Barfly was approached by Bacardi’s US operation to review how the business is represented to on-premise operators, and the resulting impact on the commercial relationships with accounts. The end goal was to identify how and where Bacardi needed to optimize and further invest in its on-premise strategy to enable it to operate more effectively and, fundamentally, drive growth.

Bar owners in Miami, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles were interviewed to understand the good, bad and ugly of brand and company representation. Interview subjects spanned account manager coordination, distributor reps, brand ambassador strategies, and getting under the skin of how the quality of representation impacts bartender support and advocacy for different brands and companies.

Best practice examples from other spirit, beer and wine companies were captured throughout the feedback, bringing to life successful activations and programs for engaging both owners, staff and consumers.

Barfly’s final debrief combined overarching conclusions from the study alongside key consultative recommendations for new internal structures and strategies, at both brand and category levels, in order to maximize return on investment.