Brand Building and Communications, Marketing and Sales, People

On the Road to Success

January 25, 2017 No Comments

Checking in with Bom Bom Brands

A little over a year ago I wrote about the launch of this interesting new product and Kevin Mowers, the person behind it. You can find the story here.

I caught up with Kevin recently and asked him how it was going and what his experiences were as a startup brand.

What I did not mention in the original story is that the Bom Bom team consists of Kevin and his wife Eva Maria. Both bring different skills to the brand and, it turns out, that she played a crucial role in the brand’s development, as you will see. So, this interview was with both of them.

Kevin and Eva Maria

BB: How is it going? What were the highlights of 2016?

Kevin: Great – keeping busy! We launched mid-year in CT and then branched out into MA, DC and NY (Westchester County and Long Island). Our distributors did a great job getting BOM BOM into retailers while we were focused on getting BOM BOM into consumer’s hands. We did this through a lot of in-store and in-bar sampling promotions as well as showing the product at larger tasting and charity events. One of the most important things for us was to make sure we keep having fun and celebrating every victory and every milestone, however small.

BB: What are the biggest obstacles or challenges you face? What have you done about them?

Eva Maria: The biggest challenge for us, like for any new brand, has been awareness. Since we are not national, the typical PR and marketing playbooks were not relevant for us, as we needed a more market-by-market, grassroots approach. We have pushed ourselves to really think outside the box, leave our corporate models behind, and leverage local PR, especially bartender contests, magazine profiles and social media. There is still much, much more to do. As we grow into more markets, we’ll be able to expand our PR outreach accordingly and that’s a top priority for 2017.

BB: Many new product entrepreneurs have told me that the single most important element in developing their brands has been in-store tastings, as you’ve just mentioned. I’m not surprised that this would be particularly true for Bom Bom.

Kevin: Indeed. We love doing in-store tastings as it allows us to engage with consumers. For us it has been just as much about getting feedback (and new drink recipes!) from consumers as sharing the BOM BOM story. BOM BOM Coco Mochanut recently received 94 points by the International Review of Spirits, which means it is the highest in its category. As such, we love seeing the excited look on people’s faces after they’ve tried it, especially when they themselves start selling it to complete strangers in the stores for us!

BB: I’ve known you for a few years and watched the development and launch. But I never wrote about how Bom Bom came about in the first place. What’s the brand’s back-story?

Eva Maria: Like a lot of today’s modern romances we were introduced by a common friend — Tracy — Who to this day takes credit for our awesome relationship and by association, BOM BOM.

Kevin had spent the better part of his career designing great tasting products for the industry’s top players and so of course tried to impress me with his extensive knowledge of luxury spirits. But it wasn’t really doing it for me as I was never really into alcohol…. this was both a disappointment and a challenge to Kevin… and good thing for me (and our BOM BOM fans) that Kevin happens to love a good challenge.

After a few dates, Kevin changed his game and mixed up something special just for me, made with my favorite flavors — coffee, coconut and of course CHOCOLATE! And BOM BOM was born!

I loved it so much that I started asking him to make it for friends and with time it was a standing order from friends and friends of friends…. We were making it all of the time and decided to go for it and formed the company “BOM BOM Brands” to share our fun with the world!

BOM BOM is all about the right mix of flavors, having fun and being authentic. Our business partnership really is the same idea…. we have very different skill sets and so together we’re able to accomplish what neither of us would be able to do on our own.

And, to make the deal even sweeter, Kevin’s wooing is still going strong after three wonderful years of marriage….

BB: What does the future hold for the brand – line extensions, geographic expansion, etc. What do you think will be coming down the road?

Kevin: BOM BOM is all about having fun and being authentic. As all small companies, we are excited to bring this fun to additional markets but also cautious not to dilute our efforts and grow too fast. From a new product perspective, we have a few new innovations in the mix. As with Coco Mochanut, all of our new products will be great tasting and in fun, fashion-forward packaging.

Kevin making cocktails at an event/tasting

Cops and Robbers

December 9, 2015 No Comments

A most unusual brand-building agency

In my last posting about Bom Bom, an exciting new product in the cream liqueur category, I mentioned Cops and Robbers as the agency that developed the concept, branding and product strategy.

The agency name is a playful approach to duality and a kind of yin yang thinking whereby two opposite and conflicting forces are actually connected. In the case of Cops and Robbers the duality is the balance between insights and creativity, between strategy and creativity. It also reflects the two founders, Patricia Verdolino and Richie Beretta, who come at branding projects from different standpoints but whose output becomes a sharp strategic blend.

Born and raised in Queens, New York, Patricia and Richie studied design, but most of their influences, inspiration, and approach to working with brands come from a combination of their cultural and musical backgrounds. They met when Patricia was a vocalist in the Metro Stylee group (I bet you’re gonna Google it) and Richie was a producer. Turns out they grew up in the same neighborhood.

Richie is still very much involved in music and he is the design and creativity side of the practice. Patricia is the strategic, insights and innovation side. She has worked at a number of well known and high profile agencies such as Landor, Future Brands, and Anomaly.

What makes them special?

When I was first introduced to them, they had done some work for a leading beverage company and my friend there described them as particularly unique at translating insights into strategies and action. She went on to say, “They understand the consumer and culture better than the large bureaucratic agencies and translate this understanding into innovation…true innovation, not copy cat.”

Here’s how they put it on their website:

Tired of being handcuffed to traditional agency models and deliverables they have formed Cops & Robbers, a multidisciplinary agency that’s part think tank part creative studio where collaboration, music, art, strategy, production, and design seamlessly merge for fully integrated brand solutions.

