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ROADMAP

STAGE 2

b) Nurture & Grow
Continued

Leveraging festivals

In the irst year of doing business and even beyond, most beer and spirit brands use the platform of
festivals to fully maximise their brand’s visibility with their target consumers. Over 380 beer festivals took
place in the USA in 2015 alone! When you ind the right beer or spirits festival, it can provide a great
platform for your brand to create unique experiences.

A successful drinks festival should help to create and enhance a cult following for your brand, through
direct business-to-consumer interaction. You can provide consumers with a souvenir to remember your
brand and the interaction with you, such as an attractively designed glass. These events are also attended
by beer and spirits’ sommeliers, bloggers, print, TV and radio journalists, competitors and your customers.
This provides a great opportunity for you to connect with them, build relationships as well as observe
them in the consumption environment.

It should also provide a forum for bringing your brand story to life for the festival attendees through
tastings of your products. You should explore ways to exhibit that allow your brand to stand out from the
crowd. This might be drinks served with complementary food. It can also mean serving your product in a
way that stands out as exciting and memorable, for example using unique glassware.

Ireland has a growing calendar of craft drinks festivals,
here are just a few sources of info to help you get started.

Beer Festivals in Ireland: http://beerireland.ie
International festivals calendar available at www.beerfestivals.org
Ireland: www.jar.ie/article/dublin-whiskey-fest-2015-venues-info

Scotland: www.visitscotland.com/about/food-drink/whisky/festivals
Other Spirits Festivals UK: www.ginfestival.co.uk
USA craft spirits festivals: http://craftspiritsfest.com

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