The “Real American Beer” Playbook for Breaking Into a Saturated Industry FAST

 I met Hulk through another business venture and we were on the road one time and someone came up and said
 Have you ever thought about doing your own beer? The Hulk's like brother
 I used to be say your prayers eat your vitamins, but now that I'm not in the WWE anymore got this big idea of brother real American beer
 It's unified the country having one beer to have a beer to neighbor NASCAR country baseball football good memories drinking beer
 That's what Hulk wanted to do and he called me up for several months to do it and I finally came out and do that
 This is right about now with Ryan Alfred a Radcast Network production
 We are the number one business show on the planet with over one million downloads a month
 Taking the BS out of business for over six years and over 400 episodes
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 Well, it starts right about now
 Terry Chad welcome to right about now. What's up guys? What's up Brian?
 Good to have you guys man. I get to do this show. We're almost 800 episodes in it's pretty popular when I see
 Business and beer I'm in baby. That's all I needed to hear. I am a real American beer drinker
 It fit perfect with this brand. Love what you guys are doing. It's got to be a little fun
 Yeah, it's been a crazy ride
 We partnered with Hulk on this and obviously he's passed but we were on the road for a year
 And it was pretty amazing to share that year Hulk and just hit the streets everywhere
 I was a living breathing child that ate his vitamins because of Hulk Hogan
 I get to leave behind the real American legacy in beer though. That's cool
 It's great for you guys to pick it up focus on the positive sides
 How the hell did you get into beer with Hulk Hogan?
 I met Hulk through another business venture and we were on the road one time and someone came up to him
 Said if you ever thought about doing your own beer the Hulk's like brother
 I used to be say your prayers eat your vitamins
 But now that I'm not in the WWE anymore. I got this big idea of brother real American beer
 It's unified the country having one beer to have a beer the neighbor
 NASCAR country baseball football good memories drinking beer
 That's what Hulk wanted to do and he called me up for several months to do it
 And I finally came out and do and I met Terry through another business partner
 And Terry was the head of M&A at INBEV but the time she was at NACO
 And I called her up and told her this crazy idea and she jumped on it
 So that's kind of how we got started
 This bird's not for you. How did you told him Terry?
 Chad and Hulk were pretty convincing
 When you see somebody's work ethic matched with sort of a long career or hard work to show for it
 It was a very easy and obvious decision for me to come and join them
 Chad the hardest working best marketer I know they've met
 And then Hulk worked and couldn't be stopped
 There's nothing about him that ever wanted to not be on the road meeting people and pushing the brand
 We had such a fortunate year and a half with Hulk
 He really certainly did open the doors to allow us to now take on as you say Ryan
 His legacy forward and really bring real American beer to as many people as possible
 How's it been and kind of where you guys taking things now as far as the brand and the business and
 It's an interesting time
 I love this brand because I feel like we started to get towards this place where I feel like we were making
 It's not about politics
 We all should love America
 We're all blessed to live here
 And whenever that became a bad thing or in any way the negative connotation
 I'm a big believer like in sentiment
 People fucking lost their minds sometimes do you know you live in the best country on the planet?
 It is not perfect. No one say it's perfect
 But man, let's embrace some patriotism and make it cool again
 To love the American way and American products
 Is that all right?
 Yeah, yeah
 Terry, I and Hulk were on the road
 It was kind of during the hot topic of what you just mentioned
 Because Mr. Hulk was running the president
 Hulk and myself were at the RNC
 They spoke there and all Hulk really did care about truthfully
 And this is not like people that didn't know him they make their assumptions
 We were with them every single day
 He would go on the road and we would just get to spend time with Americans
 No matter who they were
 Public and Democrat
 It didn't matter
 Hulk was nice to everybody
 Really we have the best time because we beat a bar
 Everyone's happy
 Hulk was there on stage
 Chugging a beer with all the great Americans
 And that was probably one of the greatest times we've had
 Because it was rinsing repeat
 That's all Hulk
 What you just said is exactly what he would say
 Be like it's not about politics
 Beer is a place where you can have a beer with your neighbor
 Have fun
 Watch sports or barbecue
 He'd also say mom's apple pie and just enjoy yourself
 That's the brand that he wanted us out to create
 Yeah
 And what we found
 And I say that we were on the luckiest tour ever
 Because we got to go to places
 Most people have been certainly the media don't write about
 And we've got to see people's kindness
 Their generosity
 Their openness
 Their excitement
 The pride that exists in all these small towns around the country
 It really was a tour that everyone should go on
 Because you'd realize that in fact in these small hometown places
 People are happy
 It's very different from what you read in the media
 That's something that will stick with me for the rest of my life
 Yeah, good point there
 I only need to press me as turning the news on
 It's all about doom and gloom and clicks
 And look, how did their shit going on?
