Two Founders Share Their Secrets to Success: C-Stores and Data

Launching a brand is a huge undertaking, and it is totally okay to feel like you don’t always know what the next step should be. Whether it is a decision about pricing, marketing, or distribution, the best answer isn’t always right in front of you. This is why it is important to look to the experiences of industry experts who have already successfully overcome the challenges that you might be facing now, or could face further down the line.

We rounded up a team of brand builders at Expo East to answer some of your most important questions. Specifically: How can my brand win the convenience store market, and what's the right way to use data to grow faster? Read on to find out how the founders of OUNCE Water and Forager Project answer these questions and more! 

The Experts

JC Hanley is the co-founder and COO of Forager Project, a natural food and beverage brand with a main focus on the market for dairy alternatives. JC’s company reached success in this niche category by adapting to a changing market while still maintaining their passion to create organic, honest food for consumers.

Christina Korkowski is the co-founder and COO of OUNCE WATER, a premium bottled water brand, with a claim to fame for helping consumers achieve their daily recommended water intake without having to think too hard about it. Based in New York City, OUNCE WATER has mastered the convenience store landscape, and hopes to continue to expand their presence in the market.

The conversation was moderated by Allen Bonde, Repsly's VP of marketing and founder of Small Data Group, a blog that shares perspectives on the data-driven apps that inform marketing strategies. With a background in engineering and machine learning, Allen has spent the past 20 years in marketing leadership positions at all stages of company growth, helping brands to develop high-impact marketing strategies.

Panel Discussion:

Allen:

So welcome everybody to the Repsly Power Hour Power Panel! This is Allen Bonde from Repsly, and I'm super excited to be joined by Christina and JC here on our panel to share some ideas and best practices on how to get into our ideal retail outlets.

JC is going to kick us off and provide some big picture tips and tricks about getting into retail, and what he's learned from his time at Forager Project. Christina is going to zoom in a little bit to talk specifically about convenience stores (“c-stores”), and what strategies OUNCE WATER has used to succeed in that space.

So without further ado, I will turn things over to JC to kick us off and share his best secrets.

JC:

Thanks for having me! I started Forager Project in 2013, and when we started Whole Foods gave us a shot in seven stores in Colorado. It was a test, so we had to not only show how our product was different, but show that it moved off the shelf as well.

We had to develop a product that was something we believe in, was unique, and we had to create packaging that drove consumers to be intrigued for something they'd probably never seen before. At the start, we kept a core focus on our shelf space, our location, and our placement, and that philosophy has driven the company forward in the four years since. So as far as getting into retail, ask questions like, “Why is your product different? What is your company about? What do you believe in?”

Obviously, pricing and all of that matters too, but velocity is super important. No matter where you are or what class of trade you started in, you’re constantly being measured, whether it’s by Nielsen or SPINS or IRI, they're measuring your velocity per SKU. That metric of how you're performing is looked at the next time you present to another retailer for consideration to be put in the set. It's definitely about building a data story.

We've obviously used Repsly for many years, and it's been a wonderful tool not only for our sales team, but for me to stay connected to the stores, to look at how we're doing, and to know about new retailers as we grow. It helps me to really be connected to the data and the store level mentality that I started with.

Allen:

Has Forager Project always been a data driven company, or is that something you had to grow into? Can you share with other brands how they can make that journey?

JC:

Data is especially important as you scale. It's how you have to manage your business, since your SKUs won't stay on the shelf if they don't perform. You need to have good data stories. There's an expectation going into a category review that you'll have an understanding of your numbers. If you go in and the buyer has a better understanding of your numbers than you do, you're sort of playing catch up in the meeting. So yes, data management is a big part of my day to day activities, and data really dictates a lot of our decisions.

Highlights incoming from our #PowerPanel @ Expo East! First up, JC on the importance of data as @ForagerProject scaled up. pic.twitter.com/McVgfZbk2g

— Frank Brogie (@FrankAtRepsly) October 19, 2017

Allen:

Great. So, we're going to come back to that idea of becoming data driven. For now, let’s segue to Christina, who's going to zoom in on convenience stores, and provide some of her pro tips for getting into them.

Christina:

Thank you! So I am Christina Korkowski and I'm COO and co-founder of OUNCE WATER. We’re a premium natural food and water brand located out of New York, and we’re fairly new to the market. As you know, NYC is known to have convenience stores on pretty much every city block, so our focus right now is blanketing the city.

C-stores usually like to bring on those “buzz brands” -- those with new and innovative ideas -- and consumers themselves also go to c-stores to find those newer brands. What I've learned is that selling to c-stores is probably one of the easier and faster ways to get to market, depending on what category of brand you are.

Allen:

So it sounds like c-stores are a great market for some food and beverage brands! Would you be able to give some information on how similar brands to yours can get into the c-store market?

Christina:

Master your pitch. Know exactly the most attractive qualities of your brand. If you aren't presenting a profit margin of upwards of 30%, c-stores most likely wouldn't even bat an eye at you. It's important to know your numbers, know how to pitch your product, and like JC said, it's all about staying on top of data.

When it comes to c-stores specifically, timing is everything. There are a variety of c-stores: ranging from mini-marts, to gas stations, to small grocery stores. For c-stores like delis and bodegas, you shouldn’t go to pitch your product during the breakfast rush hour, nor during the lunch rush hour. You most likely will not be able to speak to a decision maker at these busy times. My suggestion is either mid-morning or mid- to late afternoons.

