Exclusive content from the beverage event of the year.
EXPERIENCE SPEAKS TO ENTREPRENEURS Energy brands, distribution, and financing are still going strong.
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ITH AN ENERGY that put the lie to bad news about the economy, BevNET Live 2009 took the next generation of beverage entrepreneurs and innovators through a curriculum and networking bonanza that stretched from the basics of distribution and marketing deep into theoretical models of investment and trend analysis.
For further coverage of BevNET Live, including audio and video, visit www.bevnetlive.com.
CJ Rapp and Tom First, founders of innovative brands, helped show entrepreneurs the way. Harnessing the combined wisdom and experience of panelists, speakers and BevNET’s own staff, the event highlighted fast-growing categories and warned of the dangerous practices of me-too products, unsupported marketing and poor brand propositions. It also let the pioneers of established brands speak about the elements of growing a great brand. “It always does start, for the brand, with what’s in the bottle,” said Tom First, speaking from his position as both a founder of Nantucket Nectars and an entrepreneur making a second run with enhanced water product owater. “We weren’t stubborn about what we had other than trying to make the product great.” BevNET Live’s panels served as an inspirational flashpoint for marketers looking to take emerging or regional products to the next level of retail distribution. But they also gave any observer a picture of an industry in flux. Jolt Cola founder CJ Rapp warned marketers to be wary of a growing gap between brands that try to work their way into independent stores and small chains and those “red and blue” Coke and Pepsi distributors who are supported by their much larger
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suppliers. With shrinking resources in between, Rapp warned, emerging marketers need to be crafty. “The big brands, they can react, they can execute, and they do so well,” Rapp said. “The small brands can get pushed around a little bit.” To battle their way into the independent system, he suggested smaller marketers support each other – even sharing resources like back office operations. Marketers interested in expanding their footprint through the addition of investors were able to find a lot more encouragement than they may have anticipated, as a financial panel indicated that money was getting ready to leave the sidelines after a few slow quarters. “All I have is a checkbook,” said SoBe founder and Sherbrooke investor John Bello. “We’ve got money in our checking account, and we’re willing to invest in a couple of things: great concepts that are timely, that are forward thinking, and great teams that are passionate about winning and are willing to pay the price.” Amongst the crowd of more than 200, it appeared that several were eager to be the next ones to step up and start paying it.