Marketing Happy Hour - Career Growth, Brand Building & Non-Alc Innovation | Scout Brisson of De Soi

Episode Date: October 31, 2024

In this episode, Cassie sits down with Scout Brisson, the millennial CEO of De Soi, a brand revolutionizing the non-alcoholic beverage industry with its adaptogenic apéritifs. Scout shares her career journey, from her path to De Soi’s top leadership role to insights on what it takes to stand out in today's job market. We explore the growth of the non-alc category, the strategic channels driving De Soi’s brand awareness, and the art of storytelling in brand messaging. Whether you’re a professional aiming for leadership or interested in the future of non-alcoholic beverages, this episode offers a fresh perspective on building a standout brand with purpose. What You'll Learn: Career Growth Tips – Essential skills that help young professionals succeed in leadership and career. Standing Out in Hiring – What Scout values in new hires and how professionals can shine in today’s competitive market. The Non-Alc Market – Challenges and advantages of building a brand in the rapidly growing non-alcoholic space. Effective Marketing Channels – Which platforms are proving most impactful for De Soi’s brand growth. Storytelling for Impact – How De Soi’s messaging prioritizes authentic and memorable storytelling for deeper customer connections. Related Episodes: 360 Brand Marketing Tactics that Work w/ Amruta Vyas of De Soi Career Advice I’d Wish I’d Known w/ Cassie Tucker of Marketing Happy Hour How to Stand Out: Career Advice w/ Brandon Rhodes of Disney Connect with Scout: ⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠ ____ Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know which bonus episodes you're excited for - we can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our FREE MHH Insiders online community to connect with Millennial and Gen Z marketing professionals around the world!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get the latest from MHH, straight to your inbox: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our email list!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow MHH on Social: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

you're listening to the marketing happy hour podcast where we discuss career and industry insights with our peers in marketing we're here to talk about it all like the ups and downs of working in social media how to build authentic relationships in the influencer and pr space managing a nine-to-five and a side hustle at the same time, how to be productive in your life and career without losing your sanity, and more. Ultimately, we're here to build a community with you because we're all trying to navigate the world of marketing together. Are you ready? Grab your favorite drink and join your hosts, Cassie and Erica, for this week's episode. Hi, Scout. How are you? Welcome

to Marketing Happy Hour. Hi, Cassie. Happy Friday. Yes. I'm excited it's the weekend. I know. Me too. I'm very much looking forward to it. It's been a long week, so I'm so excited. And I hear you all have been very busy over at DeSoir. So I'm excited to talk about some of those new happenings and everything. But speaking of that, what's in your glass this afternoon? Or what have you been sipping on recently? Well, I'm always sipping on DeSoir, obviously. And I'm actually really excited because I know this episode is going to come out right as we have a new product launching. So I'm drinking our new limited time seasonal flavor, which is called St. Moritz Mule. And it's a very wintry twist on a Moscow mule. So think pomegranate,

cranberry, rosemary, and then of course, like your favorite gingery bite from a Moscow mule so I'm pretty obsessed because I've been exclusively drinking spritz italiano which was our summer flavor lunch and I feel like I'm getting to the point where I'm like okay scout it's October going on November like it's time to take a little break from yeah I'm not out for all spritz for sure that's so funny I'm the same exact way. I think I've told you before in previous conversations that, uh, the Spritz Italiano is like my target shopping treat. So like grab a can or grab a package, but I'm excited about this one. So where can we get it? Where can we find it once it's out there? So it'll be on shelf at Sprouts nationwide.

Um, so we'll, for the first two weeks of November, it'll be on shelf at Sprouts nationwide. So for the first two weeks of November, it'll be exclusively on their shelves or on drinkdesoi.com. And then we'll be rolling out to some retailers after that. But I would say we've only made like a medium sized amount and all of the inventory is already pre-sold. So it's like, get it. If you see it on shelf, definitely buy it because it won't be around for very long. Yes, I will definitely be grabbing a package. I cannot wait. And congrats to you and the team

just for working through that and that launch and everything. That's such a huge, huge thing. I know that's what you all do at Desoie, but it's such a huge achievement just to launch yet another flavor. So congrats for that. Thank you.

