Why You Should Build Your Bottom-up Category Before Building Your Brand

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Dear Bottom-up Drinks Builder,

Building drinks brands in the bottom-up trade is not an easy task.

The back bars are full of bottles. Drinks menus are either full of difficult-to-understand cocktails or hold just a handful. This makes it very difficult to have a product that is featured in it or to stand out.

In the last years, there has been a proliferation of brands. Tequila in the USA and Gin in Europe are probably the most visible examples. Each category's growth has lured in a lot of players.

During the craft brands renaissance in the USA, the first brands did not compete. Together, they joined their efforts to build their new category (e.g., craft bourbon, craft gin, etc.). They had the vision to bring something fresh to consumers. They were driven by passion, not (only) money.

When the number of entrants outpaces the growth in the category, the cookie crumbles; instead of making the pie bigger, brands start eating each other's slide. This drives cannibalization. Consumers pick a new brand and stop buying the ones they used to drink.

This happens because new entrants become "me too" brands. Instead of creating their category, they try to differentiate themselves with small details, such as botanicals within an existing category.

Understanding Category Building.

Watch how bartenders arrange their back bars. They often group products not by traditional categories but by how consumers use them. A gin might sit next to a vermouth because they share an aperitif occasion. This is how bottom-up categories emerge - from real market behavior, not industry conventions.

I am often asked about the secret sauce to making a successful brand. While there is no such thing as a silver bullet, some recurring traits exist.

Attention always falls on branding, packaging, and marketing campaigns, but we tend to forget that brands often don't have big budgets to go to market. They reach success bottom-up. They win outlet by outlet, focusing on their category.

Budgets are tight, and deciding to invest in your brand is natural. You don't want to be a missionary and spend money building the category. Do you think big brands should do the heavy lifting to create the category? Yes, but no. They used to do it but have left the job to smaller brands.

Big brands built and are still creating what we know as categories. I usually call these Traditional, Macro, or Legacy Categories. The ones you find in IWSR reports. But before they get there, categories start in bars and bottle shops. They are what I call Bottom-up Categories.

Categories like the “Spritz” don’t officially exist; they can be considered an occasion, but look at how they built a wagon that all categories are trying to jump on

The Power of Bottom-Up Categories

You should build your category, not an existing one. Look for how your product naturally fits into the market - this might cross traditional category lines. Building your category is counter-intuitive because it lets you pretend you are not focusing on your brand, but you are. It's a softer way to get people to your brand without being too pushy.

Category? That's a broad term, and among others, it can refer to:

An existing spirit category such as Gin, Bitters, Whisk(e)y

An occasion-driven category: a session drink, an approachable aperitif, an after-dinner drink that's great in cocktails

A purpose-driven category: sustainability, lower alcohol content, etc.

Building a Category refers to a Bottom-up Category that emerges from how bartenders and consumers naturally group and use your product, starting from flavor profiles and drinking occasions.

No matter what a "category" means to you, the important thing is that you become the reference for a niche you have created. Then, you can expand the niche from within.

You should follow the example of the early successful craft brands. They used to attract new customers to a (most often dormant) category by creating a new bottom-up category that blended in with the legacy category, driving sales for the whole category. They made the cake bigger.

Think about how American Whiskey brands shook the category. The same has happened to bitters, vermouth, agave spirits, and Irish Whiskey—dormant categories ruled by a handful of brands that new entrants have revolutionized.

The most successful ones do what big brands have stopped doing. They stopped educating about the category and now only educate about their brands. Consumers want to know the options and then pick what they feel like choosing based on what they like.

Learning from Success Stories

You should do the same as the early successful craft brands. They used to bring new people into a (most often dormant) category. They created a new category that blends in with the old category, driving sales for the whole category. They made the cake bigger.

Think about how American Whiskey brands shook the category. The same has happened to bitters, vermouth, agave spirits, and Irish Whiskey—dormant categories ruled by a handful of brands that new entrants have revolutionized.

The most successful ones do what big brands have stopped doing. They stopped educating about the category and now only educate about their brands. Consumers want to know the options and then pick what they feel like choosing based on what they like.

Three Keys to Category Creation Success

Let me share my 3 top picks to do that:

1. Educate consumers about your category. You should help them navigate it. The moment those new consumers are in, they will choose your brand because you help them in a non-pushy way.
2. Solve a need in the bar range. Focus on those bars where it makes sense for the bartenders to recommend your brand because it fits their bar, range, and occasion. Watch how they naturally group your product - this reveals your true bottom-up category.
3. Solve a need in the distributor's portfolio. Make sure that you are relevant to your wholesalers.

Learning from History

Consider how American Whiskey brands revitalized their category or how craft producers transformed bitters, vermouth, and Irish Whiskey. These success stories share a common thread: they didn't just launch products—they reimagined dormant categories and created new value for consumers.

The Bottom Line

Building a successful spirits brand isn't about competing in overcrowded spaces. It's about creating and owning your category and expanding it from within. Start small, focus on education, and grow organically.

The most sustainable success comes from building your brand bottom-up, one outlet at a time.

I hope this mini-guide will help you develop the small, consistent habits you need to build your brand from the ground up.

Whenever you're ready, there are more ways I can help you:

My Digital Course: If you need help TODAY, I get it. I have a solution for you: I’ve captured the most critical aspects of building bottom-up in a 40-minute Self-paced Course: Bootstrapping a Drinks Brand: Dead-Simple Strategies to Avoid 28 Costly Mistakes.

If you’d like to get access to it, click the button below, and I’ll see you on the other side 👇

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Does this Guide resonate with you? Have you already implemented some of the aspects discussed above? Drop a comment and start the conversation 👇