Zero FG’s Journey in the Energy Drink Market

The Marketing MadMen Explore Zero FG’s Journey in the Energy Drink Market

Discover Zero FG’s journey in the energy drink industry, from product development to marketing strategies, on Marketing MadMen with Nick Constantino. #ZeroFG #MarketingMadMen

In this episode of Marketing MadMen, host Nick Constantino talks with the team from Zero FG, a startup energy drink company. Learn how Zero FG was born during the COVID-19 pandemic and built a unique lifestyle brand. Get insights from Sara Lynn (Director of Social Media), Brandon Grubbs (Director of Operations), and Jack Spencer (Marketing) on product development, marketing strategies, and overcoming challenges in the energy drink industry. Don’t miss this deep dive into the world of Zero FG and their exciting journey!

#ZeroFG #MarketingMadMen #EnergyDrinks #StartupJourney #Branding #LifestyleMarketing #CaffeineCulture

Key Takeaways:

• Rise of the energy drink industry
• Zero FG’s unique origin story
• Product health and flavor balance
• Effective marketing strategies
• Impact of NIL deals on growth

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Summary:

Introduction:

• Host: Nick Constantino
• Guest: Team from Zero FG, a startup energy drink company
• Discussion Topic: The rise of the energy drink industry and Zero FG’s journey

Conversation Highlights:

• Energy Drink Industry Overview:
  • The energy drink market emerged rapidly and has integrated into lifestyle, culture, and extreme sports.
  • Products like Red Bull, Rockstar, and Monster played key roles in shaping the market.
• Zero FG Introduction:
  • Sarah Lynn: Director of Social Media at Zero FG.
  • Brandon: Director of Operations at Zero FG.
  • Jack Spencer: Marketing at Zero FG.
• Zero FG’s Origin Story:
  • The concept of Zero FG was born during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Founder Josh Askew created the name Zero FG, which stands for “Zero F***s Given,” reflecting the company’s ethos.
  • The brand emphasizes a lifestyle of carefree confidence.
• Product Development:
  • Initial stages involved determining the flavor, branding, and packaging.
  • They aimed to replicate Red Bull’s model by starting with one flavor, available in original and sugar-free versions.
  • The company focuses on creating a unique culture around its product.
• Challenges and Successes:
  • Finding a suitable co-packer and developing the formula was a challenging process.
  • The first formula sample received was immediately approved, simplifying product development.
  • Zero FG is currently expanding its flavor offerings.
• Marketing and Lifestyle Branding:
  • The energy drink market thrives on lifestyle branding.
  • Zero FG aims to create a strong cultural identity similar to established brands like Red Bull.
  • The brand’s name and ethos resonate with consumers looking for a bold, carefree lifestyle.
• Future Goals:
  • Zero FG plans to introduce more flavors to compete in the market.
  • The team is focused on maintaining the brand’s unique identity and expanding its reach.

Logo and Branding:

• The logo design for Zero FG started with founder Josh Askew’s concept of a zero with a line through it.
• Josh worked with an artist he had collaborated with on other ventures to create the simple yet effective logo that aligns with the “Zero F***s Given” mentality.
• The logo’s simplicity, coupled with white and black colors and a gold hue, helps it stand out on shelves against more colorful competitors, emphasizing a utilitarian and purposeful approach.

Ingredients and Health Considerations:

• Zero FG aims to offer a healthier alternative to other energy drinks on the market.
• The ingredients include B vitamins and natural caffeine from green tea, making it a better option compared to some competitors.
• An interesting ingredient in Zero FG is blue spirulina, a superfood algae that benefits respiratory health and skin.
• The drink contains 140 milligrams of caffeine, equivalent to about two cups of coffee, striking a balance to avoid excessive caffeine consumption and potential health issues.
• Feedback from consumers at events and sampling sessions has been generally positive, though some health-conscious individuals have expressed concerns about the use of sucralose as a sweetener.
• The company acknowledges that while their product is healthier compared to others, it is not free from all potential health risks, especially in excessive consumption.

Market Research and Consumer Feedback:

• The initial market research was minimal; the team relied heavily on founder Josh Askew’s vision and the positive reception of the first flavor sample.
• As the product hit the market, real-world feedback from sampling events provided valuable insights, helping the team refine their approach.
• While some consumers prefer alternative sweeteners like stevia, the team notes that there are trade-offs with any ingredient, and not all sweeteners have extensive research on their health impacts.

Events and Consumer Interactions:

• Zero FG actively participates in events like strongman competitions, where they engage directly with consumers and gather feedback.
• They have noticed that athletes and health-conscious individuals tend to be more vocal about ingredients like sucralose, but the overall reception of the flavor and product quality has been positive.

Balancing Health and Flavor:

• The challenge for Zero FG, as with many food and beverage companies, is balancing flavor and health considerations.
• The product aims to provide an enjoyable taste experience without compromising on health standards, although they recognize that no product is perfect and there will always be room for improvement.

Balancing Sweetness and Flavor:

• The team discusses the balance of sweetness and sourness in Zero FG, highlighting how this balance makes the drink appealing and potentially viral.
• The sugar-free version aims to mask the artificial sweetener taste with the sourness, creating a unique flavor profile.

Challenges with Energy Drinks and Alcohol:

• Nick shares a humorous observation about the challenge of mixing energy drinks with alcohol, particularly the issue of the energy effect wearing off before the alcohol.
• This leads to a broader discussion on the day-to-day operations and challenges of running a startup energy drink company.

Day-to-Day Operations:

• Sarah Lynn’s Role:
  • Sarah Lynn focuses on creating and filming content, including videos and social media posts.
  • She emphasizes the importance of capturing authentic, unplanned moments, which often perform better than scripted content.
  • Despite the pressure to produce viral content, it’s the spontaneous, genuine moments that tend to resonate most with audiences.
• Importance of Content and Virality:
  • The team recognizes that while everyone is producing content, making it truly viral is challenging.
  • Authenticity and spontaneity often drive virality more than meticulously planned scripts.

Metrics and Tracking:

• The team tracks various metrics, including clicks, views, and more recently, sales through platforms like TikTok Shop.
• While views and engagement are important, the ultimate goal is to drive product sales.
• Conversion rates and direct sales from social media platforms are becoming increasingly important.

Event Participation and Engagement:

• Zero FG participates in events to promote brand awareness and get their product into consumers’ hands.
  • They look for high interaction and memorable reactions that can be used for further promotion.
  • Events serve as both a marketing tool and a way to gather direct feedback from potential customers.

Driving Action Through Marketing:

• The team discusses the difficulty of converting social media views into actual sales.
• They have observed that even viral videos with millions of views do not always translate to increased sales.
• They emphasize the need for effective strategies to drive consumer action beyond just viewing content.

