Inside Marketing with MarketSurge

Welcome to Inside Marketing
With Market Surge.

Your front row seat to the
boldest ideas and smartest

strategies in the marketing game.

Your host is Reed Hansen, chief
Growth Officer at Market Surge.

Reed: Hello, and welcome back to
Inside Marketing with Market Surge.

Today we're joined by Debbie Wildrick,
widely known as the Queen of Beverages.

With over 30 years in the food and
beverage industry, Debbie's impressive

career includes executive roles at
Fortune 500 companies like seven 11 and

Tropicana North America, well as helping
hundreds of early to mid stage brands

through her strategic advisory work.

Debbie, welcome to the show.

Debbie Wildrick: It's,
it's great to be here.

It's great to be here.

Reed: Well, I, I really
appreciate you joining.

Uh, it's always nice to have somebody
with, uh, a lot of experience with

some, some really famous brands and,
um, you know, excited to learn from you.

And, you know, a part of your
practice is now that you.

Are working as a, a coach and consultant
and an advisor to startup companies.

You've developed, uh, the 10 pillars
framework, uh, which, which, uh,

we'd love to learn more about.

But before we dive into that, could
you share what inspired you to create

a, a comprehensive approach like this
to building successful companies?

Debbie Wildrick: Yes.

I start when I first started my
consulting business, by the time that.

I had, I had been, um, before seven
11 with Tropicana, um, building

their single serve juice into the,
into the convenience store market.

As an example, I was always on a business
building, um, role in a business building

role and, and building new, new brands.

Although that one, uh, was not new.

But it was new to that channel,
the convenience channel.

And so when I went to work for seven
11, I eventually ran all of beverages

for seven 11 and we, we actually
would, were challenged to create our

own products, um, and, and actually
build them from the ground up because

we didn't use Seven Select as a
private label or store brand name.

And so.

I was doing that and, and left and
went to work for my first real startup.

And so by the time that I am actually
starting my consulting business, I

have, I have run two to three companies.

From a, uh, CEO or presidential
perspective, as well as, um,

started out running the, the sales
and marketing for, um, FRS Healthy

Energy, which was my first startup.

And by the time you go, you
go through a lot of, you know,

challenges and learnings with start
being with this startup and then.

How to, how do we get to market and how
are we ticking on, on each elements?

And so by the time that I actually
start my consulting business with some

partners, um, which was Meta Brandand
at the time and still is, they, um, it

we, what we did is we, I wrote the 10
pillars with the intention of eventually

writing a book and a course, which
is what I'm in the process of doing.

And it was really about how, how do
we have a platform that we can talk to

clients about based on our experiences
and based on what you need to, uh, what

elements you really need to move forward.

And so it was, uh, comprehensive based
on all my experiences and verticals.

And then how do we, how do we
share with the client what we do?

And we can help you in.

Any number of these areas depending on
your experience or lack of experience.

So that's how, that's the passion
behind it, which is a very long

story, but gives you a little
bit more about my background too.

Reed: great.

And you know, you've obviously had
a, great career in, you know, as the

practitioner leading these actual
implementations, and so I, I would imagine

that so many companies could really
benefit from, from your experience.

Now that said, you've worked with all
kinds of companies, you've worked.

With startups, fortune five, hundreds,
uh, what have been some of the most

common mistakes that you're seeing
companies make regardless of their size?

You know, I imagine there's
similar themes you've observed

over, uh, your time in both

Debbie Wildrick: Yeah.

Reed: and consulting.

Debbie Wildrick: You know, I, I
mean, even going back to what large

companies have a tendency to where,
where they, they make their bigger

mistakes, but it rolls all the way down
to, you know, being the entrepreneur.

The entrepreneur.

So if you're a small, mid
stage, um, especially.

Just starting out there, there could be a,
a lack of experience in, in all aspects.

And, and so the smaller companies, the
entrepreneur comes up with an idea and

really doesn't understand their true
market opportunity or consumer need, and.

That takes it, it can take an
extensive amount of research.

And, and on top of that, which is pillar
number two is, is product differentiation.

And so the smaller, I think the
smaller the business that's, you

know, early on the ideas there.

But did I really do my research
to understand if this idea is

going to work in the marketplace?

And of course the larger the company.

The, um, the research that they're
doing to establish, um, the, those

criteria is happening because, you
know, in order to introduce or launch.

New brands and inside, inside larger
companies, you have to prove your

return on investment and so forth.

