The data monetization challenge for beverage brands
We’ll assume that you’ve read the previous article about data collection. If you haven’t, we’ll suggest you read this article about the challenges you may face first. If you haven’t read it yet, please click here for data collection and here for data application.
Monetization will mean how the data collected can drive sales for beverage brands. To be more specific, It means that data collected from users generate sales for a particular product from the beverage brands.
Collecting an email or phone number is just the first step for beverage brands. The end game is to materialize it into a desired outcome. Most of the time, the most desired result is sales.
This article will focus specifically on that matter through 3 key questions.
How do you connect sales with the data collected?
Challenges that beverage brands will face
One of the main problems for beverage brands when running campaigns to drive sales is to collect sales data on premises (hotels, bars, restaurants, clubs ). These outlets usually are reluctant to share any of the data. Despite some outlets may share the data, it will remain partial nonetheless.
On top of it, tying the sales to a specific user requires some data entry on a database on the spot. That sometimes leads to missed information or inaccurate data as it relies on manual data entry from the staff from the outlet.
One of beverage brands' main challenges is collecting sales data happening on-premise at scale.
What we do at WisePass?
When a brand runs a promotion campaign, we create an offer users can redeem at the bar, restaurant or hotel. This offer is tied specifically to the brand.
The beverage brand can configure the amount of outlets, the quantity they target to sell and the type of outlets. For example, some beverage brands may want to run a buy 1 get 1 campaign to drive 10,000 tequila shots in 20 speakeasy bars in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi within 90 days.
The campaign would start and users would come over and scan to redeem the offer. Sales would happen at the outlets and distributors will see purchase orders happening and will deliver accordingly to the outlets placing their orders.
How do you use the data to drive repeat sales?
Challenges that beverage brands will face
Sometimes, beverage brands run loyalty campaigns and reward users for completing a challenge. For example, some coffee brands give a piece of paper where it will get stamped each time a customer purchases a certain amount.
The reward is usually another free cup of coffee. For beverage brands looking to sell in various types of outlets, this kind of solution is not working and it’s paper-based. In other words, you have no idea of the sales generated from the actual users loyal to your brand. Also, the reward is set in stone, and changing and testing different rewards is difficult.
One of the main challenges is to have a digital database that can collect data from loyal consumers and reward them accordingly.
What we do at WisePass
At WisePass, we’re able to know which user already made a purchase or not through the item created on the system. When a user redeems an item from the brand through WisePass the second time, it’s a repeat sale. Hence, we can segment and count the amount of times some users made a repeat purchase.
In order to drive repeat sales, beverage brands can create a set of rewards for users. The way it works is simple. Beverage brands need to set up the type and quantity of rewards they want to give out. These rewards will be given if users actually redeem a set amount of times.
For example, if users redeem a buy 1 get 1 offer from a whisky brand, they’ll be rewarded a bottle from the brand at some selected bars.
How do you use data to drive sales for a specific SKU?
Challenges that beverage brands will face
Sometimes, a beverage brand will have a new product to promote. The traditional method we saw in the past few years is to run some tasting events or special promotions in some specific outlets to let users try and learn more about the product. During the year 2017, WisePass was invited to a wine dinner from Jacob’s Creek from Pernod Ricard. The product introduced was Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel. The tasting happened but one question was asked to the marketing team about the way to follow up on the sales generated from the guests who attended these events.
Short answer was there’s no follow up. The goal of the tasting was to invite some people to join a dinner and listen to the brand ambassador from Australia. Period. There’s so far little digital transformation in the industry because the group doesn’t have a CRM of wine drinkers they can use globally, regionally or locally.
One of the main challenges for beverage brands is to build a comprehensive series of campaigns to reach, engage and promote a specific product.
What we do at WisePass
At WisePass, we can create several items under a brand. For example, some brands like Chivas has different SKUs like 12 years old, 18 years old or 25 years old whisky. Beverage brands can create an item for each SKU in order to focus the promotion on a specific one.
By doing so, the brand can decide to allocate some budget and allow users to redeem such drinks / bottles for a lower amount of PASS than usual. That will incentivize users to head to the venue to redeem such offer. Users that redeemed some whisky products in the past can be reached. Users that attended the Chivas event can be reached to be aware of the offer.