Challenges of Digital Advertising:

• The team acknowledges the complexities of digital advertising and the need to work with social media algorithms.
• Platforms like Facebook prioritize keeping users within their ecosystem, making it challenging to drive external actions such as product purchases.

Future Plans and Excitement:

• Zero FG is excited about new initiatives like TikTok Shop, which offers a direct-to-consumer sales channel.
• They plan to leverage ambassadors and influencers with significant followings to drive product adoption.

Commitment to Growth:

• Nick emphasizes the importance of committing to a long-term strategy for growth, suggesting that meaningful success can take up to two years to achieve.
• The team discusses the need for consistency and the value of sustained effort in achieving long-term goals.

Scaling and Operations:

• Brandon’s Insights:
  • Brandon talks about the day-to-day challenges of managing production and ingredient sourcing.
  • Securing line time for production and balancing inventory to meet fluctuating sales demands are critical tasks.
  • The company faces challenges in scaling operations while managing cash flow and warehousing.
• Sales Strategy:
  • Zero FG has focused on getting into independent stores but is now targeting chain authorizations in larger retailers like RaceTrac and QT.
  • The importance of e-commerce and the need to adapt to changing market conditions are highlighted.
  • Building a solid dataset through e-commerce can help in negotiations with larger retailers.

Navigating NIL Deals:

• Challenges and Strategies:
  • The team discusses their experience with NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals, particularly the challenges of timing and athlete availability.
  • They recommend starting negotiations early in the year to ensure adequate planning and execution.
  • NIL deals carry inherent risks, such as potential athlete injuries or performance issues.
• Success Stories:
  • Despite challenges, their NIL deal with a high-performing athlete brought significant visibility and legitimacy to the brand.
  • The deal helped increase brand awareness, especially in targeted geographic areas like Athens, GA.
  • The media coverage and organic exposure from the NIL deal were valuable, leading to increased interest and outreach from other potential partners.

Driving Consumer Action:

• Content and Marketing:
  • The team underscores the difficulty of driving actual sales from social media engagement.
  • They are excited about new sales channels like TikTok Shop, which offer direct-to-consumer opportunities.
  • The importance of creating authentic content that resonates with audiences and drives action is emphasized.

Industry and Market Trends:

• Adapting to Algorithms:
  • Nick discusses the impact of social media algorithms and the need for companies to become valuable propositions within these platforms.
  • Consistency and authenticity are key to leveraging these algorithms to the company’s advantage.
• Balancing Growth:
  • The team discusses the importance of gradual, sustainable growth over quick spikes that can lead to instability.
  • Understanding market trends and consumer behavior is crucial in navigating the competitive landscape.

Future Plans:

• Expanding Reach:
  • Zero FG aims to increase its presence in retail chains and expand its e-commerce efforts.
  • The team is focused on building a robust dataset to support their sales strategy and demonstrate value to potential partners.
• Leveraging Success:
  • The team plans to build on the momentum gained from successful marketing campaigns and NIL deals.

Unexpected Opportunities from NIL:

• The team shares a humorous story about receiving unexpected interest from the Los Angeles Dodgers following their NIL deal.
• Despite initial skepticism, the deal with a high-performing athlete led to significant media coverage, including mentions in Sports Illustrated.
• The deal’s long-lasting impact continued to benefit Zero FG even after the contract ended.

Challenges with NIL Renewals:

• The team discusses the complexities of renewing NIL deals, particularly when a player’s value skyrockets after a successful season.
• Negotiations become more challenging as the athlete’s price tag increases, and the involvement of agents can complicate matters.
• Poorly written contracts and vague legal terms can create additional hurdles.
• Agents often drive hard bargains, making it difficult for small companies to afford renewals.

Future Vision and Goals:

• Sarah Lynn’s Vision:
  • Sarah Lynn envisions a future where Zero FG leverages user-generated content, similar to Barstool Sports.
  • She suggests creating a platform for influencers and comedians to submit videos, showcasing the Zero FG lifestyle and culture.
  • This approach would diversify the content and bring multiple faces to the brand.
• Jack’s Event Strategy:
  • Jack aims to get Zero FG involved in grassroots events like fishing and hunting tournaments, which align with their target market of blue-collar workers.
  • He also wants to explore stunt driving events and collaborate with influencers who have a genuine connection to the brand.
  • The focus is on non-commercialized, authentic experiences that resonate with their audience.

Navigating the Influencer Marketplace:

• The team acknowledges the challenges of working with influencers, as the marketplace is crowded with companies vying for attention.
• Finding the right influencers who genuinely align with the brand and avoiding those who could cause damage is critical.
• They recognize the need to balance organic engagement with strategic investments in influencer marketing.

Positive Outlook and Challenges Ahead:

• The team remains optimistic about the future, focusing on building a strong brand identity and expanding their reach.
• They hope to navigate the complexities of the influencer market and drive genuine consumer engagement.
• The ultimate goal is to create lasting relationships with their audience and ensure sustained growth.

Transcript:

Happy Saturday and. Back to the marketing madman after. Difficulties we’re getting. Now I’m more hopped up on. Drink. So this is going to be fun. So today this is a. This is a conversation I’ve wanted to have for a. This is a topic I’ve wanted to cover just because I find it so fascinating. The way that the energy Jing industry popped out of nowhere, and it’s just just taken off with Lif. Culture, extreme sports, all of these things that came out of. Of people’s need for caffeine and to party longer and anytime someones partying longer then I’m aboard. So with me, I have the team from zero FG. Zero FG is a partner of the. They are startup company and it is a product I endorse because it is a good product. So I got the team with me. Why don’t we? Around everyone, introduce yourselves real fast.

Guys, I’m Sarah Lynn. I don’t want to look but. Wherever you want, girl.

Don’t worry about it. The videos just a lot of bonus.

Hey, guys.

I’m Sarah Lynn. I do the social media.

And yes, we put the. Girl on the front.

Yeah, I’m. The show I did social media at 0 FG.

I am Brandon. I’m the director of operations. Run the company. I just work directly with the owner, Josh. You. I’ll give him a plug there. The owner of 0. And yeah, I run the company and fun times are ahead all the time.

Soft flex.

I’m Jack Spencer. I work in marketing. I wear a lot of different. We kind of all work together on a lot of different things. Small. We’re just trying to make the best of.

