AMA: Strategies & KPI’s for Marketing a Spirits Brand Launch — Clay Kinnick // Hard Truth Distilling Co

Quotes

• Clay’s Background and Hard Truth Distilling (01:49) I’ve graduated from Purdue University last year and I’ve started this role eight months ago. We now have the largest craft stilling operation in the state of Indiana and we are about to expand into other states for distribution.   The Challenges That the Organisation is Facing (02:41) It’s a cashflow negative business right now, especially on the whiskey side of things, until it comes out of the barrel and you can sell it. We have other operations that help support that and we expect to be a brand that can be nationally recognized and enjoyed, but we're not there yet. The Marketing Leadership (04:14) I report directly to our CEO acting as marketing manager and it's all new to them. This is the first person they've hired.I’m learning as I go, and I’m trying to bring some creativity to what we're doing and the whole pitfall situation is that I don't know exactly what I'm aiming for. So that's hard to deal with. We've launched some products recently and we're trying to sustain sell-through rates and increase brand recognition.I've had successful product launches since assuming this role and things have gone well, but they're shooting for just overall success. But that's never really been defined. Ben: This is something that goes back to the Local Marketing Playbook. We’ve also covered this in some previous AMA episodes. The important thing is to stay visible when people search for your product. Make sure they can find you on Yelp, Google My Business, Yext and other local providers. If anyone is looking for a distillery you want to be found quickly and easily. The first thing I’d evaluate is where our foot traffic is coming from and which channels are already working. The second thing that I would do is take advantage of the existing businesses that you have. I would start doing cross promotion to the people that are in those restaurants and try to see if there's a way that you can amplify and retain your existing customers and then port them over to the new business. Try to do trials. For example, if they order food, give them a shot of rum to try. The idea is - you’re starting to get brand recognition and awareness from your existing customers and you're tapping into a second market of people that are just looking for the type of experience that you're offering. If you're in a locally focused business, having appropriate signage makes a lot of sense. I would look at direct mail, which is a way to get people that are in the area.I would be working with distributors too. You could also conduct interviews to understand your customers better. Ask them questions like - Where did you come from? How did you hear about us? What products they liked? What didn’t they liked? etc. There are several billboard companies now, that give you digital retargeting assets. There’s a great company called Wrapify too. They do wrapped cars instead of billboards. In terms of KPIs, you got to think of this from a direct response campaign.You get to set your own KPIs. You're not looking at awareness campaigns. You’re starting as far down the funnel as you can. You focus on the people who are already your customers.