The Big Event Mirage Guide: The Big Event Reality Check: How to Stop Wasting Cash Before Your Brand Has Real Distribution
Large budgets are allocated to digital campaigns featuring alleged influencers and award shows
Dear Bottom-up Drinks Builder,
Almost every small drink brand I see starts by trying to copy what the big players do. They spend their scarce resources on sponsorships, flashy events, and digital campaigns with influencers that don’t actually connect to where their product is sold.
Big brands can afford this because they already have solid distribution. Their products sit on shelves and behind bars, and consumers and bartenders know them well. So when they spend money on marketing, it builds on a strong foundation that’s already in place.
But starting out without that base is a wasted effort if you’re a small brand.
Chris Maffeo
I’ve lived this reality myself. When I managed brands, I was bombarded with requests for event sponsorships, openings, fashion shows, you name it.
It looked like a smart way to reach the right people. But here’s the brutal truth: people would try the product at the event, love it, and then have no way to find it again once the night was over.
Marketing and sales teams operated in parallel worlds that never truly synced. We spent our time and money chasing free trials that never converted into real, repeat sales.
So, I drastically changed my approach. I cut out all the random sponsorships and redirected that budget into fixing the basics, building actual distribution and steady rotation in venues that mattered.
Whether you’re bootstrapping or backed by investors, your resources are limited. Blowing money on flashy moves that look good but don’t deliver results is easy.
Here’s what you should focus on instead:
If you want to stop wasting money on big events and flashy shoutouts, and instead build a brand that sells week after week, keep reading inside.
