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A Summary, Introduction, and Key Insights
In the first episode of the Chaâteu Zero Podcast, I spoke with Kayla Mason and Sarah Pretorius, the minds behind Sip Steady, a marketing, PR and event agency dedicated to the non-alcoholic beverage industry. We delve into the world of non-alcoholic drinks, discuss trends, and challenges, and get three key takeaways for everyone starting in the alcohol-free beverages industry.
Born out of a shared passion for providing delightful non-alcoholic options in social settings, Sarah’s and Keyla’s journey reflects a commitment to bridging the gap between consumer demand and industry offerings. With backgrounds in wellness and marketing, and their expertise in this rapidly developing industry, the two understand the needs of new comers, and look at each brand and target group individually.
Key Insights:
- Market Dynamics and Trends: Kayla and Sarah highlight the growing demand for premium non-alcoholic wines and functional beverages. They emphasize the importance of innovation and quality in driving consumer interest, pointing to collaborations and community-driven events as catalysts for industry growth.
- Target Audience: While Gen Z is driving the movement towards mindful drinking, Sip Steady recognizes diverse consumer demographics and preferences.
- Challenges and Opportunities: The conversation delves into the challenges of integrating non-alcoholic wines into restaurant menus, citing cost and consumer education as pivotal factors. Despite hurdles, Kayla and Sarah remain optimistic, envisioning a future where non-alcoholic options are seamlessly integrated into social settings.
- Brand Development Strategies: “If a non-alcoholic brand is just, just kicking off their big adventure, I would make sure that their branding that they […] work with a talented graphic designer, who can really interpret their vision and create something that they’re not going to want to rebrand in a year or two,” says Sarah.
Links
All episodes of the Château Zero Podcast:
Visit the Sip Steady Website for more information.
Chapter Overview
00:00 Introduction and Background of Sip Steady
04:17 Working with Non-Alcoholic Brands
04:59 Differences in the Non-Alcoholic Industry
07:17 Targeting Mindful Drinkers
08:56 Trends in the Non-Alcoholic Market
10:15 Availability of Non-Alcoholic Products
12:13 Challenges of Non-Alcoholic Wine in Restaurants
13:58 Target Audience for Non-Alcoholic Brands
17:18 Target group for Non-Alcoholic products
17:44 Catering to Different Demographics
23:57 Non-Alcoholic Market in Different Cities
25:21 Advice for New Non-Alcoholic Brands
30:17 Non-Alcoholic Market in Different States
32:38 Pitch for Sip Steady
35:20 Dry Vibes Event Series
38:04 Importance of Community-Driven Events
Full Transcript:
Sip Steady:
And a rule of thumb that we kind of learned from our distributor is the cost of a glass on a menu is typically the price that the restaurant is paying for the bottle. So…
when it comes to factor in that cost of the non-alcoholic wines, some of them are a premium price just because that volume intake and they’re not distributing as much as the alcohol version. And so it would be a costly bottle like Sarah mentioned to just have one use out of.
INTRO
Sip Steady: Hi, this is Kayla. And this is Sarah from SIP Study. And we’re doing the Chateau Zero podcast.
Château Zero: Welcome to the first episode of the Châtau Zero podcast. My name is Feliz. I’m your host. And I’m so glad and so excited to talk to Kayla and Sarah from Sip Steady, two female founders of a non-alcoholic marketing, advertising, and PR and event agency. If I got that correct, did I miss anything?
Sip Steady: We also got into distribution, so we are totally full service and we’re exploring sales. Sip Steady was co-founded by Kayla and myself in 2022. And it really started from my journey going alcohol-free the year before. When I was freshly sober, I realized very quickly how uncomfortable it could be when you go to a bar or restaurant or hotel and you want something delicious to drink, but oftentimes,
These amazing products that you see online were not being represented as much on menus in person, right? So, I come from a nonprofit background, was always doing communications. And I brought this concept to Kayla because I knew that she could be like the perfect partner in crime to start this marketing events PR agency with. And Kayla, do you want to share about your background?
