'Overseas interest is a tonic for drinks firm' - Daily Telegraph Expert View, 15 August 2006

In this week’s regular Business section ‘Expert View’, three senior directors offer their advice to Fever Tree, an upmarket drinks mixer manufacturer. Fever Tree is a year old and needs to rapidly double its sales in a market dominated by monopoly players.

They are already targeting numerous channels, joint marketing campaigns, export opportunities and launching new products. This sales case study looks at what Fever Trees’ focus should be and the risks to avoid.

Rob Barham, CEO of TACK International believes that Fever Tree need to drive sales in a way that will counter competitive threats and make themselves financially attractive to further investment. Rob's advice is aimed at achieving sustainable growth in consumer demand and building willing channel partners who will push the product; to put Fever Tree in a stronger competitive position and to have greater bargaining power with large retailers.

• concentrate on the unique qualities and natural ingredients of their product and avoid knocking the rivals
• establish the products as a premium brand and win the hearts and minds of customers and the channels to re-enforce the positioning of the brand
• develop the sales relationships as trusted advisors - build awareness of the benefits of the natural ingredients, conduct consumer taste research, up-skill the customer facing channel staff and offer new drink ideas

Directors from PC World Business and International Business at HSBC also offer advice, including stimulating buyer demand with free trials and to understand the right distribution channels to reach the premium drinks customers.

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