BC Spirits and 2019

I recently launched BC Spirits including the social media platforms along with it shed some serious light onto the growing number of diverse and amazing distilleries opening up all over British Columbia. It's a passion project to showcase the spirits, weird and wonderful that some of them are along with cocktails from the distilleries and bartenders utilizing these spirits.

I set out to create something similar to the BC Ale Trail in the way of a resource for the general consumer, on premise and retailer managers and tourists looking for that drinking experience that many of them come to BC looking for in beer and wine. I decided to stay away from government funding in the beginning to be able to control the message and content; letting all distilleries play on a level playing field regardless of capital and PR backing.

But BC Spirits isn't just a passion project for the masses, it is also a vehicle for my consulting firm, SHC (Soole Hospitality Concepts). It is a vehicle to launch a new division in the company in Branding and Marketing of BC Distilleries, something that has lacked in the industry due to working with distilleries with shoestring budgets on branding, logo and content isn't a lucrative market for many media companies.

This is where SHC comes in, I have always and probably always believe in the long, incremental game of return and many distilleries look at their growth and scaling the same way. Building a solid branding strategy along with logo and message is important for distilleries before they open, creating content that drives social media, SEO and sales is paramount but it very rarely gets pieced together in the puzzle before or even after opening. I have seen many distilleries with amazing products but with horrible packaging and brand and zero social media content and presence.

Social media is still a guerrilla marketing tool of bringing and building loyal followers to your brand and distillery especially for the distilleries off the beaten track; have you tried the Lady of the Cask from Maple Leaf Spirits? And this is my point, social media paired with solid and diverse content can create an "aura of awesome" in markets that you may never think about or areas where visiting a farmers market can turn the tide in sales. Social media is an untapped tool for many distilleries that can be tapped with early foundation of work and content creation and a long game of interactive posts that create the next big group of followers.

BC Spirits will continue to be a passion project, utilised by DMO's and the general public alike. BC Distilleries aren't going anywhere anytime soon; and the growth that they are seeing is diluting a crowded craft spirits market, differentiation and along with standing out is going to be the key in the next two to five years for a sustainable and growing business within the BC market.