Why revenue percentages can mislead drinks founders
An early-stage brand may need disproportionate launch investment before meaningful revenue exists. An established brand with distribution and strong awareness may spend differently. A percentage cannot understand stage, margin, stock, channel or ambition.
Build the budget across the real jobs
- brand and proposition work
- consumer creative and production
- paid media
- social and community
- PR and earned attention
- creator or influencer activity
- trade materials and stockist support
- sampling or activation
- website/ecommerce and conversion
- CRM and repeat purchase
- measurement
The three audiences can change the budget
The drinker needs desire. The buyer needs a commercial story. The bartender or venue team may need confidence, advocacy or an easy serve. A route-to-market plan that depends on all three should not spend the entire budget talking to only one.
A great liquid is not a route to market.
Launch budget vs always-on budget
Launches often need a temporary concentration of production, PR, creators, paid media, sampling and trade support. Always-on activity can then become leaner and more focused once the brand has reusable assets and evidence about what works.
What should happen before increasing spend?
Check distribution, stock, gross margin, fulfilment, landing pages, tracking and creative supply. Scaling demand into an operational bottleneck can create waste rather than growth.
Budget rule
Scale when the evidence and the route to market can support it.
More spend is useful only when the business can convert the additional attention into something commercially valuable.
Questions before approving the budget
- Who has to believe next: drinker, buyer or bartender?
- What action should marketing create?
- Where can the product actually be bought?
- Do we have enough creative assets?
- What is media spend versus production versus management?
- How will we measure progress?
- What would make us stop or reallocate spend?
The NO QUIET NIGHTS take
Demand work that lands.
Marketing is not finished when people notice the brand. It should connect attention to trial, stockist demand, purchase and repeat behaviour wherever the route to market allows it.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage of revenue should a drinks brand spend on marketing?
There is no universal percentage that fits every drinks brand. Early-stage brands, established products and launch periods have different needs. Use percentages only as a sense-check after defining the commercial job.
Should production be part of the marketing budget?
Yes when photography, video, sampling assets, creator content or campaign production are required. Separate these costs from media and management so the total investment is visible.
Should trade marketing and consumer marketing share one budget?
They can sit under one overall plan, but track the jobs separately. Winning a buyer, helping a stockist sell through and creating consumer demand are related but different tasks.
When should a drinks brand increase marketing spend?
When evidence shows an activity is producing valuable demand and the business has the stock, distribution, margin and operational capacity to benefit from scaling it.