And so, but there's, we're still making,
if we don't understand those first two

pillars and know that we've got a viable
business, a viable product, then it, we

find it even harder to figure out how
to, to message to the consumer when.

It ends up with our branding
strategies and so forth, and the,

and the larger companies make
these mistakes just as easily.

Um, and, and then the very last part,
especially during execution, and

this is regardless of size too, is
that marketing and sales are, are not

talking to each other, are broken until
marketing has already established.

This is the brand.

This is, you know who we are.

Whether you know we're we've launched into
the market and haven't been successful or

have been successful is that marketing.

Marketing and sales are really not
talking to each other, and it's

critical that they talk to each other.

I.

Reed: Yeah.

Well, well, let's, let's follow
that thread and, um, you know, it,

let, let's touch on some of these
pillars that you've talked about, um,

so to your, to your point in your
first pillar, it, it's based around.

Market opportunity and consumer needs.

So, um, as you said, so how can
entrepreneurs, for instance, tell the

difference between a genuine market
opportunity and just a cool product idea

that maybe would be fun for them to make?

Um, you know, and, and does, does
what you've talked about with

marketing and sales needing to
communicate, does that apply here?

Debbie Wildrick: Yeah, it certainly does.

Now, if you're an entrepreneur,
obviously you may not have you,

you may be marketing sales.

And all of the above
operations, of course, right?

Reed: Absolutely.

Debbie Wildrick: That's how it starts out.

But, um, more, more so in the
beginning, you know, a lot of

product ideas come up because the
entrepreneur really thinks that they're

a cool idea, they're a great idea.

Um, and in the last, in the last 30 to
45 days, I've had three, three energy.

Drank companies come to me.

Um, and, and one's already been
in the market for a couple years.

The other one is, is, is
fairly new as an example.

And they really don't, they really can't.

Um, you know, certainly energy
is easy because it's, it is one

of the fastest growing, um, um.

Categories still to this day, but how, how
do you really differentiate yourself and

how do, how do you really get to market?

And so, um, yeah, it's, it's, um, it's
a challenge because the entrepreneur

comes up with the great idea that they
think they have a cool energy drink.

And I'm using that one as an
example without really understanding

that maybe that's already.

Been on the market.

Uh, you know, I had somebody a couple
years ago call me up and said that

they wanted to introduce a natural
energy drink, and, and I, I point

blank after I challenged them, uh,
several questions on what was their

differentiation point, which they could
not pinpoint other than I, you know,

I just want something that's totally.

Natural.

And I said, had, have you been to
the whole, have you been to the shelf

in the Whole Foods market lately?

There's a whole four foot
section of natural energy drinks.

You know, so that's it.

It's just so easy to, it's, it's usually
a need that you have that you, you've

not been able to find the product

Reed: Yeah.

Debbie Wildrick: the market, and so.

Um, and so you go about doing it, but um,
it takes an ex it, even if your research,

there's lots of research obviously on it.

Um, AI and, and, um, and the
internet these days with regard

to market share and, and where
is the trend upward, um, at.

At my website, by the way, I did a, a
market opportunity and consumer need

overview view, which is a free download.

Um, that that really takes you
through all the steps that can,

that can help you understand that.

And that's as simple as,
you know, going to multiple.

Types of outlets and, and looking at
the shelf where your product would

actually be purchased from, and, and
looking and studying your competition

and, and, um, understanding how
they're speaking to the consumer.

Um, understanding whether or not the, the
product that you've really developed, it,

it does have a differentiation point at.

After you've, you know, done
the, the market opportunity.

So yeah, it's, um, I think it's one of
our weak areas, but if, if you really

do the research and we just did it for
another client that's, uh, launching

a, um, a, a probiotic, a prebiotic,
um, sparkling water with benefits and.

He is, he is ended up doing a fabulous
job on market research and, and,

and opportunity, but I ha I, you
know, I had to help lead him there.

And it was, it was a really fun journey,
uh, just over the last couple weeks.

Reed: Yeah.

Well, that's awesome.

So, uh, you know, a couple follow ups on,
on that, because I know a lot of people,

you know, as you described, they, they
have like a business, like maybe there's

a, um, something they really like to
make or, um, uh, you know, they, they

like envision themselves doing a certain,
kind of producing a certain kind of

product rather than trying to solve a.

fill a market gap.

Um, you know, and I, I think that's
really wise to think about the,

the gaps and the opportunities and
what the consumers are missing.

