Colleen Lucas

Great interview from a great CEO:

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The non-alcoholic spirits category is building amazing momentum in the US. In fact, over Easter the non-alc spirits became the fastest growing category within alcohol. Sales were up a huge 101% YoY and growth was 3x faster than any other category! It's great to see non-alc spirits continue to gain traction amongst consumers, and what's even more impressive is that CleanCo continue to outperform the category so far in 2024! --- Source: NIQ Measured Off Premise Channels (Easter = 2 weeks ending 04/06/24) #nonalcoholic #nonalc #nonalcoholicspirits #drinksindustry

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Diageo doubles down on non-alcoholic spirits with the acquisition of Ritual Zero Proof & now owns three of the five world's largest non-alcoholic spirit brands Ritual Zero Proof was founded in 2019, and became the #1 non-alcoholic spirits player in the US after joining Diageo’s accelerator program in 2020. Five reasons why this deal makes sense: 1) Fast growing: The US non-alcoholic spirits has been the fastest growing category with +31% L5Y CAGR. 2) Incremental: 94% of non-alc buyers in the US also purchase alcoholic beverages, spending on avg $292 more than households exclusively purchasing alcohol demonstrating the incrementality of the category to beverage alcohol. 3) High Right-to-Win: Ritual is already a #1 non-alcoholic spirits player in the US, with a strong market position and tailwinds 4) Synergistic: being a #1 player globally in both alcoholic and non-alc spirits Diageo is well positioned to build on Ritual’s current success and scale it up further leveraging its GTM muscle and category expertise 5) Close to the Core: being a part of Diageo’s accelerator (Distill Ventures) since 2020, Ritual already knows what it takes to make cooperation with a spirits giant successful, limiting risks of integration challenges Exciting times for Diageo 𝗔𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘂𝘀: FF&A solves the most complex strategic problems of the world's largest FMCG companies across Corporate Strategy, Organic Growth, Digital RTM (eCommerce, DTC, and eB2B) and M&A. 14 out of the world's 20 largest FMCG companies are repeat Clients 𝗧𝗼 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗰𝗳. 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗙𝗠𝗖𝗚 𝗠&𝗔 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄: https://lnkd.in/efD5RNWX 𝗧𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀, 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝘀 & 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗠𝗖𝗚 𝗖𝗘𝗢 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿: https://lnkd.in/ea4gy65y #fmcg #cpg #mergersandacquisitions https://lnkd.in/dXAZQ242 Pernod Ricard The HEINEKEN Company AB InBev Carlsberg Group Campari Group William Grant & Sons The Coca-Cola Company PepsiCo

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Spent some time with Barry Hillier talking about eQuo and their mission to support founders looking to scale their business. Some great insights from Barry on how our current ecosystem looks primarily at Start-Ups & high-growth and neglects the majority of small business in this country, and their desire to take the next step in their growth. Some great tidbits from Barry on what is needed to change perceptions and move the scale-up agenda forward #scaleup #entrepreneurship #businessinCanada

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CPG Marketing Leaders,   When you’re passionate and driven to make something happen, it’s easy to get too close to it...in life, in politics, and in business.   And, in a performance and outcomes focused marketing world, you need to show clear, measurable results from your brand growth efforts.   But while we Type A leaders are equipped to read both data (looking backward) 📊 and tea leaves 🍵 (looking forward) we don’t change direction on a dime or take big decisions lightly… and we DEFINITELY don’t quit on things.   So, what can happen--and probably has happened to most of us —is 𝘸𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮, 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩… 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘞𝘈𝘕𝘛 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵! It can feel like parting with a favorite sweater that’s stretched out, tossing perfectly broken in sneakers 👟 that have lost all traction, or tossing the tube of lipstick 💄 you’ve been digging into with a Q-tip (maybe that’s just me).   I’m here to say I Get It…and to remind you of the 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙭𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙣𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙙𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙮𝙯𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡.   Between experience and lack of bias, an external leader can see the facts and data objectively 👀, ensure you and your team are effectively measuring 📏 the outcomes of your efforts, and pinpoint 📌 what needs improvement or reallocation.   And that’s all BEFORE considering the extra set of limbs and 🧠 cells an external partner brings to the table. Not only can you get more S—t done, you can divide➗ and conquer on the toughest questions or challenges.   This clearsighted approach can even make you look super smart to your senior leadership, who might also be overly vested in certain pet ideas. Do you relate to this? If so, tell me…𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝘂𝘀𝗵 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲?  #consulting #brandstrategy #externalexpertise #insights I'm Elizabeth, and I help consumer marketing leaders harness strategic insights to fuel brand growth and market impact. DM me to learn more about the Trend, Strategy, and Innovation possibilities for your business.    