 But come on
 It ain't all bad
 The American way is work hard
 Play hard
 And downtime and entertainment
 And all these things
 A lot of things that Terry Hulk Hogan stood for
 And what a consummate professional
 Hulk Hogan always knew the way
 Say whatever you want about him
 The dude knew the job
 He knew who he was
 And the person that he carried and what he stood for
 I like that
 It's guys like that
 We need to stand up for what you are and what you do
 None of us are perfect
 Because look
 You have a fucking look in the mirror
 If you think you got it all figured out
 No
 We have all prep imperfections
 But if the American way is to forgive and forget
 And to also
 Hey, know how to relax a little bit
 And that's why I love what you're doing
 With this brand
 Nothing be getting on my soapbox
 You guys got the right guest
 Or the right host for you guys
 The brand
 Cause this is right on my alley
 Talk to me about the business side of this
 What is it going up against big beer
 It's challenging
 We've chosen one of the
 Most competitive and cutthroat industries
 And I think most industries would say that
 The difference here
 There's only so much shelf space
 And with all the laws and regulations in place
 You have to go through the system
 You've got to start getting the system
 To work with you
 And for you
 Not against you
 Now I could sit for hours
 And talk to you about the beer
 Beer system
 And the three tiers
 That's for another day
 Unless your distributor wants to work with you
 And wants to push you
 You're not going anywhere
 What we've been able to build
 In a matter of year and a half
 Is relationships
 Thinking about it from a business podcast perspective
 Relationships are the centre of every single business
 There's very few that I would say
 It's not critical for
 In the beer industry
 Even more so
 You could look at it from a big broad perspective
 But ultimately
 It's for Shoffo
 Who wants to make a few more bucks each week
 It's the truck driver
 Who wants to make sure that they make their rounds
 It's the person growing the hops in the week
 Somewhere in North America
 That wants to be able to feed their family
 And so the whole pipeline
 The whole way along
 You're dealing with individuals
 Who care about their world
 And you've got to make your beer
 Worth their while
 Capture their attention
 The more rions we have in this world
 Who are interested in what we're building
 You know, the more successful we'll be
 Because it's going to take a lot more than
 Just even our team to make this work
 It's a whole ecosystem
 Of people pushing in the right direction
 Do we want to go
 To how outdated the three tier system is
 Do we want to go there
 Do we want to still
 Cruel steer
 I mean we can go there if you want
 Our distribution partners
 Are key to our success
 The three tier system has long protected
 The distribution
 The distributors in that chain
 The issue you have is
 The further you get away from the consumer
 The less you can impact sales
 What we're trying to do is work well within that
 And just make sure that our distributors
 Get more of their mind share
 Than other brands
 And obviously when you've got the big Goliaths
 Yeah, if that's a big Goliath amount of mind share
 That the distributors put towards them
 How can you continue to create marketing moments
 And experiences
 They bring them into the real American world
 And make them feel like they're part of something
 Because for the most part
 The big brands aren't doing that anymore
 So the opportunity is really in the relationship
 Yeah, it's a relationship
 It's also marketing
 We're constantly having to give them something to be excited about
 Terry's the CEO is an incredible fighter
 You got to be a fighter in this industry
 Our whole team are fighters
 We're ground and pounded
 Back to the whole thing is
 Whatever Hulk would do
 It didn't matter who it was
 If you run his team
 Get expecting you to work as hard as he is
 And he'll work as hard as you were
 And so that's kind of the culture we built
 When the marketing perspective
 We have to bat up there with AB
 And these guys that we don't have the money like they do
 We raise some money
 We have to be very selective on what we do