And, um, but, you know, a couple things.

Is there, is there a way that you can, uh,
re like are there certain metrics that.

An entrepreneur could look at to evaluate
those gaps or the need in the market.

And then is there, do you have
a certain process to help guide

or shepherd these entrepreneurs
through, through this same process?

Debbie Wildrick: I mean, first of
all, the, the overview that I was

just talking about earlier is a
step by step, you know, what are the

things that I need to do and, and.

Part, part of the, the, we starting out
as a webinar series course is actually

going to be, um, exercises and, and
learning so that we, so that you can, you

can really understand rather than, um,
just me, you know, putting it on paper

for you, um, and taking you through.

Now, if I'm, if I'm working for, for
you from a consulting perspective, then.

Then verbally, we'll start
going through all that.

And that's what we did
over the last couple weeks.

And, um, it's, um, it's something
that you, if you take yourself through

all the steps of, you know, what are
the trends, defining the trends, the

category, et cetera, you, you just
brought up, you know, some people like to.

To make things, you know, I make the
best pasta sauce in the world, right?

So I'm gonna bottle this and, and, and you
get into a category like that where, you

know, you may not, you may not have really
a good differentiating part, uh, point.

So what are you doing?

You're, you're telling a story.

And that's when we get into the.

The other, um, um, parts of, you know,
once you've done the first two pillars

and you understand, and you've done
your research and, and like you asked,

I I, I do take you to a step-by-step,
um, process to get that done.

Then you, um, you, you, you move into
brand messaging and brand strategy.

And so how do I speak to the consumer
and the, and the example which happens

so many times of, you know, wanting to
bottle my pasta sauce is a great example.

Um, it, um, it really
becomes what your story is.

Reed: Okay.

No, that makes sense.

Well, so let's talk a
little bit more about that.

What, there's, um.

You know, to escape out of just
being one of many on the shelf,

one of many products on a shelf.

you know, how, how does
effective storytelling work?

What, what do, uh, what, what do
consumers like, you know, in the

beverage industry, what do they care
about when it comes to storytelling?

Like, they may not care that you tried.

you, you know, you failed in a
bunch of different things and

then finally arrived on, um.

You know, you know this

Debbie Wildrick: No.

Reed: know, like what, what do
they care about in, in these

stories and, and messaging?

Debbie Wildrick: Well, it's a lot
of, it's, it's a, it's a lot about

passion and especially like, I've
spent a couple of different times

doing a premium bottled water line and.

Reed: I.

Debbie Wildrick: Um, aside from
the fact that one example is,

is, is very differentiated, but
what does it really mean to me?

You know, what does it really mean to me?

And this happens to be the world's
pro purest ever discovered water.

Um, and, but what does it mean to me?

What does that mean to me?

And so that's what how we have to convey.

In our messaging and in that particular
example, you know, we have, uh, we

have this magical story about how
the water comes all the way up from,

you know, the underneath the Amazon
rainforest and comes through rose quartz.

And, and by the time that it
gets to the surface, it only has

several, um, total dissolved solids.

But we have to turn that into a magical,
um, story that actually tells me what it.

What it means to me.

And in the, in that particular example,
it's about taste and, and it's about

just, you know, a lot of products
are based on, you know, holding in my

hand because I either had a celebrity
influencer that was able to really

move the, the needle forward, um, or.

I, I, it's just a really, really
cool package and I feel good about,

um, also having it in my hand.

And those are real, you know, that's
even tougher than having a story.

Um, you know, my grandmother
made my, my grandmother taught

me how to make the pasta sauce.

And, and this is what we did, and we
built it into a, we built it into a story

about how I got to where I did and what.

Kind of ingredients.

I, I did, and, and you know, it, it can
go certainly a lot deeper than that.

You know, the tea industry, I
mean, there's teas coming from

all over the world and the, and.

You may have a, you may work with
farmers in Asia, and that's where

you got your, your tea leaves and
how you're helping to support them.

So yeah, there's all different ways
of, of, um, really incorporating

storytelling into, um, the passion
behind your brand and to give the

consumer an a reason, a, a reason to buy.

And, and it could be as
simple as being magical.

As, as well as, as taste and, um,
uh, you know, where it comes from

and how you build that story.

It's, it's, I think it's critical.

Reed: well, you know, there, there's
obviously storytelling at the beginning,

you know, to introduce a brand, but then
there's a situation where a brand may

want to kind of freshen up their image.