Overall, if you are a new brand, c-stores are imperative to really building your brand from the ground floor. Keep your mind open. Don't always think you know everything, and especially try to absorb everything that you're learning. It's going to be a rollercoaster of a ride, but work with your retailers, be a sponge, learn all that information, and take the risks and see where it takes you.

"It's going to be a rollercoaster of a ride. Work with your retailers, be a sponge, and take the risk." -Christina K. @GetOunced #PowerPanel pic.twitter.com/K3f4aM47xJ

— Frank Brogie (@FrankAtRepsly) October 19, 2017

Allen:

Do you have any tricks in terms of scaling up the business while maintaining your focus, purpose, and passion?

JC:  

It's all about passion and grit in the early days, because you're going to get a lot of grenades thrown at you. People are incredibly important. The people that you hire to your sales team really need to understand what you're all about and be aligned with that. Additionally, you need to get distributors to buy into what you're doing. It needs to feel like a partnership. 

We started with a deep focus on a few regions, and over the first couple of years I became close friends with the distributors. It’s important to engage your own sales team, who will be working with these distributors, but also to engage your distributor to really sell your brand and build your brand together.

"It's all about passion and grit in the early days. You need to get distributors to buy into what you're doing." -JC @ForagerProject pic.twitter.com/c8tXAOwbBV

— Frank Brogie (@FrankAtRepsly) October 19, 2017

Christina:

I absolutely second everything that JC said. Additionally, as you grow as a company, you can't forget the initial stores that helped you get started. It's all about moving forward while still making sure your existing accounts are maintained. And yes, you have to have a sales team that is passionate and believes in your product as much as you do. I feel like working with the same like minded people is extremely helpful. Business can sometimes be stressful, so you'd rather have fun doing it with the people that you work with.

"As you grow as a company, you can't forget the initial stores that helped you get started." -Christina K, COO @GetOunced #PowerPanel pic.twitter.com/vs9w6Bg5Dy

— Frank Brogie (@FrankAtRepsly) October 19, 2017

Allen:

All this talk about leveraging data and your team in the field to get closer to retailers makes me think about an idea we've been kicking around a lot lately, the notion of agile marketing and agile merchandising.

We all see crazy market forces like disruption, new technology, new channels, and even Amazon’s move into grocery, reminding us that change is constant. Being agile means responding to that change quickly.

In the old model, you'd put a lot of planning into something, and then you'd launch it, and see what happens. Then the next year, you say, how'd that work? In agile, you're doing that same process a lot faster -- maybe every couple of weeks, not years.  

Also, becoming much more data driven is a great point. Some of Repsly’s customers “do it for the data,” meaning in a lot of ways the most successful campaigns are not the ones that necessarily generate revenue, but the ones that give you data insight which allows you to be more focused the next time around. Use lots of small experiments versus a few big bets. Then, be collaborative. The more that you can share those insights, the more you create a learning culture.

"The best campaigns aren't necessarily the ones that generate revenue, but that make you more focused the next time."

Interestingly enough, I recently caught up with some of the work of a guy named Jim Ewel. He has a website called Agile Marketing. There was a study that he was talking about recently, and it struck me that in-store promotions and in-store service reps were two of the top three most influential factors in your consumer's purchasing decision.

So, while it feels like marketing is moving online, it's not really. Marketing is still influenced by store presence and retailer relationships. These real life factors should integrate with your digital, social, and other traditional marketing techniques.

A great example would be providing some awesome in store experience or promotion, one that makes people start posting it all over their social accounts. In doing so, you've done the best of both worlds. You created something that was unique for the in store audience, while simultaneously reaching an audience outside of the store because your display was so cool that people wanted to tweet about it, post on Instagram, and stuff like that.

I'd love to get your thoughts whether or not this is how you've been thinking, or am I just getting all theoretical and agile isn't going to work in the real world?

Christina:

I think this is one of those things where you don't really know what the right or wrong path is. You kind of have to make your mistakes and then learn from them. Keep taking those little instances -- those mistakes -- and try to adapt them into your current focus.

But yes, I absolutely agree you have to attack any new brand with purpose. You have to stay focused, believe in your product, and know your approach. You may be adapting a lot, depending on what happens, but you still have to have that idea in the back of your mind that says, “I know how to pitch my product. I know how to grow my product. I won’t let changes skew me.”

JC:

I totally agree with this. I mean, if you don't have a purpose, what are you doing?!

We at Forager definitely are comfortable failing, which resonates with the the concept of agile, and as a company that’s helped us evolve from the beginning. We were a vegetable juice company, and now culture dairy free products are the largest portion of our business. The market will tell you what it wants, if it's too early to introduce something to market, and what needs tweaking.

As far as collaboration, I think it can be hard as a field sales rep, because you can potentially feel like you are alone on an island out there. Repsly has been super helpful in fostering collaboration. It’s one of the most useful ways, other than simply picking up the phone and calling each other, to make quick decisions and respond to issues with pricing quickly. There's a lot of activity on our Repsly feed.

Allen:

Awesome! So we're going to leave it at that. I want to thank JC and Christina for joining us here on our Power Panel at Expo East. This has been Allen Bonde from Repsly. Thanks!