Marketing and Sales | Booze Business: A Blog Dedicated to the Business of Spirits and Wine

Industry Matters/News, Marketing and Sales

Trade Shows Evolved

June 13, 2012 No Comments

Last month, The Manhattan Cocktail Classic came to town and at the end of June, The Bar and Restaurant Show comes to the Javits Center in NYC. Details here.

I’d like to take a close look at these events and the impact on the business. In all candor, I haven’t always been a fan of these shows but they’re changing for the better, and it’s probably time I looked at them with an open mind.

Let’s start with The Manhattan Cocktail Classic, which was on May 11^th to 15^th at a range of venues around the city (over 70 locations). I was traveling and unable to attend but from all accounts, Lesley Townsend and her team had the best event since the show began in 2009. Three reasons, so far as I can tell.

Jack From Brooklyn: The Saga Continues

June 5, 2012 No Comments

Readers of Booze Business may recall that I began following this startup company a month ago (see April 27 posting) with the promise that I would periodically update their journey to brand development. (Their website is here.)

Their first product is Sorel (pronounced sore-el). It’s a drink that those from the Caribbean islands have been making for centuries and serve on festive occasions. Each island, and even families, has their own concoctions. Made from a variety of spices, herbs, horticulture and neutral grain spirit (NGS), JFB has overcome barriers and produced a market-ready product with a shelf price of $26.99. (Wait until you hear what retailers are saying.)

Since I first met the owners (Jack Summers, Tim Kealey and Alan Camlet) they’ve moved from planning and laying the ground work to implementation. Not, as it turns out, without some hiccups.

After months of work on perfecting the recipe to their satisfaction, the day arrives when 330 gallons of NGS appears at their facility. The “factory” is the former site of Red Hook Winery; the blending and bottling equipment is set and ready to go. Figuring out how to unload the alcohol is only part of the problem. The alcohol itself is the real concern.

Boodles Gin — Then and Now

May 5, 2012 19 Comments

Then…

By the time I got to Seagram, Boodles British Gin was an idea whose time never came. As the saying goes, “She was dead when I got there, Officer.”

The brand was developed in the 1950s or 60s under a license from the Boodles Club in London, founded in 1762 by the Earl of Shelburne, later the Marquess of Lansdowne and Prime Minister. The club, which is 250 years old this year, was named after its headwaiter, Edward Boodle.

Get this — the licensing fee was the gin; use of the name in exchange for free goods.

To say that the brand languished at Seagram is an understatement. The fact is, while some gin aficionados felt it was a great tasting gin, Boodles spent many years in and out of the Seagram hospice companies. The problems – real or perceived – included concerns about the square package (too wide for a back bar) and loss of identity when placed sideways. The “oodles” of Boodles taunt by some consumers added to the death rattle, particularly in light of the awful marketing on behalf of the brand.