You.

And introduce a story, you know, they've
been around for years or decades.

And, um, you know, is, is there a
different approach for a brand that, you

know, wants to introduce a new story or
tell the story arc of how they got, or

how they got to where they are today?

You know, does that, does that
functionally work differently or, uh,

you know, just that, just thought that.

Debbie Wildrick: Yeah, I mean we
might, you might start out with, um,

with a, certainly, and I say this
a, a, a lot, you know, it may be

in the life of a brand they could.

They could go through, and especially
just in the first couple years, you

may go through two or three package
design and, and brand messaging changes.

And I, I just did a piece,
um, I picked up some, some of,

uh, Brad's um, Caesar salad.

Mix is what it called, what it was really
called, but it had, you know, mostly like

kale and spinach in it all, like Brad's
kale chips were originally, well, the

I, I did a little piece on it because
they completely marketed it differently.

It caught my eye, even though
I've known Brad's for years.

Brad is no longer involved, but
the early stages of that brand

had his picture on the back.

How he, you know, how he decided
to build the kale chip line

because he wanted something
healthy to eat, blah, blah, blah.

And so they, it totally rebranded it.

And now, you know, there is, it is
still called Brad's, but a completely

different marketing message.

Simplified and, and calls to action.

And, um, so it, it's, um, it, it.

Could be constantly
evolving, but you know what?

You have to also be constantly looking
at your, your turns, your philoso,

um, what, what retailers you're
selling in better than the others.

Have you, have you done, you know,
sampling and consumer focus groups and,

um, any number of things to, to decide.

Where you need to take the brand to the
next level, which is one, one of the

things that I really, I, I love about
the, the 10 pillars concept, because if

you're a mid stage company and you're
struggling, or you are wanting to scale

and you're, you don't know all of what's
really happened, um, along the way.

Then how do you know
what to, to make changes?

How do you know what's
working, what's not working?

And so all 10 of those pillars in
evaluating a business, um, from all

of those, uh, points is, is critical
to understanding how I'm going to

make a brand change, when I'm going
to make a brand change, and, and how

it needs to move forward from there.

Reed: So, um, let's talk a
little bit about, uh, one of

your, uh, subsequent pillars.

Number seven, marketing strategies.

Um, so you, you, this covers a lot,
um, you know, about, for instance,

promotions and even social media.

Um, but a question is, is that for
many in our audience, they have limited

resources, you know, not infinite
resources and, and have to make some

decisions about what they, uh, emphasize.

Like maybe in terms of channels.

Um, what, what would you recommend that.

Brands prioritize or how they
think through that process when

they, their resources are limited.

Debbie Wildrick: Yeah, almost
every, every entrepreneur, you know,

pillar number 10 is financials.

Um, but.

So it's, it's difficult.

The one thing that I do say, so if, if
you, if you've got the package messaging

as, when I, when I go, when I go to
the shelf and there's a new product on

the shelf, all I really have, because I
haven't had a chance to market it yet.

If, if I'm using social media
and I've got a hundred thousand

Facebook, uh, followers, maybe.

But I haven't, you know, I
haven't, I haven't even totally

reached the surface, right?

So, so at the beginning of any new product
launch, all you really have is at the

shelf, and the first thing that you,
that you need to do is catch the eye of.

Of the consumer.

And so hopefully you've, you've really
studied your positionings and where

you want to be, uh, positioned on the
shelf, the, the merchandising tactics

and so forth, um, that you, that
you're working with the retailer on.

But, but all you have is at the shelf, and
so you, you want the consumer to, at least

if, if the consumer touches the bottle.

Or, or food, you know, I, this applies
to food and and beverage products.

If they touch the bottle and even,
you know, turn it around, chances of

them buying it are much, much greater.

So you're, you're also
trying to get that to happen.

And then, um, but using
promotional tactics that are.

Encouraging multiple buys, working
with the retailer appropriately on

their promotional strategies so that
you're also getting those shelf tags

in the beginning of your product.

And that, um, that can be difficult when
you have, when you're short on resources,

obviously you're, you've hopefully built
your plan according to being able to

present, I mean, promote at, at about 15%.

Across the board, um, even
though it's, it's, it's targeted

along the, the, the year.

But, um, you know, it, it is
expensive, but it's, it's building

that into your plan so that as you
begin to move the product off the

shelf and into the consumer's hands.

Over and over, you're
increasing your distribution.

