Why You Should Stop Playing Big Brand Games with Small Brand Resources

99% of drinks brands I see make the same expensive mistake: They copy big brands' practices and wonder why their money disappears with nothing to show for it.

This often happens when the decision maker has previously worked for a big brand. If that's you, you must change your mindset and get into the "every penny counts" approach. (This mindset helps even if you're managing a bigger brand, by the way.)

Whether you're a small brand owner starting from scratch or a brand manager working for a company trying to grow in new markets, the temptation is the same. You blow limited budgets on sponsorships, fancy events, and influencer campaigns that have zero connection to where your product is actually sold.

All this is to pursue one of the biggest myths in marketing: building "Brand awareness."

Here's the brutal truth: If you don't get your product in bars and stores first and make sure it sells regularly, any money you spend on marketing is like a drop in the ocean.

Why Big Brand Tactics Kill Small Brands

Big brands already have their products in bars and stores everywhere. Consumers and bartenders already know them. When they sponsor an event, consumers can find their product afterward, even in supermarkets and chain stores.

You don't have that luxury.

When I managed brands in the market, I was bombarded with sponsorship requests. Everyone wanted free products or a fee for shop openings, fashion shows, and food festivals. "It's about building long-term brand awareness," I told myself.

I was wrong.

People would try the brand, love it (who doesn't love free beers or booze?), then never find it again.

The other myth was that our brand's target audience was allegedly there. Those pics looked great on PowerPoint, but my product wasn't distributed where they hung out and shopped. Marketing and Sales were working in parallel universes that never connected.

What seemed like an effortless way to get trials with a few free cases turned into a nightmare. My team was drowning in phone calls from event organizers, shipping cases everywhere except where they mattered.

The Shift That Changed Everything

I changed my approach completely. I cut all the random sponsorships and focused every dollar on activities in bars and stores, where people could buy the product.

My new rule is that no event will happen if the brand isn't sold there. If any consumer cannot go back there the day after and find the product, I say no.

The result? There is an immediate improvement in getting into more places and selling more bottles.

Here's what I learned: you have limited resources, whether you're starting your own brand or managing a smaller brand's entry into new markets. It's effortless to waste money on what feels right, but you must focus only on things that move the needle.

The Three Rules That Actually Work