Yeah, so I am a mindful drinker and that kind of stems from about seven years being in the health and wellness industry as a yoga teacher, Reiki, healer, and kind of getting into that space. And I noticed that, or part of the practices that I was doing in the health and wellness industry was taking breaks from alcohol and incorporating that into my lifestyle. While I was doing all the health and wellness stuff. I was also working full time as a construction engineer in the industrial construction sector. So very task and detail oriented and logistics. And I’ll just say a professional problem solver. So, when Sarah brought up this idea, I had been, you know, testing out different non-alcoholic options myself and did also find them really difficult to buy. I mean, I think even we had a little get together that Sarah came over for at my house for Halloween or something and we brought in product from Canada. So, and we’re in the States, we’re in the Midwest. So, it really was not available in stores around here at the time, but a lot has changed in the last two years.
Château Zero: And maybe it’s worth noting that the two of you are based in Kansas.
Sip Steady: Is that right? Kansas City, baby.
Château Zero: So, it’s not New York and not San Francisco, just trying to underline and point out that it’s not a big city only, or like the two main big cities, I guess, kind of thing only trend or something that may or may not happen. It’s a thing and it’s here to stay. And that’s just really great. Do you have some brands that you could share with our audience that are in your client lists that they may or may not know and should know soon?
Sip Steady: Most, if not all of the brands that we’ve worked with. I don’t know if they ship in Europe yet, but we’ve worked with brands such as All the Bitter, which is an organic wild forage bitter company. Maybe they’ve gone international. It wouldn’t surprise me. We’ve also worked with an apologetic non-alcoholic wine brand called Allay, which is really delicious. And we’re so thrilled and deeply honored to be currently working with Oceano Zero, the industry’s first. The industry’s first luxury non-alcoholic wine that’s single vintage, single vineyard based out of California.
Château Zero: And from what you’ve experienced in the past years, how would you say this industry is different than not only like the with alcohol beverages industry, but maybe also than other industry, like any other industry that is out there? Is there anything that is different from what you’ve seen, like how the market works or how people should be targeted?
Sip Steady: I guess I’ll speak on the side, the industry side of things. What I’ve noticed is that everyone are, is so supportive of each other in the space. So, the brands that are like Sarah mentioned, all the bitter which is a bidders brand is fully there in support of a seltzer alternative. And really it feels like such a community that’s moving this industry forward. So that’s been just aside from marketing, a really beautiful thing. And with that has come so much collaboration. So, a lot of what we’re seeing in this non-alcoholic market has been collaboration between brands, between influencers, between different sectors. So, kind of inviting that wellness sector in with the non-alcoholic space. So that’s been really cool. Yeah. And piggybacking off of what Kayla shared.
One thing that I think from like the advertising and marketing viewpoint that we have and that we share with brands that we work with in terms of messaging, it’s been really important that messaging is clear, that it’s, they’re not just targeting people who are sober or who define themselves or label themselves as sober or in recovery. Now, of course that’s part of, you know, the natural audience of people who might be interested in consuming their beverages, but really making sure that the messaging is inclusive and welcoming and meeting people where they are. Because a lot of brands will tell us, you know, we don’t want anyone to feel like they have to be sober or that we’re only talking to sober people or, you know, that you have to like not drink alcohol for this reason or this reason.
And so being very mindful of inviting everyone to participate and, you know, try their product, whether they’re taking a break for a week or a month or a year, whatever their, um, whatever the inspiration for them to, you know, choose a non-alcoholic option versus an alcoholic one. Um, just being really supportive and mindful with that.
Château Zero: People drink sometimes. I feel like there’s a word for them like flexi drinkers, but I don’t know if I made that up or if I caught that somewhere or is there or sober curious is also a term. Is there a term that you use either internally or with your clients that would describe this behavior of just drinking less, which is obviously just a really good thing and not just having the one or the other.