I do think like in the obviously very topical in the world of marketing, like a product launch is probably the most satisfying project you can work on because you get to see it from concept and idea and the iteration and evolution of that all the way to like in a consumer's hands or out in the wild or hearing people talk about what those efforts are. And it's very, it's very satisfying. Yeah, no, I, I completely agree. I worked a little bit in the beverage space, but even in the beauty industry, I've done quite a bit of work there. Just seeing again, same thing, everything come from, uh, just drawings on paper to fruition and people's hands, getting that first tagged Instagram post of someone using the product is it's so rewarding. And I think it obviously takes a ton of work and stuff and a lot of different hands to make it happen. But I think even if that is just a part of your job, that's something you feel like is a day-to-day thing. Don't forget to celebrate those successes. Cause it's, it's a, it's huge. It's a huge deal.

Oh my God. That's a really good reminder. I haven't planned anything yet for the Oh, you have to. Oh my gosh. Plan team celebration. And if any of my team is listening to this, this has been planned way in advance. We recorded this months ago. Yeah. Okay. That's so funny. Okay. Well, speaking of that, you mentioned your team. So you are a millennial leader, which you have the most awesome story, which we'll get into here for a second. But I just have to say, like, it's so impressive to see what you've been able to do so far. And I think this conversation is going to be so inspiring to others, even if you don't necessarily see yourself in a leadership role, but just career development, relationship building, everything.

I think there's a lot to be learned here. So tell us a little bit about your career journey so far and how'd you land at DeSwa. Yes, I will. I'll start at the beginning ish, because I have kind of an untraditional or unconventional beginning for landing where I am today. And I get the question often, I studied neuroscience at MIT for my undergrad, and people are always like, Scout, how did you go from neuroscience at MIT to beverage, especially because beverage is notorious for being really difficult and competitive within the CPG world? And my answer to that is always kind of like, I don't know, just one thing led to the next. But I grew up in New Jersey. So I'm an East Coaster at heart, although I'm in LA now

and our whole team is based out here. I went to MIT for my undergrad. I thought I was going to be a doctor. Truly just had like my butt kicked. I was super burnt out from everything from Boston winters to school. I mean, it's like in all seriousness, it's a place where I'd say

the majority of people believe they are below average at MIT. And so you've got this like, incredibly, you know, like all your classmates, all your friends are like, super, super smart people that are really passionate about stuff. And it can just, you know, you go from like big fish, small pond to small fish in a big pond. So I came out of there, like not really knowing when I was going to go to med school, but feeling like I needed to take a step away from that track. And I really had, um, I had a friend who was the same major as me and had gone into management consulting and she was like, her pitch was, Hey, scout, you can go into management consulting. You can make money

and it'll look good on your resume, you know, when you apply to med school. And so I was like sold. I had done a lot of like academic research at that point and I didn't want to stay in that world. So I applied for consulting companies out in California because I knew I needed to get away from Boston and ended up at McKinsey out in LA. And I'd say really that was like blank slate,

like really what I think college is intended to be for a lot of people in terms of discovery. And just, you know, I think both being kind of like the overachievement or overachiever type plus at STEM school, like I didn't get exposed to a lot of the business world, right, quote unquote business world. So long story short, when I was at McKinsey, I quickly fell in love with the consumer space, more growth oriented spaces. And I developed this hypothesis for myself that I wanted to start my

own business. And I use the word hypothesis because I'm like, okay, that's the scientist in me. Like something's coming through. I didn't feel quite ready to jump in head first. And I joined a venture fund in LA that had an in-studio incubator venture studio. And so the fund is called M13. And at the time they were taking product and IP that Procter & Gamble had developed in partnership with P&G and really thinking about how to launch those brands direct to consumer. This was 2019. So also like heyday of building consumer brands online. So that was, you know, in a very different way than McKinsey was,