The Bom Bom Case Study

Kevin Mowers (founder of Liquid Innovations and Bom Bom) had an incredible cream liqueur that, in his view and others, was superior to Rumchata and Bailey’s. So check the box marked the liquid is great. But, who is the target market? What’s the brand? How do we appeal to them? What packaging should be used?

Cops and Robbers were given the brand development assignment and went about it in both a traditional and unorthodox manner.

They identified the millennial consumer but focused in on the 21 to 31 year old women. More than that, based on their insight work, they sharpened the focus on a particular segment of that group with a definable set of cultural and life style values. From what I’ve seen (and in the spirit of confidentiality) all I can say is they more than painted a picture of these consumers – they all but came alive in their presentation. Insightful, clear, and concise.

When they focused in on Bom Bom they covered the brand’s territory in terms of community, motivation, occasion, brand ‘friends,’ signature drink, flavor profile, motto and inspiration. The result was more than a roadmap; it was a travel guide.

Inspiration

The inspiration aspect is worth focusing on. Some people have looked at the Bom Bom packaging and told me either they “don’t get it” or “I’m not sure about it.” But hold on. If one of the consumer calls to action is to “release your inner kid,” then this works well.

Further, the design inspiration came from the contemporary fashion look inspired by Jeremy Scott, Pharrell Williams (BBC Ice Cream) and Moschino. It’s designed with the target audience in mind.

With the permission of Cops and Robbers, here is an excerpt from their presentation that sums up the brand and it’s marketing components:

BOM BOM is a part of a shift in spirits that’s not ashamed to break the serious rules of the game and just have some adult fun. Yeah, maybe that means acting irreverent like an anti-grown up and accepting that you really don’t give a (bleep) anyway. Boring is the enemy. BOM BOM is the cure.

Keep your eye on Bom Bom when it enters the market in early 2016. And, for that matter also keep your eye on Cops and Robbers. They are both going places.

The Birth of a Brand

November 5, 2015 7 Comments

Look out Rumchata, here comes a serious competitor

A while ago, a friend in the spirits business introduced me to some very interesting people developing a new product. I thought it would be worthwhile to follow their journey. One company is driving the liquid and the go-to-market efforts, while the other has developed the concept, branding and product strategy.

The latter, is a unique agency called Cops and Robbers and is run by Patricia Verdolino and Richie Beretta. They describe themselves as follows: Part Ideation House; Part Creative Studio; Not a Traditional Agency; But Agents Provocateurs.

I found them to be such a breath of fresh air as an agency that I intend to write about them in depth in my next posting. For now let’s turn to the product and its development.

The Parent

Meet Kevin Mowers who owns the brand and has been instrumental in its birth as a product and liquid.

Kevin’s background is in science and engineering and he began his work life in product development in the food industry working with such companies as Con Agra, Heinz and Campbell. Along the way he got his MBA in Business Development and Marketing and decided he wanted to be an entrepreneur.

Remember Jello shots? He developed a product called Gel Shooterz, which took quite a bit of effort to manufacture. Nevertheless, the brand overcame production hurdles and was on its way when suddenly the co-packer decided to sell and the new owners had no interest. The business did not jell.

Next came a stint at Diageo in the innovation area where he worked on whiskies, gins, flavors, distillates and other lab based efforts and innovations. Then one day he decided that his skills as an innovator and marketer might be put to better use. His company, Liquid Innovations was born in 2011.

The company consults and advises clients in a wide range of businesses and also looks into new opportunities to feed its entrepreneurial efforts.

The baby

Kevin’s new product, to be launched in early 2016, is Called Bom Bom and the first-born is named Coco Mochanut (mocha-nut). Here’s how he describes it:

Bom Bom Mochanut is an award-winning premium Caribbean rum made with cream, chocolate, coconut, and coffee flavor.

It’s a cream product that tastes, well, absolutely delicious. It’s slightly higher in alcohol than Rumchata – 18% AbV versus 13.75%. The product received a Gold award from a recent Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) tasting. Suggested retail price is $19.99 for a 750 ML.

Many consumers describe the taste of Rumchata as as the milk leftover after a big bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal infused with rum. Bom Bom’s Coco Mochanut tastes like a liquid Mounds or Almond Joy with rum. The target audience is millennial women aged 22 to 35.

Coco Mochanut is the first of a line of products with a similar approach but different flavors such as, Chocolate Bomsicle (think Fudgsicle) and Nutty Cup (think Reese’s Peanut Butter cups).

The Package

For some, the package might appear as kiddy. But it’s based on adult fashion trends.

As Kevin puts it, the product is “built on the chocolate loving kid in all of us that’s looking for some grownup fun.”

Patricia and Richie have this to say about the packaging, “It’s a contemporary fashion look inspired by Jeremy Scott, Pharrell Williams (BBC Ice Cream) and Moschino. It’s designed with the target audience in mind.”

And, by the way, the TTB approved both the liquid and the packaging.

The inspiration

The challenge

Bom Bom is close to launch and Kevin is moving ahead full throttle in preparation for an early 2016 kick off. As is true for all entrepreneurial new spirits product launches, the key is distribution. But, the mainstream distributors, thanks to the dwindling number and big supplier pressures, are a very hard sell. In fairness, they already have a lot on their plate so it’s understandable that they will react cautiously, if at all. Recognizing this, he is smart enough to know that he needs to start slowly, demonstrate consumer acceptance and have patience.

My advice to him is to spend whatever he can afford on product tastings where feasible and allowable. I also think the on-premise market will be very attracted to Coco Mochanut with such suggested drink ideas as the Fire Bom (with Fireball Whiskey) or Café Bom (with Patron XO Café) to name just a few.

Based on the tasting I had with my wife and friends his baby is indeed beautiful and will grow stronger each day in the market. One taste and you want to buy a bottle.

To my distributor friends and readers – want to meet the baby?