 So we've learned a lot through this two years
 Of how we spend our money
 And what we did
 One thing that we did was really cool
 Is that we created a professional freestyle wrestling league
 Because we knew that we wouldn't be able to compete
 Again, by light
 With the UFC deal
 And football
 To rent out a stadium
 Be an official beer of an NFL team
 Is half a million dollars minimum
 I wrestled my whole life
 That's called unscripted wrestling
 Freestyle wrestling
 And we were on the road
 And I was thinking my son's wrestling
 And all the dads are drinking beer
 The tournament stuff
 I'm like this is an area we can own
 We come up with thinking about an idea
 I told his to Terry and Hull
 I was like
 My partner's on the freestyle wrestling
 The freestyle wrestling
 That's now the most popular
 Emerging sports league in the world
 It bats up there with the rest of the combat sports
 And now our beer is the official beer of wrestling
 Unscripted wrestling
 We come up with ways to be creative
 Brantley Gilbert
 We met him through Hull
 Was in drinking beer
 He said he's allergic to alcohol now
 14 years later
 Because he was an alcoholic back in the day
 And now we create a non-alcoholic beer
 With Brantley
 Because Brantley has a story that resonates
 With the non-alcoholic markets
 It's just coming up with unique ways
 To put ourselves there
 It's a very natural and sincere
 To our consumers
 Zero real American beer zero
 Isn't it?
 Yep
 Like I saw Brantley holding one
 Yeah
 Yeah
 I'm a country's music loving
 Truck
 Driving
 Oh yeah
 I'm South Carolina baby
 I know Brantley Gilbert
 Right
 Hi, you're a drinker
 We're going up to you
 Yeah, we're
 I know
 You guys are in the rock the country
 Yes
 I know
 Yeah
 When is that?
 In London
 So they're in seven small cities
 Around the country
 Our next one is in Belville, Texas
 On May the 1st and 2nd
 Brantley's going to be performing there
 What we're building is like an ecosystem
 Where maybe it doesn't make sense to everybody right now
 But what you'll start to see is
 When you come into the real American ecosystem
 It all works together
 We've got Brantley walked out
 Kobe Covington
 At a real American freestyle
 Kobe and Brantley are both on the real American beer team
 Brantley is performing at rock the country
 We are the beer of rock the country
 You start to see country music
 And MMA are different
 They're not
 The people who are watching MMA
 Are listening to country music
 And they're drinking beer
 What we do is work
 Creating an ecosystem
 That is really surround someone's lifestyle
 It's the person who's going watching the dirt racing
 That they're also going to watch
 Raff on Saturday night
 And watch that great show in Philly
 So it's like you know
 We're sort of surrounding ourselves
 With the lifestyle of our drinkers
 I love that
 I'm sitting in the middle of my trading card store
 That I own
 I'm going
 It all sort of ties together too
 There's a culture there
 We launched a trading card business
 For a raff
 We've done pretty well
 And there's guys that come from Tennessee
 And all these different states to buy it
 Collectibles in Germany
 Pattern was one of the biggest collectibles
 Guy in the space
 He's also an investor of real American freestyle
 So when he bounties the cards
 All the collectors
 They come out
 And they want to be a part of it
 It's been a really good part of our business
 Mm-hmm
 That's a toss to add some distribution
 Or something there
 I can put some
 Some marae f cards up
 Here
 We'll send you some
 Ha ha ha
 Yes
 Ah
 Trading cards
 It's a good
 This is a match made in heaven
 Let's talk about the business a little bit more
 With the distribution system
 Is it bottom up or top down
 Are both
 Because I'm sitting here going
 The elevate the brand
 From the bottom down
 Like customers
 So you get them talking and asking
 So you bubble it up there
 A pun intended
 Or
 Is it top you work in the top
 Talk to me about all that
 It's definitely both
 Those kind of lightning bolt brands
 That you hear about
 Once every few years
 They've managed to both the exact same time
 Gruns is an example of one that is he sold
 And I would say they're one that kind of found a need
