I had three inquiry calls last week. One question I always ask is, where are your distributing? All three breweries used the term “hyper-local.” Two of them asked about a strategy to move past “hyper-local” once they saturate “hyper-local.”
As many of you know dominating 30-50 miles from the brewery is a criteria for Head of the Class status. Of the four criteria this may be the most important today. Not sure if “hyper-local” and my criteria are synonymous, but let’s assume they are.
Opening a new market takes a lot of resources. Premature openings lead to underserved markets. Underserved markets may* result in brand dilution. Surely you know this already. Breweries have differing opinions on what retracting from a market does to a brand. My stance on local has never been more firm. There is too much competition to be dilly-dallying in markets you can’t support.
Here’s a freebie, start by outselling every local and regional competitor in your market. Then we can talk about strategy on how to expand. Call me crazy now, thank me later.
-cf
*most definitely