An Interview With Martita Mestey
Flavors that Connect: Craft flavors that satisfy taste buds and evoke emotions. Create products that tell a story through their unique taste profiles. Celebrate diversity by experimenting with bold and unexpected combinations, or lean into nostalgia. By offering consistent and delicious flavors, you’ll forge a deep connection with your customers, turning them into brand advocates. BeatBox’s collection of Party Punch and Hard Tea is built off of familiar, nostalgic flavors, that taste better than our competition.
As a part of our series called “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Zech Francis.
Zech Francis is a brand builder, investor, advisor, & serial consumer goods entrepreneur, launching brands generating over $150M in revenue. Zech started his partnership with BeatBox as an early investor, then Advisor, & now oversees marketing as VP of Global Marketing.
BeatBox is one of the fastest growing ready-to-drink cocktail brands in the US, offering fun & nostalgic flavors in a sustainable & resealable package. With a deep passion for live music, our community of super fans, and creating fun, BeatBox has become the brand that’s bringing the party to the alcohol industry.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Many people have good ideas all the time. But some people seem to struggle in taking a good idea and translating it into an actual business. How would you encourage someone to overcome this hurdle?
ZF: In my years of building successful businesses, and also experiencing some failures along the way, the biggest hurdle I see with entrepreneurs and visionaries not being able to get their ideas off the ground comes down to two very simple factors — time and sacrifice. (This is of course assuming that you’ve found a decent product market fit, have enough experience to execute the idea, and access to enough capital to get started.)
The first is they can’t, or they don’t want to, find the time to make their idea a reality. There are endless excuses people will find for “why” they can’t make the time to focus on their big idea, but at the end of the day one of the fundamental differentiators between a successful idea getting launched is if the founding team simply makes the time to do the work day in and day out to make the business a success. As Steve Jobs famously said, “Overnight success stories take a long time.”
The second factor to an idea not getting off the ground is if the founders aren’t willing to sacrifice what it takes in their personal lives to bring their big idea to life. At times the sacrifice you need to make to find success in your business, especially in the early days, comes at the expense of a lot — a cushy job with a consistent paycheck, many many sleepless nights and early mornings, or time away from your loved ones.
If you’re willing to put the time into your big idea and you’re also willing to sacrifice whatever it takes, you’ll find your path to success. It might be a long bumpy road to get there, but it will come.
There are many invention development consultants. Would you recommend that a person with a new idea hire such a consultant, or should they try to strike out on their own?
ZF: I think consultants have their time and place in most businesses’ life cycle, but from my experience hiring an agency or consultant to innovate for your company is an expensive way to get something that isn’t what you or your customers actually want or need. Ideas and innovation need to come from the leadership team at any organization, and then those ideas can be stress tested and improved upon by consultants down the line. The core ideas for innovation have to come from your internal team or you might need to mix up who you have in key leadership roles.
What are your thoughts about bootstrapping vs looking for venture capital? What is the best way to decide if you should do either one?
ZF: I think the core difference between deciding to bootstrap vs bringing on venture capital is if you are looking to build a lifestyle business that spits off cash for and your partners to live a great lifestyle, vs taking on venture capital if you are aiming to scale a business rapidly in a high barrier to entry industry with the eventual thought of an exit. There’s something amazing about both paths if you go into it with your eyes wide open. If you achieve profitability while bootstrapping you have the unique advantage of putting real cash in your pocket and having more autonomy to make independent decisions for your business. If you raise capital, you have the benefit of using OPM (“other people’s money”), which might give you a certain amount of personal peace of mind because you don’t need to write every check, but you also have other people’s expectations and motivations to balance that go beyond your own.
Can you share thoughts from your experience about how to file a patent, how to source good raw ingredients, how to source a good manufacturer, and how to find a retailer or distributor?
ZF: If you are in a business that sells a physical product it is imperative that you dial in your supply chain as soon as possible. It is the key to scale and profitability. The often overlooked, less sexy thing to talk about in CPG (Consumer packaged goods), but one of the most critical parts of being successful is your manufacturing partners. I use the word “partner” because to truly scale a business you have to operate in the spirit of partnership day in and day out.
Here is the main question of our discussion. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand” and why?
- A Clear Vision: Start with a clear vision that goes beyond just creating a product. Infuse your brand with a purpose that resonates with your target audience. Whether it’s promoting sustainability, supporting local communities, or championing healthier lifestyles, let your brand’s values and mission shine through. By aligning your vision with the values of your consumers, you’ll cultivate a community of passionate and loyal followers. At BeatBox, we view ourselves as a music brand, that happens to sell alcohol. Wherever there’s live music and a party going on you’ll find BeatBox.
- Flavors that Connect: Craft flavors that satisfy taste buds and evoke emotions. Create products that tell a story through their unique taste profiles. Celebrate diversity by experimenting with bold and unexpected combinations, or lean into nostalgia. By offering consistent and delicious flavors, you’ll forge a deep connection with your customers, turning them into brand advocates. BeatBox’s collection of Party Punch and Hard Tea is built off of familiar, nostalgic flavors, that taste better than our competition.
