Whether you are just starting out with an alcoholic beverage brand, or you are entering the US market for the first time, selecting your launch markets is an important part of securing success in the United States market.
Broadly speaking, you can think about which markets you should target by looking at the categories of markets in the United States:
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Highly competitive, influencer markets (Tier A). Traditionally this includes New York, San Francisco, and Chicago
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Consumer Influencer markets. These are the markets that have a lot of influence in the beverage industry but aren’t as top tier as the likes of NYC and San Fran. This includes cities like Miami, Las Vegas, and New Orleans
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Deep Well Consumer Markets. These markets are large cities but not as influential as the above sector. They include cities like Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Nashville, and Boston.
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Secondary Markets. These are less competitive but also, less influential markets including states like Ohio and Wisconsin as well as cities like Louisville and San Antonio.
Suppliers generally want to select markets based on a consumer demographic – i.e. Irish whiskey suppliers want to target the areas that contain many Irish descendants or Cachaça importers may want to target areas with pockets of Brazilians who speak Portuguese.
I am not a fan of this methodology, largely because it is theory and not a proven plan of action. There are many factors as to what determines success of a brand including:
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Distributor-product fit
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Pricing
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Intangibles of consumer pull
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Packaging
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Tribal pickup – e.g. Love (and loyalty!) from bartenders
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Density of channel options (mixology accounts, beach bars, etc) (our platform partner, Barhive can help you understand where to focus!)
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Competition in similar products
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Existing relationships and familiarity (this is often why European producers focus on New York due to significant cultural overlap)
While this gives some general rules of thumb, one thought process is test with tow markets to start
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One of the top 3 markets we mentioned above in order to build brand equity, although expect to spend significant SG&A to be able to fight it out
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One of the Secondary Markets (the 4th), which may have less competitive pressure
If you’re ready to enter the US market but need help with importing and compliance, please reach out to inquiries@helmsmanimports.com.
If you’re interested in learning how to get a brand launched, our friends at Indie Brand Academy & Collective have you covered. Reach out to them and they can help you figure out the best path forward, from ideation to market expansion.