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💰VC-Funded vs. Indie Brands in NA💰 I recently wrote a piece that celebrates the pioneers of the non-alcoholic drink industry. My dear friend and colleague, Christopher Marshall, is one of the pioneers I listed. He and I talk about the NA industry regularly—especially the financials, the role privilege plays in business, and why it’s important to support indie brands. We decided to have one of these convos on camera to show folks what it’s like to work in the non-alcoholic drink industry without having VC-funding. Chris Marshall is the founder of Sans Bar (the first NA bar in North America) and Sans Bar Academy (a virtual, 10-week course where people can learn the essentials of launching an NA brand, opening an NA bottleshop or bar, marketing, and much more!). He’s been in the NA scene before the NA scene was even a thing. In fact, I consider Chris Marshall to be the face of the non-alcoholic drink movement. A crown he kindly says belongs to the NA community as a whole. 👑 I’ve reported on the sober curious/mindful drinking movement since 2015. Until recently, my work focused on mental health, sobriety, liquid courage, and how all three intersect with our interpersonal relationships, all while sipping lots of NA drinks. I even wrote a book about research called Dry Humping. Now I’m on the other side of NA as a co-founder and CMO of my very own drink, (parentheses). Grab some tea, get cozy, and watch Chris and I discuss the following topics: 💰How VC-backed brands get different opportunities from indie brands 💰How much money brands (and authors!) are actually spending on publicists 💰The unique experience a customer has in NA bottleshops and NA bars vs buying NA drinks from a chain retailer 💰And most importantly, his adorable dog, Dexter, weighs in on the NA space from a canine perspective. 🔗Watch the convo here: https://rb.gy/0rqjgr

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I think consumer feedback is often under used by emerging CPG brands… Coming from a Kraft Foods general management upbringing and then experiencing start-ups for many years, I’m often thinking about which “big company” practices could bring value to young emerging companies while not screwing up their great entrepreneurial culture and founder brilliance. The one area I continue to see a gap in is “entrepreneurial” consumer feedback/market research—the lack of fast/low cost consumer research options (or even confirmation research) discussed to prevent a low velocity SKU to get delisted, to maximize brand communication, and avoid wasted spend or lost opportunity on the back end. There are some great research companies out there, but their costs (while valid and worth it) are just not in the ballpark for what many founders want to spend for or go through the time on. Sometimes it’s a lot more natural for founders to go with their gut and not get bogged down by research. And I totally get this, and it does work in many instances.   I just wish there were more options out there to efficiently confirm purchase interest between two packages or between new innovation ideas to complement founder gut. In the end, it could save the emerging brand money…. Thought I’d reach out to the linkedin community, PLEASE not from research companies selling their research, but from founders/emerging brand marketers who have been through this dilemma and have found some consumer feedback very helpful and fitting for emerging brand bootstrap budget and speed (even if their own tools or alternative ways they’ve brought in consumers more)?  This sharing might help more companies maximize their moves in the future…so hope it helps… thanks! #ConsumerFeedback #jcbgrowth

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Better costs more, but consumers will pay more for better. The role of a premium challenger brand is to fill unmet consumer demand that drives outsized incremental growth for the category. At Ithaca Hummus, 11 years after starting at a farmers market stand and staying focused on winning over consumers with better taste, the results are beginning to show on a national scale. Reimagining and recreating the process to make hummus commercially “the Ithaca way” was not easy. It took time, effort, and patience. But today we get the privilege of hearing from countless consumers that didn’t think they liked hummus or would only buy it on special occasions for their guests, who now purchase our brand weekly (in a category that’s typically shopped only 2-3X per year). Hard work, dedication to your vision, and consistency over time pays off. There are no shortcuts to long term sustainable success. Go team go!

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What might the next big thing in plant-based beverages be? Our unique, collaborative, data-driven foresight methodology is designed to help you create your future business in plant-based beverages. #plantbased #foresights #insights

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