huge learning curve, really like fun journey to be on. And from there it was like, okay, I'm ready to do this thing. Jumped in headfirst, co-founded Doe, which is the company I worked on before, Desois, a better for you snacking company. We started with a line of cookie dough infused with adaptogens. And this was really born during COVID when everybody was craving health meets indulgence and that kind of comfort at the intersection. So worked on that, you know, for some time during the pandemic. And it was very unsexy, unglamorous entrepreneurship. I was actually back on the East Coast and at all hours of the day making cookie dough in the

kitchen of the like country club that had been shut down because of COVID. So I would like listen to the How I Built This podcast. And I was like, Oh, okay. Like this is, this is like what you do when you're starting something. Um, ended up, um, leaving Joe in spring of 2021. And right around that time was when I got connected to now coming to DeSwa, uh, Katie and Morgan, Katie Perry, Morgan McLaughlin, who are our two co-founders. So to keep this part of the story really brief, they had met in 2020 and really bonded over. They were both pregnant for the first time, couldn't drink alcohol. Morgan's a master distiller.

She's been in the alcohol world for ages. And they had this idea for a better for you, you you, ready to drink cocktail and wine replacement, which became DeSoir. So I fell in love with the liquid space, the brand, they needed somebody to quarterback it. And it felt like the opportunity of a lifetime to join the team and lead the way. Yeah, and I gotta say too, we talked to so many people who have done these,

whether it's a micro pivot or macro pivot throughout your career. But I think even if it feels so incredibly unrelated to what you're currently doing, there's little pockets of skills and tactics that we pick up in all of these steps along the way. So I just want to encourage you listening that don't feel like that's a bad thing. I think there's a lot of awesome stuff to pick up and kind of contribute to your future steps, which it sounds like it has for you so far, which is awesome. But I'm curious to, you know, you kind of went from entrepreneurship to back into corporate and everything. How do you feel

that entrepreneurship experience is contributing to your work in corporate? Cause that's another pivot that we see a lot too, is people who try running their own business and then they jump back into corporate. How has that kind of contributed to your current role? You think? Well, Cassie, I'm kind of flattered that you think Desois is corporate I mean it's a startup so technically in a way yeah no I hear you I mean I'd say um yeah listen like there are okay this is a really cool part in my mind when you're a founder like I was before Desois and you're you're bootstrapped right I was before, just law and your, your bootstrap, right? You don't have capital and you don't have a team. You're doing everything yourself and

you're trying to figure out how to do everything really scrappily. And what makes somebody a great founder, I believe can look really different than what makes somebody a great executive. And for me, what I think has been most interesting is blending what made me a great founder with what will make me or has made me a great executive early on in this journey that I feel I'm on. And I think what that, what that a lot of the times is, is it's, you know, you go from being the doer and the person who's like, again, literally like in the back end of a website or, you know, elbows, teeth and cookie dough to thinking about, you know, where I am with DeSwa and we have a small team or a 10 person team and we're hiring and we're growing. And it's really about how do I one, make sure I'm using my time most effectively and motivating this team that we have working at DeSwa. And so it's, it's really kind of like a level up and just, I will never ask somebody at DeSwa to do something that I'm not willing to do myself. And I think that's the founder mentality, but also if I'm,

you know, sitting here, uh, like making a bunch of FedEx labels for influencer shipments, that's also not a great use of my time at this stage in the journey. Yeah. Yeah. Learning what and when to delegate is so incredibly important. And I, that kind of goes into my next question here, just about young professionals aspiring to lead. I'm sure you've brought in many people to your team who have maybe asked similar questions to scout. How do I get to where you are one day? But how would you kind of answer that question? You know, what skills do we need to be developing in order to lead eventually, and even just landing a role like CEO or CMO or some sort of executive position? Yeah, I got into this role because people

made bets, right? Like somebody made a bet on me and I started at Dispoise General Manager and then was put into the CEO role. So it's first someone made a bet on me and I started at Despois as general manager and then was put into the CEO role. So it's first someone made a bet on me as general manager, and then they saw what I could do and they made a bet on me as CEO, which is, that was a jump in and of itself. And so I would say one thing that, you know, I have had the, I guess the benefit of learning is really that network of people, right? That every person you work with, interact with, whether it's in person in a networking event on LinkedIn, somebody at your company, like follow great people who mentor you and empower you into their next thing.

