“Venturing Into Sports During Covid-19 Was A Key Part Of Our Marketing Strategy”
June 24, 2021
FLUÈRE, a category leader in distilled non-alcoholic spirits and part of the Next Frontier Brands recently partnered with Andretti United of Extreme E. iSportConnect spoke with Roiby Gonzalez, Chief Marketing Officer for Next Frontier Brands, to find out more about their sports partnerships.
Tell us more about the brand?
Next Frontier Brands is an international fast-moving consumer goods company dedicated to bringing premier beverage and wellness products to consumers globally. We acquire challenger brands like FLUÈRE and provide an infrastructure for strategic, healthy growth.
“The series spans beyond motorsports, it spotlights climate change issues throughout the world… that really struck with Next Frontier Brands leadership.”
FLUÈRE is an award-winning category leader in Distilled Non-Alcoholic Spirits. The brand was founded in the Netherlands and is currently sold in over 30 different countries including the UK and USA.
So why did you choose to partner with Andretti United, particularly the choice of venturing into sports during Covid-19?
Partnering with the Andretti United team on the Extreme E platform was ideal for FLUÈRE to demonstrate its eco-friendly values and commitment to sustainability. The series spans beyond motorsports, it spotlights climate change issues throughout the world… that really struck with Next Frontier Brands leadership.
Venturing into sports during Covid-19 was a key part of our marketing strategy, we predicted that content would be consumed at astonishing rates during lock-down and set out to find the right partner… Extreme E was it. The series provides education, technology, competition and travel experiences all at once. An entertainment game-changer.
Do you think from a marketing perspective that sport is increasingly becoming a very popular category for most of the brands to invest in or be part of?
Sports are woven into society through region, history and tradition. They are multi-generational and thanks to the internet have reached optimum accessibility.
The “real-time” effect of social media gives consumers an intimate connection to teams and athletes alike which brings entirely new forms of marketing engagement opportunities. There has never been a better time for brands and sports organizations to work together.
What are the COVID challenges which your brand has faced and how have you overcome those challenges?
For Next Frontier Brands, COVID was an opportunity to re-strategize. Rather than building brands from scratch, we agreed on engaging category challenging brands and investing into them. FLUÈRE was one of those brands, fighting for market share in the peak of COVID before Next Frontier Brands provided the resources necessary to ride the storm out. FLUÈRE’s marketing efforts were shifted towards consumer engagement and their distribution was harmonized with that of our portfolio. This allowed the brand principals to work with our New Product Development teams and plan for the future of the brand.
“We are also in talks with a few athletes that are very well aligned with some of our brands”
We overcame the chaos and uncertainty of COVID by making a plan and sticking to it.
What are your future plans with regards to the partnership?
Team Andretti United has been an ideal partner for us in Extreme E and we plan on exploring even better ways to work together.
Are you looking to explore other sports as well?
Yes, of course! Formula E is in our radar, we are also in talks with a few athletes that are very well aligned with some of our brands. Stay Tuned!