By Hector Saulnier | hector@bevproconsulting.com
You know you have a
great brand and you have found a local agent that has set up a meeting with the
Provincial Liquor board. Great! Or is
it? Have you done your homework or has the
agent done their homework? Well let’s
hope so because you only have one chance to make a first impression.
You will probably
introduce your company, years in business, expertise, success you have had in
other markets, how your product stacks up in the category. How you have learned from past success or
failures and now how you will bring all this together with the local agents
expertise to ....... Times up. What was
the result did you get the sale or did you get to a position that they wanted
to know more?
In my time in
meeting with agents and suppliers from around the world I could quickly tell
which ones I should be interested to work with, that I believed would bring
value to the category and help me succeed at doing my job. In those cases I was always interested in
continuing to explore developing a possible win-win relationship.
In other cases, I met
suppliers and agents that had an interesting product but did not know the
market, the category players, possible case sales, how the product could be
positioned to the customers in our market, did not know or understand the
liquor board’s timelines for listings or promotional programs. In many a meeting I would have to try to
explain what they needed to know and be prepared to do for consideration in the
market and sure enough after the meeting at some point the agent would submit a
listing application and then be surprised when it was rejected.
When your
considering entering into a new market, you need to understand the market and
the customers yes, but you also need to understand the motivations of the gate
keepers (the Buyers). Do they have a listing review schedule? Do
they submit product calls? How far in
advance do they schedule promotional programs?
What promotional programs would best for your type of product? How big is the category (# of brands), what
are the case sales for the brands in the category? Rank them.
Do you know who the bottom 10% are?
Do you believe that in the first year your case sales would be in the
top 40%? Based on your forecasted case
sales what would be your dollar investment to achieve this forecast? What promotional programs with the Liquor
Board would you invest in and when to achieve this plan? Does your plan just steal share or does it
also grow the category?
The Buyer is
interested when they can see that you understand how to position your brand for
success and help them grow or premiumize the category. This is step 1, next what is the plan for
future growth forecast the trend for the next 3 years and possible brand
expansion what does that mean.
So you know you have
a great brand, and you know you have what it takes to succeed, but do you have
the right understanding of what the buyer is looking for in a partner to help
them succeed. The category mix changes
every year the bottom 10% is always at risk, coming prepared to present your
proposal in a way that demonstrates you are a proactive partner can open the
door to exploring a win-win business partnership.
Achieving success
with your brand in the Canadian market requires a strong understanding of the
market, customers and consumers.
Navigating this can be challenging and we are here to help you maximize
your brands potential. We are a team of
former Canadian beverage alcohol Buyers, Category Managers and Marketers whose
focus is to help you achieve success. We
provide you with a customized strategy to help you ensure you meet your goals.
Hope this is
helpful. I know we can be.
Call me at Bevpro Canada Inc. 1 (416) 214-7743
Our Experience is
your Advantage.
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