Bootstrap it. So I think that. Going to write books about. No needs to hear me talk about the history of energy. Drinks. But man, it’s been it’s been a hell of 25 years. Mean you went from. It was coffee, right? Grew up in an. My mother was born in Italy. Like you drink coffee from when the time I’m like 8, which probably explains a lot about me. But like we have espresso at 8 and wine which probably explains more about me. Then there was Coca-Cola, and those are the. Things like I. I was drinking coffee at my house. Father was like caffeine free. Soda caffeine is the problem. Like you’ve never been to house for dinner. So, but then all of a sudden, let’s start with the Red Bull. It. It proliferated so fast, like like a rocket ship and and rock star and monster, and who got bought by who? Invested. Whom? Who’s a Vietnamese and Viet Vietnamese conglomerate. Mean the stories are all crazy. What I thought was, you know, the the way they blended again. No one sells a product, right? One selling. You’re selling their lifestyle and if you can make your product a lifestyle based product, it almost sells itself because people are buying in to the culture and the lifestyle. They are this. This is a super good formula, but this is providing caffeine and things that people can find other ways and sometimes easier ways that. Gum. And so it’s the lifestyle you have to buy on the lifestyle. So before I shoot any of your competitors horns, what I want to start with is. What’s 0 FG?

Zero FG is.

And you can curse if you want to, because I know what it means.

1. SO0FG means something. We mean zero folks given, but we we lean into that as much as you can without using the F. There is ways to get in retailer outlets and things we don’t hold. The F word always out there, but most people understand what it means. There are few that do not, and we joke around with folks. We say it’s 0 field goals, you know, we say it’s 0 force gravity. I guess I can say this on this podcast. NASCAR in the beginning and. NASCAR asked us what it meant and we told them zero force gravity because at the time.

Yeah, but you’re pulling. If you’re pulling 0G’s right. If you’re doing the transfer. Yeah, yeah.

Because technically it does not mean. It’s up to your interpretation, but to us it does mean zero folks given because of the culture that we have created with the product.

And I think it it plays well into. What the industry is right because. You know, you see people, and my favorite is like the, you know, it’s 8:00 in the. You see girl girl walking around and she doesn’t want coffee. So she’s sitting with a straw and drinking an energy drink. Those are the people that just don’t care.

Yeah.

Don’t care what people think about. Everyone knows that one girl at the office that would drink like 6 energy drinks a day and just didn’t care what people thought, right? Else is trying. Passing with their Starbucks. Give me.

The hard stuff.

So if it fits the vibe well. But again, it’s about a lifestyle. Talk a little bit. So let’s go to entry. We’re talking a ground up company, right? Guys are a startup so. You know, we’re in the design phase. White boarding. Where did the name come? What was the thought process where the lifestyle come in? Was the vision for all this so.

The vision came from the. Josh ask you. It actually came with during the Covic Times, when we had the 14 days to slow the spread, he. That he wanted to create an energy drink. He did not know what he wanted to name the energy drink. Zero FG came to his brain during those 14 days to. The. Because, quite honestly, he. A little ticked off that they shut him down. Told everybody to go home, you know? And they were trying to control how we all lived our day to. Zero FG came to his. I know that he called another guy that’s in the business with him said. Hey, dude, I got the name and and from that point on, they knew that. Only did they have a cool name for the product, but they had a lifestyle and a court. Culture that they can push with. Product I love.

This.

So there’s two parts. One is is that you didn’t whiteboard. You started with the top and then work your way down. A lot of people start at the bottom and try to pull up to this.

Correct.

Trying to but you started with the. From the top. Different. I cannot believe now this will be my, you know, 100th episode of doing the show. I cannot believe how often covered comes up and I cannot believe how much. Creative Force came from. I’m going to say I’ll keep my politics and my personal opinions out of it. But the amount of created juice that came out of it just goes to show what this country in the world can do when they’re put in those circumstances. I don’t want to say good comes out of it. You know, you don’t want to say good came out of. Either, but New York was more, more together than I’ve ever seen anything right after the Boston Marathon. Watching the Yankees play Sweet Caroline instead of these things to for Boston, these so many things that. Do very well when our backs are against the wall as a country and as a people and as a human species. So I love it. So we have a name. OK, but we have no product. We have no colors. We have no text. We have no logo.

So talk about.

Talk about some of those stories.

And a lot. The stuff that I talk about happened before I even came on with the company. Was the owners idea that he was bringing to life?

Sure.

Didn’t know what they wanted the flavor to taste like. Didn’t know what company that. Were going to work with to bottle the drink. So that that came after all of this, the name of the lifestyle. But that was a journey, honestly, to to figure that stuff out, to figure out who we could Co pack. And we finally found someone in California that that we could work with where we actually own the formula they sent over the flavors and to be quite honest with you, again, we weren’t. But the first. Formula they sent over, which is what you have here, is what was sent and they loved it.

That never happens.

They were like, oh, that’s it. Want this flavor? So we didn’t have to go too far in depth. Not a lot of testing on flavors and things. So they went with this. I will speak on the Red Bull.

I can’t believe you’re so honest about. We tried 74,000 flavors painstakingly in a basement somewhere.

Yeah.

1st 10 we talked.

Hey this is it. About Red Bull, though, and Red Bull maybe not be a direct competitor of ours. Mean there’s so many in the market. But Josh did build this company by looking at the model that Red Bull built. If you know about our product, we only have one flavour, which is what we launched with which is an original and a sugar free. Wanted to build it after Red Bull’s model. Mean, you know, have the one flavour. Things have changed a little bit now because of all the competitors that are in the market and we have people asking for more flavours plug now that we are working on other flavors and it’s a little more difficult than.

Just. Yeah, I can imagine, yes.

We came in but. Was the model that he wanted to build so. Only did he want. Like you know, have. One flavor, but the culture that. Surrounding it. Red Bull has this culture that just has blown up and the zero FG mentality is a culture that we’re trying to create with our product. So you know Red Bull was was someone that he looked at very closely to to. Our product on.

Yeah. Yeah. And I and I like how you said they. But you did it your way. So like for example, if you were to ask. You know name rebel flavors, I would say sugar, flour regular. I know there are other flavors. I know there are colors, but you know, I just. Don’t know because. Wasn’t part of the. It was probably the same thing. People. Like, Oh my God, do we really have to do this? But I think it’s important because you could hyper be. The word right. You can’t have too many SKUs. One of the mistakes, especially in the beer industry. They try to go to market. 30 skews right. The supermarket only wants 2 skews. They only want simplicity. They don’t care about your third level imperial hops with a, you know, Filipino sweat built into it that you’re making beer out of.

Mm.

That’s just not how they want. They didn’t want real beer, so I think people get a little too big for the britches and they’re like, Oh my God, I have the best idea for this. Hold on guys. You got to.

Sell the first one started.

People got to buy into it there. So what about logo? We just do. We was this. Did we send this out for thing? We just going to throw. We see a. We see a bad dashboard 0.

