When Your Brand Stops Being Yours: Redefining Your Serve & Occasion After 15 Years | Mark Ward, Founder of Regal Rogue | 128

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This episode sits on one hard truth: the minute you launch, the brand stops being yours. Mark Ward founded Regal Rogue and has spent fifteen years watching venues and drinkers redefine his vermouth’s serve and occasion, from a keg spritz that started in an Australian bar to a Negroni twist a Brighton restaurant will not let him change.

The conversation covers the pilot-not-dictator model of brand ownership, the “invisible reputation” that has to stand up when you are not in the room, why bottom-up market observation beats top-down playbooks, what it means to win your home turf, and the surprisingly radical idea of scrapping every product but one.

It is a fifteen-year founder’s account of following the market instead of fighting it.

Timestamps:

00:06 The Bottom-Up Mentality in Business00:42 Consumer Feedback and Brand Adaptation01:25 Innovative Serving Ideas02:23 Challenges in the Vermouth Market04:41 Brand Stories and Market Strategies17:07 The Importance of Home Market Presence22:21 Finding the Right Channel and Occasion28:30 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

This Episode is hosted by Chris Maffeo and brought to you by MAFFEO DRINKS.

MAFFEO DRINKS is a leading drinks business podcast, listened to in 120 countries with 130+ episodes. How the industry actually works, from the bar and what it means for the boardroom.

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