Tom

Anyone who has traveled to and spent time in France will have noticed how inexpensive wine is there.  The average price for a bottle of red wine in France was €4.91/liter in 2020, for white wine the average price was €5.65/liter according to FranceAgriMer. Yet at the same time, French and European wines in general are much more expensive in the US market.  Apparently, it is not the fault of French winemakers.  Word on the street is that European wines retail for an average of 4 x EXW or more in the US.  Why is that?  The simple answer: [...]

Anyone wanting to import foreign wine into the United States needs to hold an importer’s basic permit under the Federal Alcohol Administration Act (FAA Act).  The holder of the permit has various obligations and responsibilities including paying all applicable taxes and duties for the alcoholic beverages, obtaining Certificates of Label Approval (COLA) for the products imported, and fulfilling all other statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to importers under the FAA Act, the Alcoholic Beverage Labeling Act of 1988, and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Beyond these basic duties and responsibilities, one important question is if the federal importer has [...]

A lot of posts and ads for alcoholic beverages in social, digital, and streaming media are – well – boring. This might have to do with a lack of creativity on the part of the people developing the ad content. But some of it might also be rooted in the belief that social and digital media ads should not be too creative or ‘adventurous’ out of an ‘abundance of caution’. Here at QBP, we set out to help brands solve both problems to increase ROI.  We champion the idea of creative crowdsourcing to allow for more ideas and imagination to [...]

The system refers to the 3 tiers involved in the supply chain for alcoholic beverages: Manufacturer – Wholesaler – Retailer Of course, similar supply chain systems are used in many countries for many types of products sold in retail stores.  In that sense, there is nothing particularly unique about this system. What makes the 3 tier system for alcohol in the US somewhat different is the fact that individual companies can only have ownership within one of the tier.  For example, a winery as a member of the manufacturer level tier is not allowed to have ownership in a wholesale [...]

European wine producers interested to sell their products in the US market generally try the same old, traditional way to market entry.  Find an importer. If everything goes according to plan the importer will bring the product to the US.  Then they will attempt to sell it to a wholesaler.  And the wholesaler will sell it to a retailer.  And the consumer will buy the wine.  For well-known brands that are well established in the United States, it might work but for lesser-known brands, it may not.  It probably won’t. This raises an important question.  When a consumer product sits [...]

What differentiates the most successful brands (in terms of sales) in any industry from less successful ones? The successful ones are generally great marketers. Their main focus is on building their brand and selling their products, not the process of making them. Some of the largest and most successful alcohol brands are part of really good marketing organizations. Smaller alcohol brands can learn a lot of such companies. Some people might object to the definition of success purely on the basis of sales. They may point out that producing a quality alcoholic beverage is an art in itself. This is [...]

Some of you may have heard of Captain Tom Moore.  Tom is a 100-year-old veteran in the UK who set out to walk 100 laps in his garden aiming to raise around $1,200 for coronavirus relief efforts before his birthday on April 30. His determination to complete the challenge while using a walking frame captured the British public’s imagination and a few weeks later he had raised over $40 Million for NHS Charities Together.  He received over 140,000 cards on his 100th birthday.  An online petition calling for him to be knighted received more than a million signatures and the [...]

A lot of people talk about the use of data to improve the effectiveness of marketing and advertising.  For those not very familiar with data it can seem a bit overwhelming at times.  There is so much data from different sources available that is can be hard to digest how all this data will be helpful.  Before you speak to any data providers make sure you know what type of data can help you build and grow your business. Data is essentially market intelligence.  Successful brands tell data experts what market intelligence they need – not the other way around.  Not [...]

Right before Easter, we put the reach potential of social media to the test.  We developed an idea for a creative Facebook post around rabbits and social distancing.  We spent a bit over $20 to boost it. The post reached over 8,000 people and got 574 likes, 778 loves, and 70 post shares.  Not bad for such a small ad investment.  Creative ads on Facebook and other social media platforms can work really well to engage consumers and draw them to your brand! While getting a lot of consumer engagement is great, as a food or beverage brand, you need [...]

Why social media was created in the first place Social media was initially created and designed to allow us to share posts – information, pictures, video – with others we care about.  Like sharing pictures of your kids with grandpa and grandma.  Or pictures of your recent vacation with friends. Soon after companies discovered social media and felt the need to get in on the act.  Of course creating similar emotional reactions as personal posts do can be a bit more challenging for a business. Depending on the type of business it is more so for some than for [...]