Challenge

My company sources for and distributes niche and other lesser-known brands of alcoholic. We  are a B2B business and our customers are restaurants, bars, and retail shops at shopping malls.

Although our customers are businesses, I understand the importance of fully meeting the needs  of our customers’ customers – end-consumers of alcoholic drinks – who are people like you and  me who visit restaurants and bars.

The challenge I face is correctly identifying what products to source for that customers would  like. As our suppliers require a large minimum order quantity for each new order (as the order  will have to be shipped from overseas and a large order is required to cover the high fixed  shipping costs), we take on the risk of ending up with a large quantity of unsold drinks if they  turn out to be unpopular with customers.

Thus, I need a lower-cost method of gauging customer responses without the need to place a  large order.

Selection

I was inspired by the IBM Story in Week 4 of the course, and wanted to conduct a learning  launch using the same concept – conducting an experimental experience to find out what was  the best way to engage customers and get their feedback.

Application - Learning Launch 1

The first learning launch was my company organizing a tasting event at the supplier’s  manufacturing premises. The supplier was located overseas so we had to fly in for the event. As  we wanted to keep the cost as low as feasible, we flew only our biggest customers (the owners  of restaurants and bars) to the event. We also allowed them to bring 3 of their customers, who  were long-time regulars of their restaurants and bars. This event also served as a reward for  their most loyal customers.

At the tasting event, my business customers and their customers were able to try out a wide  range of alcoholic drinks, and served as an excellent platform for all parties to exchange views  about consumer preferences.

Insight

The key learning point was that our customers preferred to try out a wide range of products at  the same time, and although they may not place an order immediately, the will keep in mind  those products they liked an place an order later. This was because consumer tastes change  rapidly, and the popularity of certain types of products comes in waves. So even if our

customers thought that a product was good, it may not be the right time to launch the product  locally yet, thus the delayed orders.

Application and Insight - Learning launch 2

After the first learning launch, we implemented a second learning launch. Due to the success of  the first learning launch, our suppliers were convinced of the value of having such tasting  events. This time, our suppliers agreed to supply us with small quantities of a wide range of  alcoholic drinks, and the tasting event would be held locally, so that more of our customers  could attend.

This was not standard industry practice, as the shipping charges were still fixed and they would  incur an initial loss, but with our first learning launch, our suppliers were fully convinced of the  longer-term benefits of having tasting events. The tasting event was a hit among our customers,  and we intend to continue with such tasting events in the future.

Approach

With the success of the two learning launches, we are currently thinking of ways to add more  value to our business customers, particularly restaurants. Restaurants also have new product  launches (eg. new dishes or desserts) and we are tying up with them to do a joint tasting event  featuring their new dishes and our range of alcoholic drinks that we are considering bringing  into the local market.

This approach could better engage the restaurants’ patrons, as they not only have new food to  try, but also an exclusive range of alcoholic drinks not currently available in the local market.  We are very excited to conducting our third learning launch in the near future!

