As approximately 400 Very Important Beverage Executives gather at the Palazzo in Las Vegas for the first VIBE Conference vibeconference.com/, you can be sure that what happens in Vegas this week shouldn’t stay in Vegas! Well, at least most of what happens in Vegas should be taken back to the office and applied to the business of growing beverage sales and profits. Specifically, the VIBE presentations by leading market researchers should yield insights and spark ideas to capitalize on trends and opportunities:
Warren Solochek of The NPD Group will address the burning question of “How Will the Restaurant Industry be Different When the Current Recession Ends?”
Overview: The economic downturn has changed the way many Americans are spending their money. In the past 18 months, consumers have modified how they patronize restaurants as they try to balance the convenience of eating out and still reduce overall household spending. In addition, many major restaurant chains have adjusted their ‘go-to-market’ strategy, which is affecting how Americans select a restaurant and the foods/beverages ordered. Once the recession ends, will Americans use restaurants differently than they did earlier in this decade when the economy was growing? What segments will be winners and what ones will lose visitors — and why? How will these changes impact beverage sales in the coming years?
“Beverage Alcohol: Trending Through the Recession” will be tackled by a panel moderated by Donna Hood Crecca that includes: Lester Jones, chief economist and senior director of research services at the Beer Institute; Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association; David Ozgo, senior vice president of Economic & Strategic Analysis at Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.; and John Gillespie, partner with Wine Colleagues.
Overview: Learn about the latest overall trends in consumption of beer, wine and spirits and how they are faring in this recessionary environment and beyond.
The tag team of Dave Henkes, Technomic, and Brian Barrett, GuestMetrics, will present “On-Premise 2010 — Breaking the On-Premise Code: A Look at Consumer and Sales Trends Impacting the Industry.”
Overview: This program evaluates the current on-premise landscape and provides insights into trends and dynamics affecting the business. Using a combination of Technomic’s industry and consumer research, coupled with the granularity and detail from GuestMetrics’ real-time point of sale data, this presentation will offer both macro and micro level implications for growing the beverage alcohol business in 2010 and beyond.
Mike Ginley of Next Level Marketing will cover “The Keys To Drink Menu Success.”
Overview: Learn how to profitably influence beverage consumers’ drink choices. The session will provide fact-based consumer insights from a new custom consumer study fielded exclusively for the VIBE Conference. The research will focus on how to engineer the most effective drink menus by providing consumer-based answers to specific menu questions from many of VIBE’s top operators.
No need to take furious notes – just sit back, listen, absorb and let the wheels turn. All presentations will be available on the VIBE web site vibeconference.com/.