So Josh kind of had the idea of the zero with the line. He had an artist that he worked with for other things with some other ventures that he’s he’s in and he just called her up and said, hey, I’m looking for a logo. Is kind of what I want. Simple. Right. It’s just a simple logo, but it portrays exactly what. We’re trying to to to show is just the zero folks given mentality. Don’t say that often, but.

1. Brought it out again. I brought it out of you. I brought it out of you. But it’s just the natural thing to bring out of people my. *** brings it out of people. It must be.

But we call this. I mean, it could be very easily recognizable, right? As we grow, I mean.

The white, the white and the black supremely help. All it does is blur. Can’t see. You pick them and you have, like, the goldish hue that gives a little bit of class and sophistication.

Little luxury, little luxury, little luxury, if you will.

So I think that it it. And again, it stands out on a shelf because everybody else is using so much color or so much whimsy that they try and throw into it that it’s not utilitarian. And to be honest with you, I think as the world gets more and more messed up, there’s nothing. Wrong with utility. And you have a purpose for drinking this. This is not. There’s a purpose behind which I absolutely love. All right. So what about? So I know this isn’t someone made it for you, but like there’s some stuff in. That like. I’m not going to say that you should drink 14 in a day, but it makes you feel a little better about drinking it. Talk about how important the ingredients were and that stuff, because in today’s day and age that is really important.

Yeah, you’re good.

I’ll talk. Lot, Jack, you want to speak on this? Want me to take it?

Well, you start off, I’ll lead into.

So we have a product that. Has good ingredients for us. Try. Tell people it’s not the healthiest thing in the world, but it’s definitely healthy compared to some of our competitors out there. It’s got your B vitamins in there. Caffeine comes from natural green tea. We have like this little ingredient that we were super stoked about in the beginning. Bloom, spirulina, spirulina, whatever.

Yeah.

You want to say and we found out it’s it’s. It’s a super health.

It.

It’s algae, actually, and.

It’s good for.

Your respiratory. It’s good for your skin. So we really played on that. But what we didn’t want to build a drink that had a ton of caffeine. And honestly, you saw the market trending a little bit with lower the caffeine. Mean you see? Stories of people that energy drinks every day having some issues and with hearts and whatever. 140 milligrams. Caffeine is about two cups of coffee. Know most people drink 2.

Small wheat cups of coffee. A. Starbucks like 2/6 right? So preface that because that’s it’s actually the exact right amount to get you where you don’t.

Yeah.

Or yes. And it’s built to not chug, which is. I drink coffee a lot faster than I drink this, so this is like that slow release of it which actually.

Absolutely.

Like. So actually we’re going to go to a quick. We’re going to get back to continue the conversation about this ’cause. I think the ingredients are fascinating. It’s important you listen to the marketing man on extra 1. 63. We will be right. Welcome back to the marketing man on Extra 106 three. Nick Constantino here with the Zero FG team we were talking about the ingredients. So one of the things that I think has changed is. I don’t think even when Red Bull started looking 20 years ago, people felt like they had any say in how anything was made. Nowadays, every *** on Earth thinks that they can impart what their wisdom, which is 0 on everything that they do and everyone has a list of requests. There’s activists, investors who somehow pay by the product for three bucks and think that they’re entitled to change the perception of entire company. So. One, how do you deal with? Two, how much market research did you do to find out what this ingredient list was? If people wanted it, and if this is what they actually wanted to have in their drinks?

The market research because remember when I said they sell us the product and they liked it right off the bat? That’s about as much research went into it in the beginning, which I know is.

Right.

Is different because the owner is just like when he has an idea, he just wants to run with it, right? They did tell them that they wanted a healthy, uh, type of energy drink. So. So we went with. It has elkar tea and it has. Natural. Burner. It doesn’t have any artificial colors in there, right?

Yeah, huge.

A big thing especially. Like my wife and the kids.

They’re gonna come back.

Yeah, my wife’s.

I swear they’ll be this close to autism being tied together this close to having it done. Don’t serve it in most places. And what they do in this stupid country, they just change the names of it. So they just change the name of the same pigment because they can sneak through and like God knows how much money these lobbyist groups pay the FDA to get away with.

Definitely.

Anyway, save that for another podcast.

Yes.

Being that we’ve kind of worked backwards, we just had this product that hit the market. We’re going out sampling, so we got a lot of feedback from that’s more.

Yeah.

Customers out in the field right at different events and things and. Mostly all. Feedback as far as any of the ingredients that are in there, if we ever get any pushback.

To end.

Yep.

You know, and and you’re super healthy folks. You’re athletes, the Splenda.

Then drink the regular one. There’s no way to put this taste in it without having calories like you can’t F with Mother Nature, right?

Exactly.

Have sweetness. Everything that is artificial is going to kill you to some capacity, right? And I love it. The guy sitting there. Abala vodka. Some of the cities like the splendors. Problem. Like we’re just. To throw that stuff out the window, that’s why. Call what it is. Healthier, probably healthier than most out there. That’s what it is. What’s it like, Jack? When? What do they say to you? Is it taste? Are they reading ingredients when you’re sampling? They into. Like what is? What is it like out there?

So I would say probably one in 10 people when we hand them out, it looks at the ingredients and it is the only thing that they ever say is the sucralose. Want some people say they want stevia? They think that they would rather have that sweetener the rather than circulose. In terms of succulents, I know some. Don’t. Respond that well to. But it really just kind of passes through your system. Really not.

Yeah, I guess.

It doesn’t do anything for you.

Like, just not enough studies on stevia yet? Will kill you. Also, this is artificial. They could provide some things that nature did provide with in the form of. So all of these things are going to be bad for you, whether it be the the new ones coming out or the micro, the bio, your gut bio, everything like they screwed up because it’s not efficient changing and then also. You have, you know, Diet Coke. All it does is spark your insatiation and your which, which leads to other things, teeth to communicate. Everything is bad for you. Just shocked that. Like. Yeah, it’s. Well, it’s not all for you.

Not. Yeah, it’s not awesome.

And you’re like, it’s pretty stupid, so.

Check around.

We do some we do some events like. It’s like a strongman competitions we’ve done, and that was where we had the most. Feel like people talk about.

Right, yeah.

About the superlatives which I mean checks out like it’s the most, but they’re they’re they’re. Yes, that one makes a lot more sense.

Yeah, but these people are in their athletes that are that way. A different story, yes. But like, don’t chug a cup. Jack Daniels and be like I can’t believe this.

Sucker load sitting here so right?

Smoke cigarettes. You drink? Smoking. Smoking.

On the other hand, like we’d never get, I feel like it’s really we’ve never really gotten complaints about the flavour. The only real thing is we get the original.

Is too sweet.

That’s really the only bad thing we’ve heard in terms of the actual taste and flavor of our product. So I can’t really complain about that.