 Found the consumers found a route to market
 And did it together
 Now with beer
 On the alcoholic side
 It's a little bit more fragmented
 I think you need to win the hearts and minds
 Of the distributor first
 Then that allows you to win the hearts and minds
 Of the retailer
 And then the job is to get the consumers to walk
 If you start the other way around
 Consumers can't find it
 And so there's always that
 Thought of when do you spend your marketing dollars
 And when do you accelerate
 Because if you've got all this great stuff happening
 But the product's not on the shelf
 Forget about it
 Because then no one's ever drinking your beer
 Because it's not there
 And the need to get distribution and get it wide
 Cross everywhere where you're targeting
 Or only spend money where the beer is actually on the shelf
 Because of the three-tier system
 That's the rule
 That's where it really becomes interesting
 That's why in a year and a half
 Since we have launched
 We were able to open up 20,000 retail doors
 We were able to set up 180 distributor relationships
 Across 32 state
 We were able to get into Walmart
 And to Alpetsons
 We're at HEB
 You name it
 We've had a spot in it
 Total wine across the country
 To be able to do all of that rapidly
 And then also get the consumer at the same time
 You win some
 You lose some
 Some markets
 Won't enter all packaging
 Just to be clear
 It wasn't the thing for it
 Now what we're doing with the rebrand
 Is we're really making sure
 That we've got that surround sound
 That we know is needed
 So RAF is our core consumer
 We're focused on wrestling
 We're focused on colleges
 And then we're also focused on country lifestyle
 And those three areas
 We've got very sort of specific pillars for marketing
 That we're building under that
 But we're building that
 Because we know also where our distribution is
 We're getting strong distribution in Texas
 We're getting strong distribution in Florida
 We're getting strong distribution in Georgia
 You sort of start to see how
 When you look at where we're going to be on the shelf
 Our consumer is there
 And we can speak to them in a certain way
 The magic is when the truth collide
 It needs to happen from the top
 And the bottom at the same time
 We're out of beer as a killer in
 The city of Massachusetts
 Boston, right
 It's not a beer as a killer in downtown Chicago
 We killed in Illinois
 And all the other areas in Illinois
 Just like Terry's market
 We murder it and upstate New York
 We do really well in Wisconsin
 In Michigan
 We kill in Ohio
 We know that we're not going to be here
 It's going to be going into nightclub
 In New York City
 And that's going to be our beer of choice
 So, like Terry said, we're very focused
 I know where we went
 And we know where we went
 Yeah, that country culture
 Going on in the South Carolina
 It's about to open North Carolina
 That's going to be in the coming month or so
 So we'll be down in South Carolina in no time
 We have to stop in if you'll come on the world tour
 Or whatever to the South
 I think like you know, direct to consumer
 Like is that ever going to happen for beer?
 A lot of the beer only non-alcoholic beers
 Have done well and been able to get distribution
 Because of direct to consumer
 So with the launch of our zero
 We've just started our D to C
 So we've had to build that whole arm and muscle
 We haven't quite yet got hoax muscles
 In that arm
 But what we've had to do there is
 We can start selling that directly
 Outside of the three tier
 Because it's a non-alcoholic beverage
 In most states it's possible
 Now without what we're already seeing
 Is an ability to understand more about the consumer
 Because we get the direct data
 We've learned that we're getting about 25% rebise
 In the last three weeks
 Just off a smaller base
 But still that's fantastic indicator of flavor
 And taste resonating with the consumers that are buying
 You start to see and understand more
 How direct data with the consumer
 Can change the way you can react
 That's the hardest thing with beer
 Is you just don't get that
 Because you don't have that relationship
 With the consumer from a transaction's basis
 Will it ever go D to C?
