50 Loyal Accounts Beat 300 Weak Ones | with Kaitlin Wilkes | The Ada Coleman Project | Bottom-Up Cut #007

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Kaitlin Wilkes is Co-founder of The Ada Coleman Project.

“I would rather have fifty accounts pouring two to three bottles of my spirit a week because they love the cocktail,” says Wilkes, “than three hundred accounts that are selling a quarter of a bottle.”

00:00 Why is the drinks industry actually two separate industries wearing one liquid as a disguise?

00:42 What changed when Kaitlin realized bartending and brand marketing were different worlds?

02:44 How does showing up authentically at a bar close the gap with a bartender?

03:58 Why do finance and marketing teams struggle to understand on-trade spend?

05:04 What’s the real purpose of flying a bartender across the world for a guest shift?

06:25 Why should a brand pick partners who genuinely fit, not just any account willing to say yes?

08:24 How should a small brand approach a bar’s menu when it can’t afford the listing fee?

13:32 Why would fifty loyal accounts beat three hundred weak ones every time?

Find all episodes featuring Kaitlin Wilkes at maffeodrinks.com.