A well-curated portfolio of beverage products is critical to maximizing your investment. Today, making choices in terms of your offerings – and how you present them – is more important than ever. How will the introduction of a new product or brand affect your established brands? What if you have the opportunity to acquire a brand? Whether it’s an internal innovation or a newly acquired brand, will it broaden your overall appeal – that is, will it help you appeal to new drinkers or occasions, or simply cannibalize sales of existing products? Will it fit with your current image, refresh that image, or both – or neither? These are the questions we can help you answer.
We can help articulate your portfolio strategy, including your innovation strategy. Is the intent to drive new sales directly or to enhance the brand’s image? Should your portfolio be focused or extensive? What is the role for NA beer and beverages? How do you allocate effort and resources between developing new beer styles and beverages like hard seltzers or RTD cocktails?
Answering these questions starts with mapping the wants and needs of different types of drinkers, in different types of occasions. That’s the basis for determining the appropriate balance between reinforcing the areas of the market map where you’re already strong, or focusing on unmet needs in other areas of the market map.
As you broaden your portfolio, you also have to decide whether you should be a house of brands or a branded house. In other words, should new lines be presented under your existing brand name, a newly developed independent brand name, or a new brand name “endorsed” by your established brand? The answers to these questions will flow directly from the portfolio strategy we create with you.
Innovation can be a minefield to navigate without a clear structure, process and discipline. Creating stage-gates for each innovation to pass allows an organization to maximize success and minimize cost and disruption.
The future of the beverage business is always fraught with uncertainty. A sound portfolio and innovation strategy can reduce uncertainty and maintain confidence.