Put put it this way, OK if anyone got it perfectly right, there wouldn’t be the industry for everybody else, right?

Exactly. Exactly.

The the Everything in here has. Flavor profile or? Chalkiness or something to it. You’re. And what I love is the sour. Like that sweet sour. I’m a texture person. I like salty and sweet.

Mm.

When the. Come together the sweet and. That balance is what makes it so good. So again, I usually do the sugar free. Ones I know you’re masking artificial sweetener case, but the sour is what really balances that. I think honestly is what makes it go viral. Too, right?

Speaking of real good.

Let me say the only problem with. Drinks now to get it out of the. My only problem with energy drinks is if you drink enough energy drinking vodkas, the thing that runs out first is the energy drink. You do run it on Cloud 9. Glow. Everything is going ********. And all of a sudden, the energy. Out and then you’re just drunk. Like.

Oh, what do I do now?

What do I do?

Like it all. Boot just changes and you’re like. How did I get to this rave? How the hell am I getting home? So I’m not saying I’m just saying from a guy. No, it’s never happened to me before. Of course, of course.

What’s already told me?

But let’s. Let’s kind of dive a little more into you guys day-to-day and I think you know a startup company. It’s become so pervasive in culture that people just think. Their. But you know, you got to operate like a. You have to make a competitors, corporations, companies, you know every rich kid that has money is like I want to start an energy drink company or a liquor company or champagne company. You know, it’s these are hard industries. Players. Veterans that have been around with establishment. So Sarah, you. Talk about your day-to-day. Talk about what you. Talk about what you’ve learned and and and what you see. You’re in.

Your day-to-day other than getting bullied by them the whole day. Mostly I have my partner. Who everybody thinks is my boss, but he’s not and we just come up with content after content, video, idea, scripts and then we try to film or. We go places and try to. We just got some neon signs, so we put up neon signs or deliver fridges. But it’s super. But everything can be content, so we just gotta film, film, film.

So I love. I think one of the things about content though is now everybody has realized. So everybody’s putting out content, which weakens it a little bit, and I think also the concept of virality has changed because everyone’s trying to fake being viral, which makes it not be viral.

Yes.

Yes.

Right, yeah.

So talk a little bit about what has worked besides being a pretty growing camera. A little bit about. Has worked for you and what you’ve been like? I cannot believe that that worked.

Honestly, when I don’t try on a video, that’s what’s going to go viral. Bloopers do better than the actual video that I spent. Time and Jack filmed me, and then we got the lighting. But the bloopers were. They did numbers and acts in a fool does crazy, but then when we come up with a script, it’s just, you know, your regular, everybody likes it. But I feel like the bloopers really don’t care when I just put something together. Works so much better and it fits the RFG.

Yeah, love. And now talk about the. So when people talk about content one, they don’t realize how hard it is to get eyeballs on it, right? Used to be that it was really expensive to make content, but easy to get it out. It’s cheap as **** to make it, but it’s really hard to get it in. ‘S hands. So talk about like, what the difference between impressions and engagement and what you’re looking for when you put this ultimate answer to sell a product, right?

Yeah.

It doesn’t matter the. What is you’re trying to sell a? So talk about what metrics you look at to say, OK. Is something that’s really working. How much are you tracking through? What does that look like?

Yeah, I mean, we’re tracking through everything. Feel like we used to be. For you know. Clicks and views and everything. But now since we got we just recently got. Like TikTok shop. So we want.

Love it.

We want that, I guess.

Yeah, any.

Or we want to sell it exactly.

Commerce is the only place you can really track ’cause you can track. Through. Let’s actually sell it.

So I mean we set that. So now we’re not only looking for views and stuff like that, but we need to. This. Excuse me, sorry.

Yeah, yeah, better go. Bye. So so so. So you’re you’re when you’re at events and we’ve worked these together. You know what are you looking for in events? Because that’s another thing. Covic forced this pent up demand that all crashed at the same time and now all of a sudden everyone was doing these events. Revenge. Revenge of ending. Whatever you’re going to call it. So talk. What you look for in events talk. Where you’ve seen success with events and talk about when you’re on site. What you’re doing to get people? Try it.

So I think what we’re really looking for in events is really interaction like we want us just kind of going back to the content. We want to have that one crazy person give us an insane reaction that we can use on social media. Push us an. Do use it for different forms of different promotion. I think it also just really means look what the lips are saying. Go right now being being so new. It’s not only brand awareness, it’s really how do I get them to? The. Rather than. When you go into a store, it’s hard to buy a new drink you’ve never seen before. Don’t know anything about. So we’re trying to get that first step of them being able to try it without the risk involved of them having to go in and spend their money on a new product that they’ve never seen before. What was the last? What was it?

Well, and then when you’re on site, what are things you’re doing to get the reactions you’re looking for?

Yeah. So I think a big one is it is the pretty girl across the table in Saralyn getting getting attention getting eyes.

Crazy. Wait a minute. OK. So pretty girl or the attractive media?

Yes, exactly.

Because you know why can be equally with having. Talk. We say both sides of it that we’re not sexist or.

So I think it’s definitely that definitely helps get people’s attention that come over. I mean, I see people talking to her all the time just.

Yes, exactly. Easy breezy.

Not about anything related to energy drinks, but it’s.

She was in a jumbo Lopez.

No.

I well it was.

It was the. I switched some big hoop earrings. The fourth quarter? But anyway, so and look at a couple things. These these things all have to work. And one of the things I like most most companies feel. Or they don’t communicate, so they silo everything. So social media has this. Events have this, but you’re looking at content there.

He’s right.

Looking to drive people to. Event with that.

Yes, exactly.

Things all have to work together, and if they don’t work together, then what you’re doing is is you’re marketing in segments and not a whole picture, right?

1%.

Ultimately, the ideal goal for the position you guys are as people walk up to a store and say I want they say I don’t. Say go freaking. Get it right. That’s ideal. Takes a long time to. Those things in people. One, because a lot of times, by the time they get into the college football game or the concert, they forgot you exist so that you need that reminding piece in that same place to remind them.

Yeah.

I think. It’s all fascinating, but it’s all part of this web of trying to just make yourself stand out. But also hammer home action being engagement. Who cares? Getting news. Cares. Buy the product tonight.

Yes, no doubt, yes, yeah.

Like the dummy. I saw you drink it like you don’t. To lie to me. Don’t like? Throw in the garbage. Right there.

Exactly.

You liked? So when you’re the store buy. Right, buy it over this or. You maybe. Having a party at your house, maybe. Don’t even. It, but you’re a party at your house and you want to have it at your house.

Have an offer?

That’s what’s that. None.

And that I’ll say that driving that action is probably what the hardest thing that we deal with social media.

Yes.

