CPG Brand Founder Miki Talebi's Relentless Passion

From zero-proof cocktails on tour to energy drinks backing first responders, beverage brands are doubling down on experiential marketing this summer. 🚚🥤 MEDASE is hitting 64 events nationwide with its “64 Medase Moments” campaign, bringing bar setups and exclusive drops to community gatherings through October. Cometeer is gamifying at-home coffee with a 16-region “World Mug Collection,” while PHORM Energy returns its Cherry Slush flavor to support Folds of Honor — distributing cans to nearly 3,000 firehouses and funding scholarships for fallen firefighters’ families. Meanwhile, ZOA is rolling out a major packaging refresh and new “Shave Ice” flavor under its first equity campaign, and Sodastream is launching a Times Square takeover to spotlight its new “Drink Better” platform. Link to the full story in the first comment below 👇 #Marketing #BeverageIndustry #EnergyDrinks #ZeroProof #CoffeeInnovation #BrandStrategy #CPG

Trade show season is in full swing. Vitafoods. Fi Europe planning. Summer ingredient shows across Europe. And every year, the same pattern plays out. Companies spend 3 days and significant budgets on a stand, a team and travel - and come back with a stack of business cards and a vague feeling that it was "useful for visibility." Six weeks later, less than 20% of the contacts collected have been followed up properly. This is not a people problem. It is a system problem. Here are the 5 commercial mistakes that make trade shows expensive and underperforming: 1. No clear objective before the show "Visibility" is not an objective. Neither is "meeting people." The companies that convert shows into revenue have defined - in advance - exactly how many qualified leads they want, which specific accounts they are targeting, and what a successful outcome looks like numerically. 2. The stand communicates the product, not the value Your banner lists ingredients and certifications. Your competitors' banners do the same. Buyers walk past all of them. The stands that stop people say one clear, differentiated thing - immediately. 3. No qualification protocol for conversations Every visitor gets the same pitch. No structured way to quickly identify whether someone is a real opportunity or a curious student. No system for capturing what actually matters about each conversation. 4. The before and after periods are treated as optional The show is not the event. The show is the middle of a 6-week sequence. The companies winning at trade shows are activating buyers before they arrive and following up with precision within 48 hours of leaving. 5. Sales and marketing are not aligned before they set foot on the stand Different messages. Different priorities. Different views on who the ideal client is. Buyers sense this misalignment immediately - even if they cannot name it. Your next trade show can be different. But it requires building the system before you book the stand. What is your biggest trade show challenge right now? #FoodIndustry #TradeShow #Vitafoods #GoToMarket #StrategicLeadership

One week out from Sweets & Snacks! We were talking about this stat from the National Confectioners Association: 99.8% of U.S. households bought confectionery at least once in 2025. Nearly universal. Every brand on that floor is competing for the same shelf moment, the same few seconds of shopper attention...What wins is relevance. Looking forward to those conversations in Vegas. See you May 19–21. #SweetsAndSnacks2026

A struggling distillery was on the verge of collapse, needing to generate revenue quickly. The solution? Radical suggestions for driving foot traffic and sales. Key strategies included handing out free drink cards on the street, creating highly visible and branded Instagrammable spots within the distillery (complete with addresses and social media handles), and even offering to sign bottles. The focus is on creating an experience that encourages visitors to spend money and take home product. Further engagement tactics involve collecting customer contact information for targeted marketing (birthdays, etc.) and offering a 'bring a friend' incentive to expand reach. A 'label party' offers another opportunity for customer involvement and more free shots, fostering emotional connection and repeat visits. #Distillery #SmallBusiness #MarketingStrategy #CustomerEngagement #SalesGrowth

How is the rosé brand Hampton Water growing 20% YOY on 150K cases?? This week on Business of Drinks, contributor Caroline Lamb interviews Jesse Bongiovi, the brand’s founder. It would be easy to say the reason is celebrity, given its link to Jon Bon Jovi. But that’s not the story. Instead, early buyers pushed back. Jesse got a lot of: “That’s cute. Leave a bottle, get out.” In a crowded rosé set, another new label (celebrity-backed or not) wasn’t compelling. The turning point came when the product started to prove itself in-market with repeat purchase. That shift — from awareness to repeat purchase — shaped how the business scaled. When on-premise shut down in 2020, Hampton Water didn’t wait for it to come back. They built consumer demand directly, using digital and social to drive trial and conversion. The result: Hampton Water became the #1 rosé on Wine.com, and volumes followed, jumping from ~50K to ~85K cases in a year. As Jesse explains: Demand came first, and then distribution followed, not the other way around. That changed how the brand worked the market too. Rather than relying on distributors to build business, Jesse hit accounts daily. “You have to become undeniable… you’ve got to go prove it,” he says. Even now, at ~150K cases, Jesse is still in-market — calling on accounts, supporting placements, driving reorders, and reinforcing relationships. For anyone building in beverage, this episode is worth a listen. It breaks down what actually drives growth today: 🔸 How demand translates into distribution opportunities 🔸 How digital and social footprints convert into real volume 🔸 How consistent execution in-market compounds over time Listen in 👇 #businessofdrinks #winebusiness #beverageindustry #brandstrategy Caroline Lamb Scott Rosenbaum Hampton Water Wine Co.

If your experiential budget isn't tied to a sales outcome, it's a cost, not an investment. We build programs that change that. Real-world interactions. First-party data. SMS conversion. Store-level performance you can measure.

Brand awareness used to be the goal. Today, it’s just the starting point. The experiential space is shifting — and the brands that win are the ones focused on measurable outcomes, not just impressions. Real impact = real results = real ROI. Awareness gets attention. Conversion builds businesses.

Last Saturday at Día del Niño at La Bonita Supermarkets in Las Vegas, NeoSol supported activations for Cordialsa USA Inc and Goya Foods, helping turn a community celebration into an opportunity for product discovery, family connection, and brand visibility. From interactive booth experiences to a game activation at the Cordialsa booth that quickly became a favorite with kids and families, the event showed how cultural moments can create authentic engagement when brands show up with purpose. More than 1,000 attendees. One powerful reminder that brand engagement can be both meaningful and memorable. #HispanicMarketing #BrandActivation #ExperientialMarketing #RetailEngagement #CommunityMarketing