- Authentic Engagement: Build a brand that genuinely connects with its community. Engage with your audience online, in-person events, and try to be the first brand in your space to embrace new social media platforms. Encourage and incentivize consumers to share their experiences, recipes, and big ideas for the brand. Embrace user-generated content and highlight customer stories to create a sense of real belonging and authenticity. By fostering a space for genuine conversations and interactions, you’ll build a community that feels valued and connected. At BeatBox we are obsessed with engaging with our community, both in real life and online. From our online audience of over 350,000 followers down to our 3,500 “Fam” brand ambassadors we are always thinking of new ways to surprise, delight, and incentivize our consumers to interact with our brand.
- Memorable Experiences: Elevate the consumer experience beyond the product itself. Create moments that leave a lasting impression. From captivating packaging to delightful unboxing experiences, every touchpoint should be an opportunity to surprise and delight. Organize events, tastings, and other experiences that allow your customers to engage with your brand in a meaningful way. By curating memorable experiences, you’ll transform customers into loyal advocates who eagerly spread the word about your brand. One of the ways we create these memorable experiences is through the 150+ music festivals and events we’ll sponsor in 2023. From EDC Las Vegas and EDC Orlando, to your local country or rock fest, you’re likely to find BeatBox showing up with an exciting in-person activation to enhance the festival experience.
- Continuous Innovation: Keep the excitement alive by innovating consistently and surprising your community. Introduce new flavors, limited edition packaging, or collaborations that excite and engage your customers. Encourage feedback and involve your community in the product development process. By making them a part of your brand’s evolution, you’ll create a sense of ownership and loyalty that keeps them coming back for more. This year for example we launched BeatBox’s newest line extension — Hard Tea. Our Hard Tea had a soft launch at 2 music festivals in late 2022 and then in retail stores in January 2023 with test markets across 13 states. Locations included Circle K, ampm, Stater Bros. Markets, GoPuff and Kroger. Positive results moved our Hard Tea from a test to a nationwide launch, which has since added national partners such as QuikTrip, Casey’s, Kum & Go, GPM as well as regional retailers.
Can you share your ideas about how to create a product that people really love and are ‘crazy about’?
ZF: You have to listen to your target consumer and build products around their wants and needs. The alcohol industry in particular has suffered from a lot of old school legacy brands that have historically “told” the consumer what they want vs. listening to what the consumers want. There have been several disruptive and fast growth brands pop up because of this in the last few years, including BeatBox who is already up +160% YOY in revenue and selling in 65,000 buying accounts in the L90 days. There are a lot of consultants and agencies that make it sound a lot more difficult than it is, but simply understand your consumer and do a lot of listening.
Ok. We are nearly done. Here are our final questions. How have you used your success to make the world a better place?
ZF: At BeatBox one of our core company values is to “Create a Better Future.” BeatBox is 100% plastic neutral through our partnership with rePurpose Global. We have recovered over 637,801 lbs of plastic waste to-date, which is the equivalent of 57.8 million plastic bags, 16 million plastic bottles, or 48 million red party cups. BeatBox’s products are also about 50% more carbon efficient than traditional alcohol brands. We are also in application to become B Corp certified by the end of 2023.
You are an inspiration to a great many people. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
ZF: If I could help inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, it would be a movement focused on fostering more empathy and understanding. Imagine a world where compassion flows freely, where people truly listen to one another, and where kindness is the default response.
This movement would encourage individuals to step into each other’s shoes, to recognize and appreciate the diverse experiences, perspectives, and challenges that exist across humanity. It would inspire people to engage in meaningful conversations, to seek common ground, and to find solutions that benefit everyone.
The power of empathy lies in its ability to break down barriers, dissolve prejudices, and foster deep connections. It cultivates a sense of shared humanity, reminding us that we are all part of a greater tapestry. With empathy as our compass, we can address social injustices, promote equality, and tackle the pressing issues facing our planet.
This movement would ripple through communities, institutions, and governments, sparking a collective shift towards compassion and understanding. It would transform schools into havens of empathy education, workplaces into environments of support and collaboration, and societies into bastions of inclusivity and respect.
Ultimately, this movement would create a world where acts of kindness are contagious, where empathy becomes the norm, and where we uplift and empower one another. It would pave the way for a future that celebrates our shared humanity, transcending borders, cultures, and backgrounds.
So let us dare to dream of a movement that spreads empathy like wildfire, igniting a revolution of compassion. For when we understand and empathize with one another, we unlock the potential to create a better world — a world where the most amount of good can reach the most people.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We greatly appreciate the time you spent on this.
Zech Francis Of BeatBox On 5 Things You Need To Create a Successful Food or Beverage Brand was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.