And, and that will just be this like upward cycle. And so I think I, again, kind of like the privilege at McKinsey where it's a very people leadership, empowerment oriented culture that every person I worked for after that or every company worked at after that had like come through some connection to McKinsey.

So again, it's like, you don't have to have the McKinsey. You don't have to have that as the built-in network. But again, it's like, you don't have to have the McKinsey. You don't have to have that as the built-in network. But I would say find those people that like really bet on people, which kind of takes me to the next thing, which is like, what's the characteristic or trait? And I think you have to like be super growth-minded, really hungry. Like if I'm hiring someone for D'Espoir, I'm vetting that above all else is like, they've got to want to grow and take on more. And like, I want them to want my job, right.

Or to want to be like three levels up from where they are and not be their North star. Um, because that means that they're just going to push themselves. And that's not something that I have to do. And then the other thing I love is just like a really tenacious person. Right. And I know Amruta was on the podcast and she's an amazing example of someone who's like, go get what you want, right? And go get that done. Yeah. I'm sure that's especially important in a startup environment where you do have a small but mighty team is just having people who

are eager to problem solve or go out and get the thing done that they need to get done on their own and just being reliable in that way, I'm sure is incredibly important versus having a bajillion resources. And you can kind of tap into that. I think having that, especially in that environment, would you agree is, is pretty important? Yeah, a hundred percent%. I mean, you're not reinventing the wheel when you're building a company for the most part. And so it's like, learn from other people. And I think most people at Datois, like, they're not internal facing. It's like suppliers, agencies, partners, friends, like, take that outside of the universe you're in to really enhance the universe within. Right. Yeah, for sure. And you mentioned a couple of these traits that you look for in talent when you're hiring, but I will say the job market out there is absolutely insane. It's, it's very brutal. It's tough. People ask us all the time, you know, what can I do to stand out or how do I make that connection

with someone? So are there any tips that you'd give to professionals just looking to land a job, whether it's in a startup or any company really in general, just to stand out? Yeah, I would say two things. And one I'll start with, because I think this is, this is definitely like a great entry point is if you can get some kind of warm intro or referral. So for instance, like, stuff on our team, I got connected with staff through an investor of mine, and I got connected to Amruta through another founder friend of mine. And so that's definitely like, if you can find somebody to help you get in touch with, or at least just say, Hey, I know this person, it really helps. Now, the other thing I would add, which I think if you can't do number one, this is amazing too. If you're in the process, be really proactive and actually both Steph and Amruta did this one, this is amazing too. If you're in the process, be really proactive. And actually both Steph and Amruta did this.

And this is our brand marketing team, which is why I keep referencing them. But they both unprompted after a conversation sent me a bunch of ideas. Like they were like, hey, I was thinking about it after a conversation. I think this would be a really cool marketing campaign moment for dry January.

And here's the mood board and how I would bring it to life or like, Hey, like you were talking about wanting to get, you know, in front of more creators to be able to help create content for retail launches. I found a few different agencies and here are five creators who I think would be perfect for it. So they were really proactive in that interview process where like, I have a case study that I ask or like a take-home project I ask people to do. And they had already kind of created that work product for me before I got to that stage. The other thing I would say is don't be afraid of the like, you know, obviously if it works for you, that like contract to hire. So with Steph, we weren't in, I wasn't in a position to hire her because she initially