You're, you're getting
your distribution points.

Then you can, you can start marketing to
the consumer outside of the store shelves.

Um, but, but you really, that,
that's where the strategy comes in.

So first, first, the brand and, and
packaging and what you're saying

to 'em right there on the package.

And then.

You know, really working with
your retailers to start out those

shelf, those shelf promotional.

So you're getting your product called out
and then, and then, um, working into, to

the social and other aspects of marketing.

Reed: No, that's, that's
really interesting.

And um, I know you've worked with so many
different brands and, and, um, we're, you

know, we're not really gonna be able to.

super in depth in a short podcast,
but, um, I'd be interested, you know,

in a couple things, how have you
seen, uh, social media affect, uh,

marketing for beverage and CPG brands?

And then have you seen anything
unconventional that, uh, you know,

surprisingly worked really well?

Debbie Wildrick: Well, one of
the best examples is, is Prime.

I'm not sure if you're
familiar with Prime.

Yeah.

So it is by far one of the,
one of the biggest anomalies.

And, and the guys that that owned
it had the luxury of having, um, um.

Of the main, uh, the, the main,
um, influencer, I can't remember,

Paul is his name, something.

But anyway, you know, he already
had 25 million followers.

And I referenced this before, we think
as entrepreneurs, we think in today's

world of social media that it is, um,
you know, our, our lives are much easier,

right, in building brands, but, um.

You have to reach people.

And, and so Prime did it in enlightening
speed and did it with tons and tons

of, of video and, and creative,
um, content and, and really, you

know, really was able to do that.

But like I said, it, it's an anomaly.

So the factors of really successfully
marketing your product are, um, you

know, a combination, well, 10 all
all 10 pillars, but a combination

of, you know, really ticking in all
areas so that you, um, so, so that

you, you've got, um, a place for the.

To tell the consumer where to
go and, and got your sales and

distribution and you're, you're,
uh, really talking to them.

But, um,

Reed: Yeah, no, that's.

Debbie Wildrick: that, that's,
that's really, that's really

what it, oh, and class Classic.

This, this goes back for years and years.

Don't ever, um, don't ever make
a decision that, um, I, I start.

Start working your social media and,
you know, spending money, spending

a lot of money on advertising as an
example, but you don't have your,

your distribution in place yet.

So you don't have, um, anywhere to
sell, uh, to direct the consumer.

And, and that's why D
two C is also so, um, so.

Prevalent today and, and, you know,
getting on Amazon and having your

own website and really working your
own website, um, because you don't,

you can, you can direct the, the
consumer to your website if you're

doing early marketing, um, when
you don't have it on, on the shelf.

And you can also manage your, your
retailer strategy so that you're.

That you're not spreading
yourself too thin.

You're going into a market and you're,
you're saying, I need these, these and

these retailers, and this is how we'll
we'll go about getting those in business.

So, um, it, it's a
combination of all of that.

Reed: Okay.

No.

Yeah, I, I think that is, you know,
good to take a deliberate approach.

It seems really easy just to turn
on ads, but if you're not ready to.

Uh, receive, distribute and, and,
uh, you know, have your, basically

your, your marketing act together.

It's, uh, money down the tube.

Um, you know, there's, there's so much
obviously to cover and, um, know, I'd love

to, I'd love to help direct people that
are interested to learn more about what

you do, and I'm sure they'd be interested
in, in consulting with you, what.

Uh, where are the best places
for listeners to find you?

Debbie Wildrick: So at my website,
which is um, debbie wildrick.com

and it's um,
D-E-B-B-I-E-W-I-L-D-R-I-C k.com.

That the website has my
phone number, it has my email

address, it has a contact page.

So any of those ways of getting to
me, also a um, a, a calendar, um, a

calendar page, calendar page as well.

But, um, I also have.

Free it's, it's just
free debbie wilder.com.

If you go to that, that landing page,
you can, um, put in your email address

and, and I'll send you a download for
that, that, uh, white paper on, um,

pillar number one, market opportunity
and consumer need, and, and there's a,

then there's also an opportunity for
us to, to talk around that as well.

Reed: Fantastic.

Debbie, it was a pleasure and
I'm glad we, we've connected.

Um, you know, and I would
direct anybody thinking about.

Uh, growing a brand in the
CPG specifically beverage

space to, to connect with you.

Uh, thanks so much for
joining us today, Debbie.

Debbie Wildrick: Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

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