Sip Steady: There are so many different layers in this. Yeah, I think the term that comes up. Often, it’s like you said sober curious but also a mindful drinker. So, someone that is making the conscious choice to either intake some alcohol or to not do so. The people that aren’t sober, but they are concerned about their wellness or they just want to reduce their alcohol intake. So, we call them mindful drinkers or sober curious.
Château Zero: What kind of trends do you currently see either with your clients or also with the purchasing power out there? Do you see a trend towards more functional drinks maybe or towards more non-alcoholic wines or non-alcoholic beers which have been around for longer and are more known already? Proxies, I mean there are so many different things. Is there something that you would say, oh we see like there’s a strong demand in this or that category?
Sip Steady: Yeah, I’ll take that first. Definitely seeing a growing demand for really beautiful non-alcoholic wines. I think for so long that category, you kind of turned your nose up at it and it’s like, oh, well, that’s just grape juice or it has so much sugar or, you know, it’s not something that you’d actually enjoy drinking.
But now with the innovation in technology and the alcohol removal process and the funding that is supercharging winemakers to craft really delicate, complex, full-bodied, delicious non-alcoholic wines that still give you the same enjoyment and feeling when you’re savoring them with a nice meal that you can pair for a tasting, for example.
Um, that’s been a really exciting niche part of this industry that we’ve been a part of and continue to see grow. And then also functional beverages. Again, when you think of why people choose not to drink, they don’t want to replace the alcohol with a ton of sugar or artificial flavors. And so the growing demand and for these beverages that not only, you know, tastes delicious and might replicate the sensation or feeling of, uh, you know, a non-alcoholic cocktail, but they also have maybe herbs that are good for you, that are good for your gut health or things that help you stay hydrated or mushrooms and things like that, that continue to add to your overall wellbeing. And something we actually found out in January at the mindful drinking fest, which was in DC is that Germany is actually decades ahead of the US when it comes to non-alcoholic fine wines, like really elevated wines in the non-alcoholic sector. So that was really interesting to learn about. On the where to buy these products aspect of the industry, I would say that where we’re seeing the growth is in grocery stores. There are definitely more boutique and luxury small businesses popping up that sell them.
But we are really seeing a surge coming out in the chain grocery stores, as well as liquor stores making space in Samuels for the non-alcoholic section.
Château Zero: And I find that, to be honest, quite a beautiful development because having extra stores that are just focusing on non-alcoholics is nice to have, just as you have specialized wine shops and everything. But I find it so much easier, especially for people who do drink and who have friends or family or sometimes choose not to drink to have this accessibility in places where they already are.
And that could be, I said, like another wine or liquor store or in supermarkets. And it’s so much easier. I spoke with my friends here in San Francisco and they’re like, yeah, we know the two most known shops in San Francisco to be either on this end or on the other, but we live kind of in the middle, but we have these, all these other stores.
To my own surprise, I did go to Target where I read in the news they would have like a huge amount of non-alcoholics and I didn’t find any. But I’ll say that was a result of dry January. At least I hope that. That’s a nice development. That’s good to see. Speaking about that and coming back to what you first found out in your journey, Sarah, I still have the feeling that non-alcoholic wine is very, very hard to get in restaurants.
And my personal conclusion would be that it’s due to the price tag, that if you open a bottle of non-alcoholic wine and you just sell one glass, it could be that you don’t sell the second glass for a long time. And so you can’t use the bottle anymore. Plus that the expectations on like that there needs to be a lot of education about that non-alcoholic wine does taste differently to wine with alcohol. And maybe people are afraid of offering non-alcoholic wine and then having disappointed customers who tried for the first time. What’s your take on that and how do you think it’s going to develop or is there hope for us to see changes in this field in restaurants?
Sip Steady: I think there’s hope. I think there is definitely hope. I think we need that too. I think you made excellent points and I think those have definitely been two very real challenges that non-alcoholic wine has faced when being sold on premise, like within restaurants and bars and things like that. And, you know, fair enough because non-alcoholic wine, it has a very much shorter shelf life once that bottle is opened.
