In business school, students learn that there are four stages of brand development within a brand lifecycle: Cash Cows, Dogs, Stars and Question Marks. In the beverage world, brand owners quickly learn, or should quickly learn, that the four stages should be viewed on a macro level, as these are not the only stages for a brand. Beverage manufactures need to know that on a micro level — the most important level for a new brand — that there are four more important stages: building the distribution base, building investment in the brand, focusing on building consumer pull, and building consumer loyalty.
Spending $1 million on advertising when you are being sold in 100 points of distribution doesn’t make much sense. Marketing efforts must align with these micro-level stages to be effective.