You know. Think when we started this, we thought that if we have a video with 15 million views that our our company is going to blow up, everybody’s going to want to buy product.

That’s the way, men.

That’s not how it works, right? My wife owns a salon in town. Had 14 million views. It did nothing for her company. I mean ’cause. She’s just a hair salon. But it’s driving that action and that’s where I think on a day-to-day basis that we talk about like how do we, how do we drive that. Don’t just want a million views a million. Is. It’s good brand awareness, whatever. Some people see our product and maybe some people are interested, but it’s really about driving that action to.

Buy it don’t matter.

Which is. Really stoked that we have this tick. Shot going. We we know some competitors have done well with that. So we’ve just really haven’t even really launched it.

We just got it all set up this week and we’re we’re really excited about that and to see where that goes and to see if we can get some ambassadors with not that have.

Yeah.

You know, sometimes the craziest following this.

That items right?

Feel the world.

So.

That’s even better for us.

Well, if you really use the product, if you really so couple couple things on pack here. First and foremost, the biggest problem in digital advertising as a whole is the stake that the other party has, so.

Just one video, yeah.

For example, Facebook wants you to spend money with them. Don’t want you to link external. Everything has to be through them and they. The algorithms that dictate who does what, who goes where, who pays where, who does what, right, you can go. Can tomorrow buy 50 million impressions tomorrow and there’s a bunch of Indonesian people in their basement clicking on? Experiments with it on my own show on this show, just to see how all these mechanisms work. Saying it is one thing doing it.

Yeah.

Cheap. I mean, you’re talking like pennies to do these things. So you to do things.

Cancel.

Real. The only thing I know. Is it takes time and you have to commit to time and I’m not saying three months, I’m saying two years and you’ll get to a point.

Yeah.

One of you will get to a point where it’ll click in your head and say holy crap, it was worth. And I don’t know what it is, but it will be that point where like this starts catching and once it catches and the algorithms dictate you are a value proposition to the people it serves or to the. And usually tick tock, sticking a cut. Now you’re a value proposition. Them is when these things click over right.

Yes.

For this show. For example, it was Facebook, Google, YouTube fighting over placement for the show, and once they you kind of saw that jockey happen, then all of a sudden it’s like all your posts are doing well. It’s like it almost seems like it’s a computer. That exists to make sure you’re not full of it, and once it it checks you out, it stops suppressing you. Not going to help you always, but stop. You so. I think that’s, you know, every company is going. Be. Every industry is going to be different, you know. But the fact that you guys know that and you’re using that and have that in the. Pocket. Is probably a useful. Because I have to imagine a lot of competitors that come in and either maybe they try to expand too fast or they scale up too quickly. They’re having much harder times with these things because you can easily go backwards too, like slowly. I’d rather see slow, gradual success than any year spike and then dropping because that’s when you’re killed.

Discuss.

Absolutely, yeah.

When you’re. What about day-to-day? Have you learned? Your job. Previously you were working for a big company. Not in the day.

Right, right.

Did you learn about P&L and operations? You want to bore.

Right, this is. This is boring, boring stuff. Just day-to-day, things of of production and ingredients and maintaining all of that stuff can be a job.

Well, Sarah, Sarah Lynn, when you tell them, say, the boring stuff.

To get line time is what we have to worry about with production and things. Know if you need. If you’re, you’re going to need a truck load in. I think, yeah. And that’s difficult for us too, because sales aren’t necessarily right where we want them to be, where a startup company.

And the more you buy, the better deal. Yes, sitting on warehousing and like and then if you had one spark and all of a sudden your products gone, you’re screwed and you’re waiting. So and AI can’t help you don’t have a data set big enough for data set ever to go away. You don’t want to.

Yes, right.

You need 10 years of data.

Mm.

With a future prediction model which costs $1,000,000 to have AI do anything.

No. So also sales, right and getting? Obviously we need to get in as many. Stores as we possibly could.

Which are companies in themselves.

Stores which right? We we we did. We spent a lot of time getting into independent locations. Now the Big deal is getting in some chains, right, chain authorizations. You’re. I mean, here in Atlanta, you’re looking at race track and Q TS, but not just Atlanta. I mean, we’re looking all throughout the southeast. And that is that’s pretty big on our plate right now is reaching out to this now that’s more difficult than you would think. They all want to see your data. They want. See your sales when you’re. Independent locations we have. We have source that do really. We have some stores that we’re like, how do we get that product to even sell there because? No one knows about our. Maybe in that area, but right now we’re really working on that data and we do think e-commerce. Sales, which is not something we focused a lot on in the last year. 1/2 because. I could talk a long time about this because I two years ago I thought ecommerce was kind of like need to take a backseat when we started as these two years have progressed, we have realized wait a second time out. We’re getting behind the curve. We’ve got to. On. We’ve got to get on.

Well, and I’ll give you one more like if you have, especially if you have a tick tock audience behind it, you have.

Yeah.

Sample size of knowing who. A data set that you can extrapolate out to. It’s different, but if you all of a sudden have 10,000 cases gone and each one of those is a different person, now you know who you’ve heard your consumers, how to advertise. Now you can walk into a. Store and say hey. Which oh, conveniently, here’s who we reach, right? So you have those data sets and that’s something. Think. Very hard to understand how to externally create data sets because everyone wants to tell you that you’re going to give you data, right? But they’re.

Exactly. Yes, wagon.

To give you the real data, first you need zero part. You need your own data so.

Yeah.

Talking about supermarkets, I think one of the things that you guys let’s talk a little bit about nil. Letters honestly, in this show alone, we’ve had 7 episodes on. Still don’t know what the hell? Going on on a regular. I don’t know what’s happening, but you know I do. Do like it to hitting the lottery. Especially when you’re talking about college, you’re talking this University of Georgia has three quarterbacks that potentially can play in a year, right? In any school, in any position, and you got to kind of take. So we’re not going to say the players name because we don’t need to muddy the waters, but you guys took a pretty big risk on nil deal that player penned out to be 1 of. Best in the. Talk about what the process was like when you initially thought it was going to be and talk about as it was going. What? For you.

So I mean, we thought that we were just going to get an athlete and honestly, you know, you think you get this athlete, he’s in Athens, every student on campus is going to drink this product because he has it. Know those are our initial thoughts of like, oh, this is going to be great, right? There’s a lot of issues with the nil that I would I would say, and I would recommend to people if they’re wanting to do this and The thing is, is we got in the game pretty late with who. Got. With last year, if you get in. Game late when the season starting. Good luck getting time with them. Right. I mean anytime that there.

Possible.