 I think again
 As long as you work through it
 Maybe it's D to C and it ends up being
 The back end goes through the retailer
 That's how Devices work so far
 I don't think there's any time soon
 That that's going to change
 I think it's about finding the way to work within it
 Has that just a safety
 Because you're sipping an alcoholic beverage
 And people are worried that 15-year-olds
 Are going to be drinking it too easily
 In fact, if you go to Walmart.com
 Here's a great thing about Walmart
 And we love them as our partners
 They really do a great job
 What Walmart is able to do now
 I think it's the start something like
 In 97% of the country
 You can order and get your product
 Delivered to your door within three hours
 And that includes alcohol
 There's a little promo for Walmart
 But it's a pretty fantastic start
 But in fact
 In most parts of the country
 You can actually order and get alcohol
 Delivered to your door within three hours
 So I'm glad I didn't have that
 I don't think
 They're at Blue Wall State
 So I don't know who her backwards
 On some of these were four words
 Of other who were backwards
 It's just when South Carolina way
 Well that may be
 The whole of the alcohol regulation side of things
 Is done state by state
 My background is
 I'm a lawyer
 And so that's helped us
 Really to understand and cut through
 Some of the noise
 When you set up a new company
 It does it makes a difference to understand it
 So you can work within it
 There you go through
 We went through over 180 wholesalers
 Distributors
 And they're like
 They used to look at me and Terry
 And be like
 You guys can't get this done
 And it's sort of on time
 And Terry's like
 I'm a lawyer
 I'll be okay
 And so with the
 We get a contract signed with them
 That may take a normal company
 Four to six weeks
 We get it done in three to five days
 And apparently we have
 How to do that
 Because we would take Hulk to market
 Hulk went
 With me and Terry to Walmart
 And all these different spots
 But once Hulk was agreeing to go to market
 We had to move quick
 And so
 There's one time
 Where we actually got a contract done in about a day
 And then we were in market
 Days later
 So pretty crazy
 Three or four days later
 In Hulk
 With a large retail partner
 That's nimble
 You don't see that at the big spots
 Trying to think how
 He might sleep
 Not during those times
 It was crazy
 You get like six to eight hundred people waiting in line to meet Hulk
 And he was in a lot of pain
 Barely can move
 To be honest
 And he stood up there
 For four hours
 To make sure everybody got to meet him
 And that's what you were talking about earlier
 Which always resonates with me
 It's important for me to always share that
 Part of his legacy
 Because most celebrities at his level
 Will not do that
 And he would do it rinse and repeat
 Rinse and repeat
 Three to four times a day
 Well, everyone else is getting to relax
 I thought of that
 Said a lot about his character
 The end of the last year of his living
 He got to see the love
 That people had for Hulkomania
 And that kind of gave him his energy
 When he's in that pain during those store visits
 So lift him up and you go
 Man brother, I'm tired
 But they still
 The Hulkomania
 That 1984 Hulk filled
 I feel that liking bolt still
 And he would say that to me
 And Terry all his eyes
 So I thought that was a good message that for the brand
 That's why a lot of distributors
 And people want us to win too
 He would drive a lightning bulb to them
 And he would sell seven trucks of beer
 In a week
 Because he would show up
 And that no one was able to ever do that
 He always knew the job
 And he always did it
 I didn't know him personally
 But I know
 Y'all know Darren Perence
 It's like one of his many agents
 Entertainment
 And it shows everything
 Darren and I are close
 And he speaks very highly of whole code
 And I always
 And I had followed him
 Growing up
 I mean, I watched wrestling
 I don't know if you met Christopher Volo
 But he worked with Darren for a long time
 And Chris Vowe was our partner
 He's the one who would be with Hulk
 And us in the tour all the time
 And was a partner in the beer in RAF
 But on the road
 He managed Hulk for 17 years with Darren
 That's awesome
 What are we going with the brand
 I know you guys have talked about it some of the changes
 We've talked about the RAF
 Integration and all that stuff
 We've made tons of sense
 Where are we pointed towards right now
 We're going towards the Real American Beer
 It's a brand as the original vision
 That we set out to do
 And Terry said it's a very pointed approach
 We've launched an alcoholic
 We're going to be coming out more skews
 We're just getting started
 We're almost a two-year-old brand
 We just launched a whole new VBI
