Building Authentic Brand Partnerships in the Modern Drinks Industry

There's a fundamental misunderstanding in how small brands approach the on-trade that often leads to spectacular failures. In my conversation with Kaitlin Wilkes, who has navigated both sides of the bartender-brand relationship, we explored how authenticity and realistic expectations create stronger partnerships than big budgets and false promises.

The Diageo-like Delusion

We discussed one of the most dangerous traps small brands fall into: pretending they're multinational corporations. As Kaitlin explained, "A brand that is not even hitting 10,000 bottles maybe in market, cannot pay the 2000 GBP listing fee to be on the menu. Because they'll do it twice, and that's probably a quarter of their marketing budget gone for the whole of the country."

This "fake it till you make it" mentality creates unrealistic expectations. Bars expect Diageo-level support and activation, while small brands burn through their annual marketing budget in a couple of listings. The solution isn't bigger budgets - it's transparency about who you are and what you can realistically offer.

Quality Over Quantity: The 50 vs 300 Rule