came in for Amruta's role. And I was like, I really need someone who is a little more experienced. She just stayed top of mind. Like at the end of the year, she sent me a, hey, Scout, happy holidays, happy new year note. Amruta had just been in her role for like a month, two months at that time. And we were talking about getting her some extra support. So it was like, Steph sent me a really timely message. She came in as a contractor to start when we were in a position,

you know, from a budget perspective to bring her on full time, like that's how it happened. So it's just kind of being that like hustle and stay top of mind for people. Yeah, that's really good. And I want to call out to the fact that they both sent you those examples or those ideas. And I think that really goes back to something I always tell people all the time too is make sure you're doing your research on companies in advance. I know that's like a tried and true lesson that you hear everywhere, but I still think there's a lot of times where people just aren't taking the time to dive deep into a brand and learn more about what are their recent launches? What are some things that they've worked on in the past, their brand story, et cetera, because I think that gives you context going into that first interview or discovery call to then provide some of those ideas after. So I think that's

Yeah. I can't tell you how many people I interviewed that haven't tried the product. Go out and try it. Yeah. Yeah. So then you can speak to your personal experience there too, and be like, this is my favorite and this is why, and this is what I noticed about the package. And yeah, yeah. 1000%. That's so, so important. So I want to kind of pivot into product specific conversation here. So you mentioned dismal is in the non-out category, which is absolutely exploding recently. And I definitely will continue to. But what do you feel just being in such a vast growing market? What has been the biggest challenge there, but also the biggest advantage in operating in that space? We have a ton of tailwinds, right? Tailwinds in the form of consumer demand,

first and foremost, which means the stats in our favor kind of every step of the way are there, right? You have consumer demand, which means retailers should be paying attention, which means if the goal is to be acquired by one of those big beverage alcohol conglomerates, one day they're paying attention. So there's a lot of growth that's happening organically without us having to hack at it. And that's different, right? If you look at a lot of alcohol subcategories right now, which kind of are on the other side of these consumer trends, they're facing headwinds. So if you're a new brand, you know, building a rosé brand, that's a really different conversation you're having if you're

trying to raise money or get somebody to put you on shelf. I'd say the challenge is like the double edged sword here, which is it's a new category and education is paramount. So we spend a lot of time and have spent a lot of time thinking about, again, each kind of step of the value chain where I've had retailers who a year ago, even we were pitching them on Despoin non-alc and it was like, don't get it. Don't get who's buying it. Don't get who would pay, you know, who would pay that much for this. Right. And you get a lot of no's. And I think that's generally true in entrepreneurship. And so I think when it comes to a new category, it's just like, you have to constantly think about how do I pitch this a little bit differently? How do I position this a little bit differently? How do I get them

to take a chance on my brand or my product? If they've not, either they mean they've not seen success with other brands because it was too early or, you know, their positioning wasn't great. So, yeah, I'd say like to make that really tactical, it's probably about the knowing where to persist more specifically. So for us, that's been like, we know, you know, natural premium grocery was like a great channel for us from day one. And so finding ways to work with great partners early on, like Bristol Farms and Lazy Acres in the Southern California area, or like Moms Organic on the East Coast to build up a traction story to then take that to conversations with Target, who now has a non-op set, and just kind of like wait for that moment when they're primed. So

there's a little bit of patience involved too. Yeah. And you mentioned a little bit about messaging too. So how are either earlier on, like thinking back to your early days with the brand, just approaching messaging for the category as a whole, but also the products too. But you mentioned too, pivoting and just optimizing over time. So how are you kind of taking a look at what that messaging is and ensuring that it is optimized so it's clear, it makes sense to the consumer? And what does that process look like for you? We started, we launched a

with three flavors, golden hour, champignon dreams, and purple loon. You hear those flavors, you probably don't know what they're going to taste like, right? Like maybe have a little bit of an idea or picture if you compare that with packaging, but our more recent product launches were cherry rose, spritz Italiano, and then St. Moritz Mule. So now you have a better idea when you hear those flavor names, even, oh, I'm going to get a non-alcoholic Rose, Spritz Italiano. Ooh, that makes me think Amalfi Coast, right? And Aperol Spritz, St. Moritz Mule, Mule, Moscow Mule, right? Like you, you start to kind of get the story. And I'd say that our biggest learning is exactly that. Like, I was so scared to make, to launch Tres Rosé or even to create

