Castle Brands
Dublin Ireland and New York USABackground and Objectives
Castle Brands was trading on the New York Stock Exchange until 2020 when they were acquired by Pernod Ricard, one of the largest wine and spirits companies in the world today.
The company has a portfolio of premium brands, positioned in the high-end segments of leading internationally recognized product categories.
In 2019, the Sinowei team worked together with Tony Carroll International Sales Manager for Castle Brands Spirits (Pernod Ricard). The objective was to introduce Castle Brands range into China and win business.
“China is a very difficult market for brands like ours which were unknown in China. The challenges to start the process are daunting; distance, language, culture and zero relationships in the country. Gerry and the Sinowei team convinced me to trust them and work together as partners in this endeavour. In 2019 we started and I have been very impressed how quickly Sinowei delivered results. Their showroom and facilities in Shanghai are top class, which is a great asset to use throughout the year and when I visit Shanghai. We are looking forward to attending the CIIE show in November 2020 in Shanghai to expand our network throughout China with the Sinowei team”
What we did
To make this happen the team in China and the team in Belfast had to translate all marketing material into Chinese and get sample products through customs and clear with Chinese government to have the products approved for sale in China. We succeeded in these tasks and then set about reaching out to potential buyers in China through trade shows and direct selling.
Results
Within four months we had achieved results and started to sell Castle Brands products into the Chinese market. We also invited a key Chinese buyer to visit Castle Brands and the Knappogue Castle in Ireland for a week during August 2019. This was a considerable investment in everyone’s time, but building business in China works best when personal relationships are strong.
Driving sales
To further drive sales and market the products directly to distributors and wholesalers throughout China, we organised a number of ‘tasting’ events in Shanghai. We invited Tony from Castle Brands to join us in Shanghai, during the CIIE Show so that he could meet the buyers directly and inform them about Castle brands product range. The products were put on display in our showroom and on our Chinese website, social media and online retail sellers.
Through Tony and the Castle Brands team, together with our teams in China and Belfast we are continuing to build more sales and clients for Castle Brands throughout China.
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