments or suggestions what we could write about next, drop us a line.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Original article was published in <a title="Beverage Industry Blog" href="http://mydrinkbeverages.com/why-do-you-need-to-know-your-customers" target="_blank">Beverage Industry Blog</a></p>The post <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com/beverage-howto/why-do-you-need-to-know-your-customers/">Why do you need to know your customers?</a> first appeared on <a href="https://www.drinkpreneur.com">DrinkPreneur</a>.]]></content:encoded>
					
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