a non-alcoholic rosé because I've tried so many non-alcoholic wines that disappoint me. Like, truly, I'm like, I love Sauvignon Blanc and that tastes nothing like Sauvignon Blanc. And I think what we proved, and this is like, you know, Morgan, who's a mastermind behind liquid development, that you can make a non-alcoholic version of somebody's favorite alcoholic drink, doesn't taste exactly the same, but it really scratches that itch that they're looking for. And you can market a story around it. So for us, it's been about streamline that message, simplify it as much as we can, make sure that the liquid is delivering on the expectation that we're setting, but tell one story as opposed to, you know, I'll use Champignon Dreams. It's like, oh, there's this ingredient and that ingredient. And by the way, it's got these adaptogens. And

does the packaging tell that story? And like, I love that packaging. And I was like, so sad when we sunsetted it. But it just, it was like too many messages and not a streamlined enough story for the consumer and meeting the consumer where she was. Yeah, absolutely. Well, and speaking of that too, you've posted on LinkedIn about just having your target market in mind and not going away from that. I think that becomes very tempting for a lot of brands in a number of different categories to see this glimmer of excitement from someone who doesn't necessarily look like your target demographic and wanting to start speaking to them. So can you talk a little bit about that? Just the importance of staying on the right path towards your target consumer and why that's important long-term for

growth? You can spend money and time in so many different places. And I think the one thing that even with D'Assois, like we've learned the hardest way, but we learned maybe in a harder way, which I also wrote a post on was about a retailer that we launched with last year. And it was a channel that really geographically, just who was shopping at their locations didn't make sense and didn't fit with the swap. But we were tempted by that even because we were like, well, they're building whole non-alcoholic set. They're super committed to the category. We saw other of our competitors on shelf that were premium non-alcoholic brands, a part of that set. And so we said yes to that.

And listen, I think the worst case scenario there is you don't succeed and they see it as a failure of the brand and they take you off shelf. And then it's a lot of time before you can get back on shelf again. The other worst case scenario there is you spend a ton of money and a ton of time marketing and trying to make your brand successful in a channel where your target consumer is not shopping. activations, the partnerships, the retail partner, the brand marketing efforts that are aligned with

where that consumer is. And you can be more focused to ultimately then kind of stack one thing after the other and have more successful, massive retailer launches when you get to whatever that stage is. So I'll just say like, we've said yes, when we should have had said no multiple times. And I think that's a very normal part of the process, but the more diligent you can be about it, I just think you're going to waste less time and money. Yeah. And I think that kind of goes into just marketing decisions as well too, about what platforms to be on, what kind of content to create. And so going into that, I'm curious too, is there like kind of a strategy or approach you all have found that has worked best for you? And how are you kind of thinking about social media, even if it's ever evolving

every single day? Oh yeah, we have actually, it's a good, a good question and kind of leading because we have this debate internally all the time about TikTok and TikTok is my like that's my shiny object syndrome because I see I'm a consumer and I see a lot of content about like sleepy girl mocktail and non-alcoholic and I've been sober for this many days and like that's my algorithm right and I keep I keep being like, oh my God, like this is such a trending topic on TikTok. We need to be there. I was at a consumer brands conference last month and Dan Frommer, who like runs this great new consumer insights report was talking about where different generations shop. And I'll tell you, Gen Z, they are doing discovery of food and beverage on TikTok. Millennials still in store. That hasn't changed. We're targeting a millennial consumer. And so it doesn't make sense for us as a brand to put

a ton of eggs in the TikTok basket right now. And so that's one where I'd say like Instagram for us, you know, again, not a ton of discovery necessarily happening of Dyswa on Instagram. So we spend less time and money on that as a channel. We want to make sure that it's representative of the brand if you're landing on that page. But what we do spend a lot of time and money on is thinking about experiential and in real life moments where this is historically how certainly beverage, but I would even say alcohol brands are built, which is, I mean, you can all picture like, who are the brands that are at the US Open? Who are the brands that are sponsoring this or that festival?

