Ep. 046 Chelsea Phillips, A-B's vp, Beyond Beer Launchpad

Today Harry is joined by Chelsea Phillips, the vp at Anheuser-Busch of Beyond Beer - Launchpad, and Wine & Spirits senior editor Sarah Barrett. 

--time-stamped contents--

00:00 Intro - fighting with the internet. 

01:25 Chelsea joins us

02:30 beyond beer and now launch pad

05:20 babe wine - adjacent to ab's core comp but not completely. 

06:20 blessing and curse of being in AB network: amazing distribution capabilities, but some brands like babe need to choose accounts/geographies more surgically. 

06:40 brands in graveyard being victim of "too far too fast". 

07:00 mich ultra is good example of that. 

07:45 harry: are you discouraged by ab's huge scale compared to running smaller brands? "these are important brands" learning how to execute them, "nuture them" like boarding school.

08:50 sarah: did babe inspire launchpad? 

09:00 budweiser playbook not always great for smaller brands. measure success based on investment, managing expectations.

10:20 getting the route-to-market mix right

11:00 drilling down to consumer-centric behavior. 

12:40 targeting accounts for babe. 

13:20 sarah: what are new plans for babe? retailer decision points that look like target.

14:30 leaning into holidays with babe. 

15:40 transitioning babe from personality driven of founders to lifestyle brand but keeping the founders' voice. 

17:20 taking the voice to retail.

19:40 it's okay to say no. 

20:20 focus is key. choose what's best for you, distributor/retailer/market.

21:00 chelsea:  bet on rtds. 

21:30 talking wholesalers, how to lean into these brands. 

23:25 using data to find what works best in market. not souring market with brands/categories too soon. 

25:40 sarah:  what categories are you keeping an eye on? 

27:10 chels loves to work on a portfolio of brands.

30:00 sarah: do alc bases matter? (malt, sugar, liquor, wine?)

31:00 babe wine cocktails coming soon, in limited locations. 

31:45 supporting the brewers collective with spirit-based products.