In this recording from Bar Convent Brooklyn, Courtney Schiessl Magrini, Editor-in-Chief at SevenFifty Daily and Beverage Media Group, walks through the evolution of the alcohol industry since the prohibition era. Courtney touches on everything from rapid supplier growth post-prohibition to the consolidation of distribution and suppliers from the 1980’s to 2000’s. She also discusses the digital transformation in the last few years and provides a vision for the future of the industry.
As the on-premise recovers and the digital channels continue to grow, it’s important for beverage alcohol brands to have an omnichannel sales and marketing plan as part of their route-to-market strategy. In this presentation from Bar Convent Brooklyn, David Paul Munoz, Chief Strategy Officer & Partner at Back Bar Project, describes the characteristics of a well-rounded marketing and sales strategy. Munoz emphasizes the importance of establishing objectives that create value for your brand.
In his presentation at Bar Convent Brooklyn, Adam Schuman, Spirits Portfolio Director at Skurnik Wines & Spirits, discussed the distributor’s approach to sales and marketing. Schuman reveals how Skurnik promotes supplier brands through events like tastings and through eye-catching content and education strategies. He also breaks down the role each team within the spirits portfolio plays in the process.
The Evolution of the Beverage Alcohol Industry
Courtney Schiessl Magrini (0:11)
I’m the editor-in-chief of Beverage Media and 750 Daily, both Provi publications. As we discuss the importance of an omni-channel strategy for suppliers, it’s essential to look at the evolution of trade marketing over the past 90 years since the end of Prohibition and how these historical shifts continue to shape businesses today. Provi connects all three tiers of the beverage alcohol industry through its marketplace, 750 Distributor Solutions, 750 Daily, and Beverage Media’s network of print publications.
Courtney Schiessl Magrini (1:24)
The repeal of the 18th Amendment via the 21st Amendment granted states the authority to regulate alcohol, leading most to establish the three-tier system. This regulatory landscape spurred the creation of Bar and Grill Journal (later Beverage Media), which became a preeminent trade publication. With legal production restored, U.S. distillers, breweries, and wineries expanded rapidly, leveraging trade publications to reach buyers.
Courtney Schiessl Magrini (2:38)
The 1950s post-war economic boom marked the emergence of truly national brands—such as Smirnoff, Old Forester, Seagram’s 7, Budweiser, and Kahlúa—as suppliers advertised in lifestyle and news publications like Time, Life, Esquire, and Playboy. Spirits, particularly whiskey, gained massive cultural relevance during this “Mad Men” era.
Courtney Schiessl Magrini (3:20)
From the 1980s through the 2000s, massive consolidation reshaped both the supplier and distributor tiers (e.g., Seagram’s acquiring Martell in 1987, the formation of LVMH in 1987, Allied Domecq in 1994, and Diageo in 1997). This consolidated marketing budgets among a few dominant global players. While this made competing on ad spend harder for emerging craft suppliers, it simultaneously paved the way for the craft spirits movement by making individuality and distinct origin key selling points.
Courtney Schiessl Magrini (4:54)
During the 1990s, social responsibility campaigns surrounding moderation, designated drivers, and combating underage drinking gained traction, while the industry lifted its self-imposed ban on TV and radio advertising. The 2000s brought an initial digital transformation as online B2B ordering platforms like BevAccess emerged, and suppliers began utilizing websites and early social media advertising as cost-effective channels.
Courtney Schiessl Magrini (6:11)
The 2010s saw a surge in specialized digital B2B and D2C platforms (such as Drizly, Provi, and SevenFifty), uncomplicating the three-tier system and providing direct avenues for suppliers to reach trade buyers and consumers. The 2020s pandemic accelerated this digital transformation across all three tiers, cementing online access to product data, pricing, and brand storytelling as a permanent expectation in today’s marketplace.
Developing a Well-Rounded Sales & Marketing Strategy
David Paul Munoz (0:09)
Starting off with a quick show of hands: how many new or startup suppliers are in the room today? You are entering a journey where more doors are open than ever before. As the beverage alcohol culture has evolved, we have more options and routes to market than we’ve ever had. I want to share the strategies that have worked for us at Back Bar Project—as well as those that haven’t—and address how independent suppliers can effectively compete against large conglomerates with massive, consolidated budgets.
David Paul Munoz (0:53)
We started about 10 years ago with a single brand, Uruapan Charanda, quickly added mezcals, and built a portfolio of family-owned businesses representing provenance and value. International brand partners often come to us thinking that entering the U.S. market will instantly solve all their revenue goals, and our job as Back Bar Project is to be their advocate, voice, and supporting infrastructure in this market. We started with three managing partners and have grown into a team pushing 30 employees, building our strategy around developing and empowering our people.
David Paul Munoz (1:52)
When evaluating route-to-market strategy, we divide our efforts into five distinct buckets:
- Internal Sales: Our direct team and field deployment strategy.
- Distributor Partnerships: How we collaborate with wholesaler partners like Skurnik and Breakthru.
- Marketing: A combination of traditional, guerrilla, and digital messaging.
- E-Commerce & Digital Channels: Rapidly evolving online platforms to reach modern consumers.
