About us
Established in 2005, Drinks Network is a bespoke wine marketing consultancy specialising in celebrating the triumphs and overcoming the challenges faced by boutique wineries.
The Drinks Network model offers quality and affordability by means of an accomplished network of design, marketing, sales and PR specialists, engaged on a freelance project-by-project basis. Combining strong commercial understanding with natural entrepreneurial flair, in addition to obtaining listings and distribution in key On-Trade and Off-Trade channels, the consultancy service is backed by a full marcomms strategy comprising tastings, promotions, roadshows, media relations, sponsorship, copywriting and editorial.
With a heartfelt passion for wine and enotourism, the Founder Fran Bridgewater is an accomplished wine judge, high-engagement copywriter and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.
As an advocate for bringing English Sparkling Wines to prominence on the world stage and with a proven 25 year track record in the industry, Fran instinctively creates and nurtures high end, artisan drinks brands … combining insightful commercialism and diligent implementation with the natural ability to hit-the-ground-running on all projects.
Contact us today to find out more about how Drinks Network can help your business to fly.
What we do
Drinks Network offers fully integrated end-to-end campaigns and bespoke key elements, on a project-by-project basis:
- Market research and project definition
- Branding, NPD and name generation
- Brand development, range extension and repositioning
- Packaging, design, artwork and production
- Trade support collateral consumer marketing materials
- Advertising, POS and sponsorship
- Launches, roadshows, tastings and promotions
- Listings and distribution contracts (On/Off-Trade) PR activity, editorial and copywriting
- Onward brand support and development
- Marcomms and PR activity
- Editorial and high-engagement copywriting
Client base includes: CHAFOR Wine Estate - fine English Sparkling Wine distributed nationally though Waitrose (zero-to-hero in two years); Hathersage Hall Business Centre - rural regeneration success story for the conversion of Grade II farm buildings into a high-tech office space; Rasgón de Maria; The Wine Portfolio; World Wine Agencies; Bésos UK; Constellation Europe; Thierry’s; Felix Solis; Cálem of Oporto plus 21 high-end boutique wineries across the globe.
How we work
Seeking to really understand our clients’ business, philosophy, culture and commercial objectives is our primary goal:
- Operating as an extension of the clients’ own marketing and sales function
- Creating individually tailored solutions for our clients
- Being flexible and adaptable to our clients’ needs, preferred working styles and reporting processes
- Pre-quoted, variances agreed ensuring no surprise invoices
- Providing efficient and responsive account management on a daily basis, as required.
Drinks Network points of difference
What really makes us stand out from the crowd
- Our first-class team has a wealth of experience in successful wine brand launches, range extensions and brand refreshes
- The latest technology means that the team can work from anywhere on-line, making us highly responsive, flexible and scalable according to individual project requirements
- We have developed key insights into consumer purchasing behaviour
- We understand clearly what makes a consumer pick a wine off the shelf, purchase it on that first occasion and the key motivators that might induce them to buy more next time … crucially, we also understand the key criteria the trade buyers are looking for in their selection
- The Drinks Network team benefits from strong affiliations with the wine marketing press.