And so, and they are higher price points. So, opening that bottle, you know, they understand that they’re taking that risk. That being said, nothing makes me happier when I go into a wine bar or a restaurant and they have a delicious non-alcoholic wine. It’s always, I’m always shocked and so surprised.
And I think as with the, you know, the vegetarian and vegan movement that happened 25 years ago, it’s just going to be more expected that restaurants rise to meet the growing demand for a variety of alcohol alternatives. And of course that will include wine, especially when you think about fine dining or going out for a celebration. And a metric to kind of think about.
When it comes to the non-alcoholic wine is it takes 1.3 times the volume to make a bottle. So, they’re actually having to make more in order to distill it down to a bottle’s worth in the non-alcoholic wine category. And a rule of thumb that we kind of learned from our distributor is the cost of a glass on a menu is typically the price that the restaurant is paying for the bottle. So when it comes to factor in that cost of the non-alcoholic wines, some of them are a premium price just because that volume intake and they’re not distributing as much as the alcohol version.
And so it would be a costly bottle like Sarah mentioned to just have one use out of.
Château Zero: Yeah. And I feel like that is something that I guess people who are in this space, already know that some who are new to this field may not know that having the extra step of removing the alcohol is so expensive and makes the bottle so much more expensive. And if you are standing in front of a non-alcoholic wine for the very first time and you wonder why that bottle is, I don’t know, 25 or 30 dollars, so it doesn’t even have alcohol in it. It’s not a bug, it’s a feature. That is, yeah, it is difficult and new to completely new customers I feel.
When you sit down with your clients and try to figure out how to address their product and to whom, what is typically the age group that you are looking at? So, we have understood it’s not drinkers or non-drinkers, but also mindful drinkers. But is there like an age or a gender that is typically focused on more?
Sip Steady: I think the approach that we take is a really catered and curated approach on each brand. So we really do our research on that brand and who their avatars are. Yes, statistics across the board and the non-alcoholic sector are that, you know, Gen Z is driving the industry and it’s most likely predominantly female.
But when it comes to the brands, we really like to do an in-depth study to find who their exact audience is, which… It could be a 45 year old male identifying person. It just depends on the product. Yeah. And so a great example of that is we worked with a Kava-based brand, and they had already developed their branding. They were very colorful. They were, you know, kind of funky. Their social media person at the time was a lovely Gen Z gal.
So who was doing a lot of their content on TikTok, which made sense, right? Because that’s who they were. Well, they said that they wanted to kind of address a different audience, but based on their branding alone, they’re going to be most attractive to like that younger audience, right? And Kava for anyone who may not have heard of it is a plant that is traditionally used and is from the South Pacific in ceremonies and traditional ceremonies. And it has stress relieving and calming effects. S
o, it’s a great alternative for people who maybe want to replace their, their glass of wine or a beer after a really hard day’s work. Instead of, you know, they replace that with the Kava because it actually makes you feel something. On the other end of the spectrum, again, we are working with Oceano Zero and it is one of the highest price points of wine, of US based wine on the market.
So knowing that and knowing that it is an iconic legacy brand that is luxury, ultra premium, we’re going to look at a bit of an older demographic and we’re going to look at wine lovers. We’re going to look at people who are maybe critical of wine, who have, you know, very discerning palates because now finally there is something that, a non-alcoholic wine that appeals to them too.
Château Zero: Because that is something that I always wonder and I keep throwing this question at everybody in the industry that I find. It is clear and it’s not debatable that Generation Z is drinking way less. But my question is, do they drink non-alcoholic alternatives instead? My theory, oh, my question, it’s not a theory. I wonder if the age group between, I don’t know, 25 up to 100, I don’t know, was raised with, let’s have a glass of wine, let’s have some champagne, let’s have tequila shots and whatnot. If there is a generation that has never or is not as much into all of these drinking situations, do they even care so much about non-alcoholic wines and so on?