- Public Relations: A trusted vehicle distinct from quick marketing impressions, allowing us to build authentic media narratives around our brand portfolio.
David Paul Munoz (2:43)
To make a Back Bar Project employee successful in the field, we train each team member across four core operational competencies:
- Marketer: Serving as the consumer-facing brand builder and voice in the market.
- Educator: Training trade buyers, consumers, and distributor sales teams on our portfolio.
- Salesperson: Executing direct account calls and managing buyer relationships on the street.
- Commercial Manager: Overseeing distributor programs, executing incentives, managing pricing and discounting strategies, and achieving volume goals.
David Paul Munoz (4:00)
Wholesaler consolidation means three major distributors control over 90% of our market footprint. Rather than managing 13 separate regional distributors, we maintain a streamlined national footprint with major partners like Breakthru, Skurnik, and RNDC. To maximize these partnerships:
- We align distributor sales teams around clear education so they understand our portfolio’s unique selling points.
- We establish mutually agreed-upon definitions of success every year, focusing heavily on expanding our overall account universe and distribution footprint in core markets rather than just chasing volume.
David Paul Munoz (6:08)
Because growing suppliers operate under strict budget constraints, traditional mass media like television, radio, and Times Square billboards are rarely viable options. Instead, our marketing strategy focuses on guerrilla field execution, liquid-to-lips consumer sampling, menu placement, and back-bar visibility. Most importantly, we target “Lighthouse accounts”—top-tier venues whose bartenders recommend our spirits, consult on external cocktail menus, and influence the broader regional trade ecosystem.
David Paul Munoz (8:42)
Digital e-commerce and PR are critical extensions of our market strategy:
- Digital & E-Commerce: Our strategy begins with an up-to-date website featuring a robust “Where to Buy” locator. We partner with fulfillment-focused secondary retailers (like Astor Wines in New York) and delivery marketplaces (like Drizly) to drive localized sales.
- Public Relations: PR provides a trusted platform to communicate our brand stories to consumers and trade through earned media, digital coverage, and reputable industry content creators.
- Key Takeaway: Success requires maintaining clear, consistent digital brand assets, developing a path for team retention, and selecting high-yield routes to market that align with your available time, budget, and bandwidth.
Skurnik Wines & Spirits’ Approach to Sales & Marketing
Adam Schuman (0:09)
My name is Adam Schuman, spirits portfolio director for Skurnik Wines. When I began in 2012, spirits was the smallest portfolio in dollars and staffing within our company. Today, spirits is our fastest-growing and largest-grossing portfolio, supported by a team of 20 across three regional companies and nine local markets, distributing nationally to 41 states plus Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. As a medium-sized distributor, traditional high-budget advertising or national media campaigns were never our primary responsibility—our growth was built on curating quality products, telling authentic stories, and leveraging education.
Adam Schuman (3:34)
At Skurnik, quality is our North Star, and we pass on almost every prospective spirit that crosses our desk. We evaluate category alignment, style needs, and operational bandwidth to ensure we are actively building brands rather than acting as a passive warehouse. A major investment that supports this curation is our physical showroom in the Flatiron District, which serves as a part-bar, part-classroom, and part-office environment. Hosting clients, buyers, and suppliers in an environment where we control the setting provides a distinct home-field advantage that defines our distribution marketing model.
Adam Schuman (5:35)
Behind inventory, our largest marketing investment is staffing. We hire sales reps who operate as sharks—driven, knowledgeable, and committed to hospitality. To support our sales force, we employ dedicated Spirit Specialists, former bartenders, bar managers, and beverage directors who serve as a resource for both customers and reps. For a distributor of our size, marketing begins directly with education; our specialists perform in-store tastings, develop cocktail menus, host staff trainings, and get liquid to lips one account at a time.
Adam Schuman (10:53)
Marketing for a mid-sized distributor relies heavily on internal creative and educational assets:
- Spirits Content & Education Team: Manages copywriting, compiles supplier assets, creates digital tasting collateral, and hosts educational seminars.
- Website Management: Maintains technically sound, consistent product descriptions that trade buyers frequently copy and paste onto their own retail sites and digital menus.
- Dedicated PR & Marketing Department: Solicits press coverage, secures scores, and aligns brand strategies to build end-consumer awareness.
- In-House Design Team: Produces POS materials, custom event invitations, educational guides, brand swag, and catalog imagery.
Adam Schuman (14:35)
To remain competitive, Skurnik continually invests in modern digital infrastructure and streamlined operational tools:
- Digital Portals: Onboarding portals streamline information intake from new suppliers and provide instant data access to buyers.
- Sales Entry Platforms: Integrations with platforms like Provi enable rapid, on-the-fly sales order entry and offload credit card processing for reps in the field.
- Digital Application Books: Interactive tasting books eliminate reliance on static print materials while providing comprehensive sales reporting and data tracking.
Adam Schuman (15:43)
Simply acting as a logistics distributor has not been enough for a long time. To secure mind share and market share, distributors must deliver an extraordinary experience for their staff, supplier partners, and trade buyers. Marketing in the modern landscape is fundamentally omni-channel, requiring a consistent, education-first presence to stay ahead of the competition.
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