 As Terry is presenting
 We were two weeks ago here in Tampa
 There's a bunch of football players
 From the box there
 And they love the beer
 People
 They're just getting the beer in hands
 And becoming as big as company
 Big CPG company
 The average company that we can be
 But it's staying in our lane
 Knowing who we are
 And just really hyper focused on
 Growing the business
 We're always looking for ways
 To activate our community
 We've got
 We've already for a very new brand
 But a bunch of loyal followers
 And it's like how can we use them
 To continue to be advocates
 And referrals for the brand
 So we're coming up with a couple of really cool things
 And I'm excited to share soon
 But this can't be done by our team
 I said this earlier
 But it really will take a force
 And a force of people who all want to see something new
 And align to what they love
 Work
 We're just building that group of people
 Who will make sure that they go and buy
 A six-pack each week
 Make sure it's on their local tap
 At the bar that they go to
 By the lake and Wisconsin
 It's about finding those people to be like
 Hey, can I get real American beer in here
 Because I love it
 And I'll drink it and all my friends will drink it too
 That's the trick here
 It's going to take a lot of us to make this work
 Well, I've got sponsorship open on my houseboat
 That's on Lake Kiwi
 We'll make real American beer
 The official beer of the summer
 Of the offered houseboat
 I'm on that
 I'm on that
 Make sure it's back
 Make sure it's stocked
 Yes
 I got, look, I got a 75 feet
 I got a top deck with my bar
 And we're going to stock that baby with real American beer
 And we'll just be the summer of RAB
 I love that
 I love that
 I love one of your houseboat parties
 Yes, so you're invited
 Yeah
 With the film like the stocking or something
 Yes
 Oh, it's fun
 You got to come to the RAF event
 I want to, man, I'd love to
 We have to work that out
 I have a real appreciation for how tough those guys are
 That's it
 Real is the right word
 Real tough
 Hey guys, what can we leave details
 Information for anybody listening
 They want to learn more about what you guys are up to
 Take a look at therealamerican.com
 That's our website
 AtDreamCrab is the Instagram
 The handle across most social channels
 The biggest thing we can ask is
 Ask your local bar or your liquor store to get RAB in
 Say that you want to try it
 Get them to ask for it
 And we'll make sure that the beer keeps getting stocked
 Because we'd love to be part of your regular
 Beer drinking occasions
 That's the ask of the team around the country
 Yeah, like Terry said, to show up
 See the culture we're building
 And then
 We're the number one show on Fox Nation too for RAF
 If anyone wants to watch RAF
 Just tune in to Fox
 Or the number one show there as well
 And just see the beer front and center as well
 We appreciate you having us on here
 Yeah, my pleasure
 Thanks very much
 Perfect fit
 Real America free style
 We're going to open now
 Fine
 Oh yes, please
 There we go
 There we go
 Terry's cracking one
 We'll be cracking one
 I'm going to get it
 Yes
 Terry's a real American Australian
 I like to joke with her
 Yeah, exactly
 Well, it is a funny one
 Because I say to people
 I come at being a real American
 From a different point of view
 I wasn't born here
 But I choose to raise my family here
 I call it the greatest country in the world
 And I see it for all of its good things
 In fact, it's a privilege to be in the country
 It's a privilege to be able to build a family and a career here
 And for that reason
 I have a very interesting perspective on it
 And I'm proudly American
 That is actually the most American thing
 That I've ever heard
 Is actually like that's what America is about
 It's about the freedom and the choice to be here
 Listen when you have the privilege to be
 And then adding value to the country like you are Terry
 And bringing a challenge to Big Beer
 With a real American product
 Haha
 Yeah, I have a five year old daughter
 And she sounds more American than anything
 The fact that she gets to be schooled here
 The fact that she gets to live here
 It's a privilege for her
 And I'm glad that we have the opportunity to be here
 Chad Terry, really appreciate you guys for coming on
 It was a pleasure getting to know you
 I hope it's just the beginning
 Thank you for having us
 I'm going to be on your house break
 Hey guys, you're to find us
 Ryan is right.com
 You'll find links to all the beer episodes
 All the beer talk will be there
 It always is
 We appreciate you for making us
 Number one, you can find me at Ryan Offord
 With that blue check before you can buy it baby
 We'll see you next time
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