☄️Ready for a meteoric growth story?! Today we talk with Clement Pappas, co-founder and CEO of Stateside Brands, the maker of Surfside Iced Tea + Vodka, and Stateside Vodka and Stateside Vodka Sodas.
📈For listeners who are not on the East Coast, this brand is suddenly everywhere. Last year, the Surfside line alone grew by 1 million cases to 1.3 million cases. And they’ve already surpassed that amount this year — by mid summer!☀️
🥇In fact, year-to-date Surfside is the No. 1 fastest-growing spirits RTD brand in the U.S. with top velocity rates and dollar share gains (via BWC data).
🚀This story illustrates the transformative effects an RTD line extension can have for an alcohol brand. In this case, the core brand was Stateside Vodka, which launched in 2015 as a local Philly alternative to Tito’s Vodka.
🍋During the pandemic, Clem and team identified that consumers were hitting seltzer fatigue and looking for alternatives — i.e. an emerging white space for premium, vodka-based hard teas and lemonades. Stateside was an early mover, building up a strong core market in Philadelphia, and expanding throughout the mid-Atlantic before exploding onto the national stage.
🫗They leaned into label transparency — positioning their products at the 100 calorie per can level with 2 grams of sugar and 3 grams of carbs. And they developed fun and cheeky marketing, positioning the brand as a “0 bubbles” alternative to hard seltzer. And it turns out that these things resonate with younger consumers!
🗣️We discuss the pivotal moments and strategies that helped Stateside hit its hockey stick-like growth trajectory — and to maintain it without melting down.
Key Takeaways
🔹What led Stateside to identify an innovative new white space in RTDs
🔹The extensive flavor and formulation process that yielded a line of crisp, sessionable — and craveable — RTDs
🔹How Surfside landed on its simple, effective branding and messaging strategy
🔹Local partnerships (baseball teams!) that drove early brand awareness and growth
🔹How Stateside partnered with NJ distributor Fedway to build out the distribution and marketing plan that enabled exponential growth
🔹How Stateside quickly scaled its sales and marketing machine
🔹The brand’s most successful accounts (think stadiums and golf clubs!)
🔹The demographic that’s consuming the most Stateside products
🔹How Surfside’s on-premise sales strategy is driving high velocity
🔊Give a listen — https://lnkd.in/evZz8ASw
#businessgrowth #rtd #hardtea #drinksbusiness #growthhacking Erica Duecy Scott Rosenbaum