And so thinking about the micro and macro moments where you're going to see DeSoir and kind of get that like brand halo from that moment. And then using, and this is where I think digital marketing is really helpful, whether that's LinkedIn or Instagram, or if it's appropriate for your brand, TikTok, is amplifying those things that you're doing in person. And so then you get to also reach a lot more eyeballs or email marketing, right? Your own channels as well.

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I was going to ask too, just a little bit about in-store marketing. That's not something we've talked a whole lot about, but any, any tips for increasing foot traffic or just sales there in the store? I mean, how much do you all have kind of a tap on that data too? Is that something that you can kind of take a look at and see those trends or how are you approaching that marketing wise? Yeah. So looking at sell-through data is a really big part of ensuring, you know, the health of your brand in various retailers. And I would say the options generally when it comes to in-store marketing are a lot less innovative or scrappy. And so I bucket it as basically you've got in-store moments that you can create. And this really would look like demoing, which is a

great way to get liquid to lips and have people discover the brand. It's expensive, so it's not super scalable, but we really try to create like an echo moment. So if we're, you know, in dry January, if we're on promotion in most of our accounts, okay, can we have, you know, demos in five of the biggest stores for those accounts during that period of time when we're also on sale? And can we invest in, you know, maybe it's an end cap or a display moment or some kind of like shelf talker that captures your attention. So it's really about like taking a moment in time and trying to create as much buzz around it. So most brands, it's funny because I feel like when you're talking about brands doing a lot of promotional activity

online, you worry about devaluing and getting the customer used to buying something on discount. But what you don't realize in grocery stores is that that's just like everybody discounts and it's like four times a year you're on promo you want to make sure you're not you're not leveraging that just to get like a quick you know boost of sales but it's a way to again create these moments and we do ours in dry January April which is usually we have new product new product launch, sober October, and then again at the end of the year. Yeah, yeah. I see the Swap pop up in Target Circle all the time. And so having that as an opportunity or push

for a consumer who's new and has never tried the product to be able to taste it and then become that advocate for the brand and want to buy over and over again, I think there's a lot of power there. So yeah. Um, I feel like we'll have to do like a whole nother product launch one Oh one episode with you. Uh, but I would love that. I know, I know we should definitely do that. We'll recap. Like once your launch is all said and done and season is through, we'll have to come, have you come back and we'll talk through that. I think that would be super fun. Um, but this has been great. I have to

close out by asking you one of my favorite questions, going back to more of a career related topic here, but just curious, what do you know now that you wish you knew earlier on in your career? Um, I would say this is a little bit of like positive self-talk for myself, but you can put anything, you can do anything you put your mind to, um, is one I really love because I think, I think younger scout had a lot of self-doubt and I think we all suffer from imposter syndrome. And so just kind of like reminding myself and remind your younger self, like look at how far you've come and those are the facts. And so like, you're going to keep building in that direction. Yeah, that's so good. I mean, it's such a simple reminder, but I think it's something that we need to remember over and

over again, because it's, it's tough out there. Life is tough careers stuff. And so just remembering you're on the right path and just keep pushing forward is so important. So yeah. Thank you so much for being here really quickly too. Uh, you mentioned the website at the top of the episode, but where's the best place we can connect with you personally, but also just as well as a brand too. Yes. Find me on LinkedIn. I'm really good at answering DMS too. So if you ever want to chat, reach out there, um, scout for son and then just walk or drink to twad D E S O I on Instagram. Amazing. Well, thank you so much, Scout. Really appreciate you sharing your insights. And again, we'll definitely have you back to chat even more. Thank you, Cassie. This was so fun.

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