Sip Steady: I think that from the research we’ve done, you know, the college age students, there’s still a record number that are binge drinking, right? And there still is that deeply ingrained drinking culture in society. So are we seeing the Gen Z replace alcohol with non-alcoholic options? I think so. I think it’s the availability of the product that’s of plays into it. Are they going to go seek it out at a liquor store? Maybe, maybe not. If they see that target, are they going to grab it? Most likely because of just the buzz that the non-alc world is getting.
And also another thing that Sarah and I talked about is the rise of social media. You know, we live in a social media world and so it’s no longer as cool quote unquote to not be functioning anymore. I mean, Gen Z, they are, I think it’s like something like over 50 % want to be entrepreneurs and to do so they need to show up as their best selves. And so they’re not parting as much. They’re not going out as much. They care about their health for sure more than we did when we were four. Yes, we can speak for me too. No worries.
So I like to think with the availability now coming into festivals and really becoming more mainstream. They are part of the purchasing power. Yeah. And to, um, to go a little bit further, I think Caleb made a great point that it’s really about, you know, brands need to be available where their consumers are.
So, you know, at fast casual restaurants, you know, um, I don’t know if Chipotle is known across Germany, but it’s like a very popular, you know, Mexican, Americanized Mexican chain here, you know, and it’s very popular with high school students and college students. And so once I think it’ll be a huge, huge milestone when fast casual restaurants or fast food places start adopting a non-alcoholic menu as well, which makes sense because they don’t, most of them don’t sell alcohol to begin with.
But these brands need to be where the younger generation is because I think you did make a great point as well. That is a Gen Z, is the average Gen Z, you know, male or female, going to be picking up the 0 .0 Corona or the non-alcoholic seltzer. Maybe not every time, but with the growing just shift towards being more, wellness focused and prioritizing their mental health. And like Kayla said, wanting to show up as their best selves and not wanting to nurse a hangover. The availability is huge.
And then also the price point is also important. So knowing, you know, what is affordable for them and making sure that like, if they’re at Target or a grocery store, that yeah, that people just know that they’re there. And so that’s where a lot of like our job comes in is helping brands just get out there into the marketplace because it’s one thing to find them on social media.
And Gen Z, I just read is more likely to buy something online versus millennials. Us millennials still like buying things in person and having that immediate gratification. So it’s probably more so the millennials that are going to these non-alcoholic bottle stores to pick up. You know, something to bring to a party, but the wider availability of any products to be anywhere and everywhere, I think will really help their case and further adoption with the younger demographics.
Château Zero: If I was a brand and I had my Château Zero wine, let’s say, and trying to start off with a small budget. What are there three advices you could give?
Sip Steady: New brands who would like to enter the market that they should just listen to or should keep in mind when they first start off. One thing that comes to mind for me and what we’ve seen brands have success with is a great way to get their product out there is really just to send it out to customers as you’re building that audience. If someone wants something for an event, not to say the more product you get out there, the better, but really the more hands you’re getting it in, the more awareness you’re building about your brand.
Now there’s ways to be strategic about that and not to spread it all across, let’s say the US if you’re really only focused in Austin, but to really show up wherever you’re at or wherever you want your brand to be known and get it in as many hands as possible. And also the right hands, maybe getting ambassadors. And starting to build that community that’s going to cheer you on from the start.
Yeah, I think in terms, so if a brand, if a non-alcoholic brand is just, just kicking off their big adventure, um, I would make sure that their branding that they, unless they are a professional graphic designer, that they work with a, a talented graphic designer, who can really interpret their vision and create something that they’re not going to want to rebrand in a year or two that will have staying power that will resonate with, you know, who their target audience is. Because we have seen on a few occasions, a brand will launch and they did the branding themselves and you know, God bless them. But they will tend to then want to rebrand after a year or two or they don’t get the kind of feedback they were hoping for because your branding is one of the most important components of your brand narrative.
