How to stand out in a saturated market: Betsy Frost shares insights on Beverage Companies

The fact that markets are constantly evolving is nothing new. In fact, here at Liberty Ventures, we believe that innovation and free competition provide the best experiences for consumers. However, we also understand that when people enjoy food and drinks, they often do so based on their emotional memories, creating a strong bond between brands and customers, resulting in a certain resistance to exploring new products.

So, how can your brand stand out and offer a new beverage experience in a market dominated by traditions? That's the central question our marketing team asked Betsy Frost, CEO of Hoplark. The enthusiasm with which she shared the secrets behind Hoplark's remarkable growth in just four years might hold the key to our query.

Betsy, thank you for taking the time to speak with us. Could you please provide some insights into Hoplark's history and your journey of becoming involved with the company?"

Hoplark was founded in 2018 by Dean Eberhardt who was looking to unlock the hops experience from beer to enjoy without the alcohol. He was taking a month off drinking but was visiting a brewery with Andrew, his eventual co-founder.

I joined Hoplark in 2022 as the Chief Commercial Officer and took over as CEO in 2023. I am a General Mills veteran, so pretty much of my career was built in CPG building purpose-driven brands and unlocking potential in growth-stage entrepreneurial companies.

Andrew Markley (co-founder) and Dean Eberhardt (Hoplark’s Founder)

How can a product generate momentum in a fiercely competitive market without relying heavily on costly advertising?

Beverage can be an industry that is less about the liquid and more about the marketing, but we believe that to truly differentiate in a sea of innovation, you have to deliver an exceptional product with a unique benefit.

Great products that wow them and inherently pick up fans and word of mouth give you a spark that helps create initial momentum in a category that is dominated by high spend to generate awareness and breakthrough. When your product can do that for you, you have a leg up because every new consumer you find can quickly become 3 or 4 as people get excited by their new find.

What would you say are the core values that capture the essence of Hoplark?

We are a bunch of creators who love to geek out about hops and exist to create new ways for people to add the joy of hops to their lives beyond beer. For us this is captured in 2 of our core values:

1. Our stubborn commitment to real ingredients

We believe that real ingredients are better for you and taste better too and while there are shortcuts we could take with "natural flavors' ', extracts, sweeteners or additives, it's a hard pass for us. This commitment to real ingredients creates trust with like-minded consumers, but has arguably made us even more creative. By asking "can we hop it?" We have been learning all the ins and outs of dealing with actual plants and unlocking fan favorite limited releases, like Sprucey. Born in Boulder, we live in the Rocky Mountains, so finding an ethical source for quality spruce tips, that also taste good, not dried or dehydrated, were equally prioritized. Since we want to ensure Sprucey keeps its sourcing real, ethical and approved by the National Forest Service, we limit distribution online and through periodic limited releases creating really special experiences for our Larkies (consumers).

2. Secondly, our passion for community and creating community that embraces our whole selves.

Born from a love of craft beer, it was just as much about the community and commadery that was created around craft beer, as it was the flavor and impetus for tinkering, and we believe that there is no reason hops can't do this without the alcohol part. Dean started the brand through the idea of community, spending 18 months at the Farmer's Market to understand what people loved, what resonated, what they hated. Most of our best ideas come from consumers, like our recent Hoplark 0.0 launch of Hop Sour, which came from a conversation at a beer fest with a consumer challenging us to try to do a Sour Style. We build our community today around innovation online, but it guides how we see, build and act as a brand.

How critical is finding a playbook aligned with the brand's perspective and purpose for success?

I spent my early career in online content and apps and then a bulk of my career at General Mills in really competitive categories like cereal and yogurt, but beverage is a different animal. There are enormous players that dominate distribution capabilities, but a combination of third party manufacturing and R&D resources make it relatively easy for up-starts to enter the market creating a flood of innovation and fight for share of voice in a sea of options. In this space, finding a niche community or brand playbook that are truly brand champions that rally around and activate the brand makes the difference. 

"I come from the food, technology and content verticals and have found beverages to be one of the most competitive spaces to play."

Betsy Frost, CEO

The business model wants you to be everything to everyone and we know that our market potential lies outside of "hopheads" - people who either love craft beer or are cutting back. We have seen HopTea and Sparkling Water push the Hoplark usage beyond beer replacement by providing real food, zero sugar flavor that fits into a broader health & wellness lifestyle, BUT we believe that building our brand is about focus. As discussed, we keep our brand champions, our community at the center of our brand. It gives us personality and the ability to drive engagement with series like "Not Drunk History" that every month playfully shares the story of that style of beer, which drives engagement rates 3 times industry average through our social channels.

What drinking experiences does Hoplark offer to consumers?

Today Hoplark delivers the joy of hops across three lines: Hoplark 0.0, hops brewed in the style of beers, HopTea, to give craft beer lovers new ways to experience hops throughout the day and Hoplark Sparkling Water that showcases how hops elevates real ingredient flavor.

Once again, thank you. On behalf of our team, welcome to the Liberty Ventures Community!

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