All Dressed Up But Nowhere to Go

Like everyone else in creation, it seemed, I recently attended Expo West. If you haven’t gone to the event and you’re a beverage marketer, put it on your bucket list. The show is one of the most frenetic, yet exhilarating, trade shows on the calendar, a fantastic carnival of product and people. The halls are crowded. It’s hard to get quality time with the exhibitors and attendees, and to hear over the din. The shuttle buses don’t shuttle. Yet, it is the best venue to meet many of the new and existing brands that will someday stock the shelves at retail.

Over 75,000 people come to Anaheim to see these latest and greatest products. It isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s overwhelming for me and I only visit the beverage brands at the show. There are so many people it’s like moving through a rice barrel, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Relationships are forged, business is conducted and friendships are rekindled. This year I saw more retailers in attendance, and they were in a buying mode. They had shelves to fill and excitement to create in their stores. It bodes well for the marketers.

Every brand came with the highest expectations. They were dressed to impress – even the ones wearing mascot getups. I was quite impressed with the majority of the new brands and the additional extensions for the familiar brands I encountered. One unfortunate consistency is that, as with years past, many new products didn’t have the great taste to match the packaging and functional prowess that was clearly on display. But that’s for the column where I rant about taste. Regardless, on the whole, the brands on display at Expo looked great: as shiny and bright as the fluorescent light of the Anaheim Convention Center would allow.

Here’s the sad part: there are too many brands vying for that limited amount of space that the retailer can devote to all of these beverages. My heart goes out to so many who have devoted their hearts and souls, and their financial resources, to create terrific brands that might not get a chance to shine. It’s a tough industry. I admire all of those who have a vision and take a chance. I wish that they’ll all succeed, but that isn’t reality. It wouldn’t be natural.