It’s the first impression that you give people. It’s how you make people feel. It’s who you’re going to attract to even take a second glance at your social media or at your website. So, the power of branding is vital, right? You think about the iconic brands like Nike or Coca-Cola or you know, anything that you just like, you know, or Starbucks is a great example. You know who they are at a glance and it just, it’s timeless, right?
And then another piece of advice that I would give a new brand would be to, we’ve said this a few times recently, but not to have shiny object syndrome. I’m doing air quotes, shiny object syndrome. Because it’s kind of a challenge that no matter what business you start, founders tend to have or can have shiny object syndrome, which is where they want to do all the things all at once, be everywhere, say yes to every partnership that comes in.
And what ends up happening is that you just stretch yourself across so many different channels that you can’t actually move forward because you’re stretching yourself too thin. And you might be saying yes to things that don’t actually align with your brand’s mission or ethos or your target audience and won’t move the needle forward.
So just, and Kayla’s so good at this, just helping, you know, like for even for ourselves, cause I don’t want to get shiny object syndrome, to like really put, to really put blinders on and stay focused on, okay, let’s not think about, activating in 20 markets, let’s get white hot in three markets.
Because especially with limited resources, both financially and time and energy, focus on a few things that you can execute really well instead of trying to do everything all at once.
Château Zero: Yeah, that’s probably something that everybody has felt before. That suddenly emails or partnerships or occasions come in, you’re just like, oh yeah, of course I can do this. And suddenly you lose the, your focus and your attention gets drawn away and it takes two weeks or something to come back and maybe a little bit too much money to come back to that old. No, that’s exactly what I didn’t want to do.
Would you say there are some cities or markets in the States that are shining brighter area wise, in terms of non-alcoholics and others where you see like people don’t care as much as elsewhere. I don’t know if it’s like north or south or certain states or areas or something.
Sip Steady: The movement is definitely the hottest trend right now on the coast. So, it’s definitely, you know, West coast is very busy. East coast is very busy with hubs like New York. DC is one of the largest industries for the non-alcoholic sector. California. I think we’re starting to see a little bit more coming in Texas and the Carolinas, it seems to be, you know, pretty popular space, but it seems to be moving its way inward from coasts, coasts inward.
Yeah. And the same goes for, I would venture to say that urban areas are definitely going to be earlier adopters with a greater population density of people who are either already non-drinkers, um, or sober curious.
And that’s another reason why us being here in the Midwest, with such a huge suburban area around us. Like we want to make sure that these amazing non-alcoholic brands are finding their ways to the suburban areas and even, you know, to the smaller towns because there’s people there who, you know, want and maybe even need non-alcoholic options to continue their, you know, their healthy alcohol-free lifestyle.
Château Zero: All right. And then slowly coming to an end. Please give our audience your number one pitch. If there’s a brand out there who doesn’t work with you yet, why should they get on the phone or on the social medias probably? This is how old I am on the phone. I didn’t say on the fax machine. Why should they get on the web? Find your website. It’s going to be in the notes and try to work with you as fast as possible.
Sip Steady: Sip Steady was created to help non-drinkers of every stripe feel seen, welcomed, and supported in their decision to be alcohol-free. We make it our job to understand not only the non-alcoholic industry, but the people who are searching for drinking and enjoying non-alcoholic beverages. So if you work with a larger marketing agency or PR agency, they’re going to be working with brands from all different kinds of sectors, right? And they may not be the industry experts that we are, that we’ve been cultivating over the past few years to really understand this industry inside and out. The trends we called sober travel last year.
before it started hitting all the headlines. So we get really excited and Kayla and I joke all the time that beverages are our lives and we’re impartial, right? We want to help the little guys. We want to help the small and newer brands be able to compete at a much larger scale. We always say that we under promise and over deliver because we know the restraints that many new brands and founders face when they’re launching their brand.