Sunday mornings, you know? But who wants to do an event with an appearance on a Sunday? Necessarily. So, if you’re going to do an IL deal, I recommend that you really start that process. If it’s football in January, you know you need to get that deal locked in so you can plan and prepare and have things ready for the season. In our case it. Was kind of a last. Yeah, I don’t want to say last minute. Talked with the.

And we were talking about a different player originally, like we weren’t.

Yeah. Yeah, no, absolutely.

We weren’t even the one that we ended up getting. Weren’t. That wasn’t even on our real radar and we were.

Absolutely.

Initially of handling the deal we were talking about a.

Yes. Completely different person, and those conversations in the beginning are like like you just said. What if they get hurt in spring practice, right?

Yeah.

You pay this big lump sum of money and now they’re not playing the.

I mean. Whole season, the biggest deal, DJ. Signed $1,000,000. He can’t even throw the ball. Far to stay, right? You’re taking these risks, you know. And I. When people don’t understand the life of an athlete, right? If you are the star athlete, you are being bred to be a prick. From the second you get to high school because everybody wants your attention and wants to sell you something to be a part. Of something so I I also because of what I do, I’ve seen it from the other side and how to not do it and how when you can’t expect out of these guys, right. Like, no offense, but like the contracts don’t matter. Like. Yeah, ’cause. Everyone says, oh, well, you had an opportunity. You didn’t do it. They didn’t show. So the contract’s void, like they’re just agents and all this stuff, it makes it dirty business.

Yeah.

That being said. To some capacity. You guys got a player who overexceeded on the playing field, which probably helped you get a spark in the right places which probably helped you give you some legitimacy when you’re eating with stores.

Oh yes.

Talk about what you got out of it. I would say.

I was an athlete last week and I ran into two guys in in one of the C stores that we sell our product and they were like you’re still. With that particular player, you know and I had to have a conversation with him about what you know. But I mean it got our name. In Athens, GA for. Now, does every student go to the local convenience store and purchase drink? Necessarily. That’s still on our part too. Getting out there and letting them try the product. But I do think it helped somewhat especially. Geographically located where that particular player was I.

Yeah.

Think it definitely we were brand brand new when we first got that deal. And it really. Kind of put us on the map to an. Obviously not as major as it could have been, but like even you guys like, I remember hearing you guys talk about, I think Chuck and Cherry, if we’re talking about the New deal that we had with him before we had even started talking to you guys about partner. And that kind of like, just more people knew who we were because of the press release. Like other companies picking up the story about.

Like like.

That happening.

Right. And anything smart with that man, that’s worth the investment itself because. Companies, they just. To put wrestlers out there.

No answer.

Organic fodder and social media. And like there is an earned media value to what these things, it’s very hard to quantify. Anyone who gives it to you is inflating by 500. But there is a number on there. I remember brand. One of the things you told me was like because you signed that deal you were getting reached out to by like teams or $84,000,000 because you signed one deal, so.

Still do the.

The aftermath. How quickly it was like what? How did? Did this happen?

You. It’s it.

It was.

Super fast and when the press release goes out right, then it’s all in. All the news outlets, right? And I was getting calls from all kinds of people. I mean, I tell people.

That I had put your name on the press release. My concho. My concho.

The. The funniest one that I had was I had a meeting with the Los Angeles Dodgers right after that time period. Know they were looking for their official energy. I got on the call with really no intentions, really, of being the official energy drink.

I expect the first class chest. It’ll be here and I actually want to pick me up. How’s that sound?

Yes.

Done.

And I go like we were in Sports Illustrated articles like talking about the deal. Like, even after the deal ended, they were still, I think there was a brand new one when so and so had another deal pop up that was pretty crazy. And we were tied into it, even though our deal had. So we were kind of still reaping benefits off of that, even though it’s not going any.

Where? But there’s a lot of people that are not going. There’s a lot of lack of regulation, there’s a lot of things that happen, like once the player becomes a professional.

Definitely.

The contracts are. So those people think they’re going to strike it rich getting with this person when they’re young, it’s not. It’s a completely different contract because they’re a professional now. That is one thing that they were clever because the NFL didn’t want people messing with their money. Right? When you talk about college. So we’re also talking about some of the downsides when a player does well and all of a sudden the renewal comes up. You listen to the marketing man and extra 106. And. Be right back with the Zero FG team. Welcome back to the market. Mad Men. An extra 106. Three. Nick constantly. Tino here with the Zero FG team. And let’s finish up the conversation about nil. And I say it because what happens when the player is good has a great. Reason goes to the very down to the wire and then all of a sudden now the schools got money that they have to pay the. It’s amazing how quickly there’s a zero added to your bill. The deliverables are now cut in half of what they do and they have, like their third uncle sister’s mom on the contract looking to get paid because they want to be an offensive lineman. So, like, talk about, talk about what that kind of the aftermath was of all of it and kind of when you look? Backwards. Why you guys are like, alright, this might not be the best.

Way to continue well when you have a player that does well the the previous season, right? Going into the next season. With more expectations, right?

Yeah, and let’s say.

Well, in this case as an understatement. Surpassed every expectation. They were going to put on.

So when you go to have these negotiations, price tag is up, you know as a company like us we we have to sit back and think like is it worth it, right? Delivers, but that we got last year. What are we going to get this year? Well, I think and this is nothing against the agents that are that are supporting these guys you know, but they’re listening to those guys that the players are young, you know, and they’re really just following the lead of their agent necessary.

Yeah.

It’s if we could have talked to the particular. We might. Could have worked something out, but you know you you’ve got their agent who’s. Look, let’s face it. That’s his career.

For sure.

Trying to make money as well, right? Mean he’s trying to make.

Money. But he’s at the counter of the school. Where some of those other players come. Hey, we want to make sure everyone gets in love and you know one of the. Things you guys. I looked over the. I was just, you know, we were trying to help and hand I deal with this stuff all the time. Was fascinating to me, is how poorly legally written. Contract was. Like it’s like 360°. Does that mean? Right. Every side of him.

What does that mean?

What do? Yeah, it rules me like it was almost as lazy. Almost like are you? Are you kidding? You’re talking like a a big chunk of change, and you can’t even put the time to write real legal terms like and you always feel like with contracts and agents, it’s always a gotcha. I’ll tell you. It’s a good thing that I’ve had to look over so ’cause, I’ve caught a lot of those. Like your garden is up so high and like.

Yeah.

Honestly I. I was this. I took my going to law school and go through these processes so happy I didn’t because your job is to be greasy like your job is to be vague and greasy, so you can just build more hours and charge more and and we wonder why society is going.

Mm.

It is. All right, so let’s get more positive so. We got about, you know, 6 minutes left. What I want to talk about is what the future looks like. Sarah, we’ll start with.

Let’s do it.

What? What? What does the future look like? Do you want to? Where do you want to be? If you had an unlimited budget, what would you do? Were some things in the social media side that you wanted to?

