Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/271567
58 / the tasting panel / march 2014 From Struggle Comes Innovation What propelled Harkins to launch Blackheath with his partner, Michael Farbenblum, was the increasingly challenging climate for emerging brand owners. Many have been forced to pound the pavement with their own team because growing importer portfolios dilute focus and bandwidth all while whittling down the brand owner's profit margins. "The industry needed a better, more efficient alternative to help outstand- ing new brands break through," he says. "They need access to the same resources that the large suppliers have." For newbies, a potentially bigger issue is a general lack of understanding of how the industry works. "The industry is not overly complex," he says, "but people can be overly complex and our business revolves entirely around people, relationships, and integrity." Blackheath has chosen to focus on the building of relationships, which means employing the best people—who not only have a solid Rolodex, but who also understand the business from creation to consumer. Though it sounds similar, Blackheath's model differs from that of a broker because of the company's infrastructure, marketing component, and national presence. "We could be considered a broker on steroids," boasts Harkins, "an outsourced national sales solution, a trade-focused market- ing team, and the quality of our people differentiate us and are the reason for our success." Having launched in 2012, Blackheath's first-year goals were met and surpassed. "We have led category growth for every brand in our portfolio, all growing at the top rates in the industry," says Michael Rieck, VP of Sales. "Zing Vodka, for instance, is far ahead of where Grey Goose was at this stage in its life-cycle." Pride: The Secret of Success Blackheath's recipe for success lies in having identified a void and building the best team to fill it. The company's Regional Sales Managers sell to the trade as well as manage the rest of their brands' business. With a highly motivated and resourceful sales team of 15 (soon to be 20 by April) Blackheath in Las Vegas Blackheath's Las Vegas–based Director of Southwestern States, Ryan McGinnis, has been with the company since day one in 2012 and oversees Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. Having spent nearly five years prior with Diageo, McGinnis is clear in his purpose with Blackheath: "We're combining various aspects that were already available in the industry—but not all at once—and making them more readily useable for the independent brand to actually hit a national market, to have a national distribution network, and to have people on the streets that can both sell and promote brands." Whereas larger companies might sell multiple labels within the same spirit category, it's imperative that Blackheath present a balanced portfolio. "We're not stepping on our own toes. We can sell our whole portfolio at every single account, because the brands are indepen- dent of each other, standing side by side without compet- ing," McGinnis says. Zing Vodka is a particular Blackheath success story, as the vodka line launched right along with its supplier. "Zing is on fire," McGinnis says. "Without the Blackheath team and company model, that brand would have been thrown into the market and would have gotten lost with all the other vodkas. Perhaps what has fostered such success isn't so much what's different about Blackheath as what is the same: For Blackheath's salaried reps, there is no more or less at stake in promoting one of its brands over any other. "It's having that hands-on connection to the brands," McGinnis says, "so I'm not just selling SKUs and liters; I'm actually selling products that have a heritage, a history and a person in the story behind them." —Xania Woodman Zing Vodka. Ryan McGinnis, Director of Southwestern States for BlackHeath (left), samples Jura Scotch Whisky at Las Vegas bar and restaurant Herbs & Rye with owner Nectaly Mendoza. PHOTO: MONA SHIELD PAYNE