We want to help you sustainably build up your online reputation and audience and get you as much brand exposure that your budget and your capacity allows. And we get really creative in helping small brands achieve that. That sounds awesome. Thank you very much for your time. Before I shut down this episode,
Château Zero: Is there anything else you want our listeners to know? Is there something that I didn’t ask you or you’re like, this needs to be out in the world?
Sip Steady: I would love for us to quickly pitch our Dry Vibes event series that we’ve co-created because we’re taking that on the road and maybe even internationally someday.
Kayla and I have joined forces with the phenomenal Drew Davis, who is the owner and founder gem life bar and bottle shop to create dry vibes, which is like the goop, um, which is Gwyneth Paltrow’s, you know, wellness lifestyle empire, the group of alcohol-free events where we combine wellness, lifestyle, and what we call non-alcoholic alchemy together to throw really elevated, holistic wellness events that combine, a little bit of woo with amazing brands that can come from, any part of the non-alcoholic space.
And I would like to add to that to another area that we’re really passionate about growing in and where we feel like we can make a huge impact is really starting to work closely with universities and colleges on their their welcome week programs and other programs to help students that are kind of entering the drinking world per se have other options and educating them and bringing, and fun speakers and changing that culture for that age.
Château Zero: That’s an amazing idea and take to educate a field where it’s maybe just not known yet. Even though we say the generation drinks less, they may not know about all the wonderful things out there.
I have the feeling that community driven events can make a huge difference in this space. I’ve met a guy who also doesn’t drink a year ago for a walk and we clicked right away because we shared our drinking and not drinking anymore stories immediately and cut out all the bullshit and all the blah, blah, blah, or like trying to be something we were not or whatever.
And I feel like whenever also here in San Francisco, there’s Izzy who does sober walks every two weeks now, will also be linked in the show notes because it’s way more fun than one would think. It’s so nice to get together with people who also don’t drink. And when I first went to this walk, I was like, what am I doing there? Like meeting sober people, taking a walk. But suddenly you have all these super interesting connections. And yeah, that’s how we got connected and everything.
What’s your take on community driven events. Is that something that you also find as crucial as I do to get to build this community around it?
Sip Steady: We are such huge advocates of community based events within the mindful drinking, sober curious and sober spaces because as you mentioned. It cuts away all of the inauthenticity, you know, sometimes, and it really gives people the container in which to connect and relate without the mask of alcohol. And so with the Dry Vibes event series that we’ve hosted here in Kansas City twice, we’ve hosted it in Philadelphia.
We are looking to cities Miami, Nashville. Potentially like Chicago and then also bringing that into the retreat arena, both within the United States and abroad, giving people the safe space, the inclusive space, the non-judgmental space for people to know that they don’t have to worry about alcohol being present if they prefer not to be around drunk people. And like, I get that, you know? And like for our dry vibes here, we had a daytime dance party.
And I was, I broke a sweat, because it’s, I think for a lot of us who no longer drink or who are mindful drinkers and have gone out into like, whether it’s nightlife or a wedding or any kind of celebration where people use alcohol as a social lubricant or to loosen up their inhibitions. Once you get over that hump and realize that you can be even weirder and moat more fun without alcohol.
Um, you just gather all those folks together and it’s just so much fun. And the conversations just tend to be so much deeper and more enriching. So yeah, we’re all about that. And that’s something that we really try to emphasize with brands is, to be a part of these community events because like liquid to lips, there’s nothing, there’s no better marketing than someone trying your brand at an event that they’re having so much fun at.
And then having that mind share between, oh my gosh, I went to this daytime dance party and I was drinking this and it was like the best time. So now anytime that they see your brand on the shelf, they’re going to remember that amazing memory and they’re going to be more likely to choose you.
Château Zero: I’m looking forward to having a lot of nice events to pop up and to join and hopefully meet you in person and at some point.
Sip Steady: Yes, come to Kansas City anytime.
Château Zero: I’ll try. Also, if you ever want to jump over to Europe, please be my guest. For now, thank you so much for your time and all your insights. It’s been such a pleasure and I hope to talk to you soon. Bye.