So what I want to see what I want to see kind of how like Barstool, they get sent videos and then you know they post it. Think that would work so well for 0G mean Brandon, we’re talking about that all these comedians or even if it’s an influencer. Sending in videos or having somewhere to submit videos? That’s just so many different faces on our page to kind of give away that ZRFG mentality in the culture. Mean, obviously, nobody’s going to be drinking the drink. But these funny like videos and stuff like that, I think will tie into. For a limited budget, what do I want to do?

Yeah. Well, first of all, what you talked about? An. Budget because nobody’s doing this stuff for free.

You’re. You’re right, you’re right.

Let’s just so I think you said it perfectly right.

1. Yeah.

So here’s the problem. Is that because you’re now in an influencer? There’s now a marketplace for influencers and there are 36,000 different companies that all have their hands out to get a cut of this influencer marketplace.

Very true.

Like most things, it’s going to collapse on itself. What happens is most. These influencers don’t have the audiences that may resonate. What are they? They’re offering themselves. What are they worth? You. What are the things about we talked about? That player was worth something, but most of the guys in the team aren’t worth anything without the big school letter on there. The school won’t let them use that because they have to get their own money. So I think that’s you’re right with an unlimited budget you can do that throwing someone a couple of grants say hey, give us a video when you’re out or do this. We have a really cool prize or we’re going to take you all skiing in Aspen like those are. Ways to do it.

Grand trip?

Great idea.

Those are ways. That I only know because I got to go on one. Those with monster. They took us out to Park City, UT and I got to go do of all the snowboarders and everything. It was the craziest freaking. OK. So that being said, I expect. Trip somewhere cool.

I’m doing that today.

So. So, Jack, what are you? What about you event wise? What do you? What would get the crowd going? What do you want? Do you want to see in the future?

I really. I want to get involved with a lot of like it’s. For lack of better term, like more like redneck kind of fishing, hunting kind of events. Involved with those.

I think that our market especially right now, yeah, the Yankee did not say redneck. I did not.

Yeah, like I think like it just right now, our market is people who really. Every step of their day is more just forced. They don’t like. They have a lot of different. A blue collar worker that’s really has to follow schedule all day by being in a worksite, being in a construction site and I really think like being in front of them was like fishing. Hunting tournaments, those kind of things I think would be really good for us, but also just. We. We were the where you don’t have to jump out of planes talking about other.

Yeah.

Drinks. But I really want to see us get involved with some of, like, stunt driving we got. We’re in talks with a guy from California right now who really he has a crazy truck, 1200 horsepower and he just drives. Goes does crazy jumps all kinds of. I want to see us get involved with like.

Real know what you’re saying?

I can’t know how to word it.

What you’re saying is not over commercialized, not 16,000 video comedies going like grassroots people go out and having fun.

Yes. Yes, grasp.

Yes, yes.

Think it fits your brain to do it and I think. There’s a lot of them out. The problem is that everyone gets to the point where then they become their own best. Like you got to catch them at the right, which is exhausting, because again, we’re. The risk.

You.

Every one of them is a risk, like at that time. What happens if they get too big? Happens if they’re not big enough. An investment. I think that the hardest part that you guys have ahead of you again is that that influencer market. Place is because because it. Worked for one. So now everybody wants to. Do. And everybody needs an influencer, and everyone needs us to be organic and the world just doesn’t work that way.

And making sure. Have the right influencer. That’s not going to. Save something that’s going to ruin you. That could just change everything for the company that endorsed them. Is it all takes one bad endorsement and then things can hit the wall?

Well, that being said. That being said, I pray we leave that world like I wish everyone. So. Yes, 100%.

That’s what we’re.

Got your mouth? If you don’t like it, yes. If you don’t. No one’s forcing you to.

That’s what we’re pushing.

To these things, if you don’t like it. No one cares about your opinion and your job to just try to take somebody else down as your own insecurities and.

Yes.

Yeah. So I pray and I hope because we we’re at a point where it is as bad as it will guess and I have to imagine. A. There are people that are just there because they’re, like, ****** *** at their life, so trying to. Everyone else.

Down with them? Definitely, definitely bad. Definitely bad, yeah.

Just so I can get worse. And I say that in watch, but I can’t. Can’t get. Worse, so hopefully we leave a point that allows some of this stuff ’cause we’ve taken.

Yeah.

A lot of the.

Fun out of this stuff. Honestly, one of the things that it’s not tuning our horn, but because we’re such a ragtag bunch like our tailgate, still have a lot of that fun, man.

Yes. Yeah.

Like it’s still a goofy like people are. Like, wait, this is free. Can come in. So Brandon got a minute and a half to what about you? Does the future look like? What are you looking forward?

Well, hope. To over the next year, we’re going. We just got a new chain convenience store chain for Louisiana. OK, they it is much networking as I do.

Cool.

Go to these different events and we go to these trade shows. You know, we haven’t been made some good connections, but not seal the deal. And this one actually came organically because they saw our social media, they got on our. And they called. They have 59 stores in Louisiana. And we’re going in there, 2025. So for me it’s about networking. Getting with these companies that want that, like our brand, love, our culture, see us and and seek potential in. I mean, the other day when this these guys told us we’re high fives all around the office, right? That’s what we want to see. Just want to grow. But again, like you said earlier, not too fast. We have to tell ourself, look, a step at a time. This is a step in the right direction because we are looking to grow kind of organically in the Southeast is really where we’re trying to grow. We get over in Louisiana, you know, and they actually now we’re with a distrib. And it’s in. So, you know, we’re starting to cover the southeast and that is where I would like to see. Zero FG by the end of 2025, as we’ve just grown throughout. This region of the country so.

Yeah. So my only recommendation is to continue to localize yourselves As for example, right?

Right, yeah.

At at Tailgate, you’ve met the Heaven Hill guys, for example. With those heaven hill. Get a recipe to make with bourbon. Get. Make sure you integrate your market right, because if you’re sitting there thinking the Atlanta things are going to work to Kentucky. Doesn’t work.

Market.

One of these things are very different and as much as in. We like to think where the cultural hub. We are. This is. The big cities in Kentucky folk. Like it’s a different. So how do we do horse? How do we do make a a, a mule or something a mule with all those things are things people forget about because their eyes are on this big huge scaling prize. If you really want to make it, you got to localize and you got to get involved in that stuff.

Yes.

Who knows what the answer? Maybe there’s jockeys that need to kick that horse. What it is? I think you can. I think we might make you a. For the social media post.

Oh.

Gosh.

Never watched a horse. You know what that was such a bad question. Going to end on that. 106.3, we’ll catch you next week.

I’m not media, I get.

Yeah.