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I’ve written liquor business analyses before about Bonang Matheba and DJ Zinhle’s respective liquor business ventures – visit the links for those articles.
In this article, I explore the advantages of choosing liquor as a business product for MacG’s Grandeur gin and the subsequent benefits of launching the Chillers Punch spirit cooler. A spirit cooler blends spirits and various flavors.
We will use the ‘Convenience Metrical Interest and Advantage Method’ (CMIAM) to provide an understanding.
Macgyver Mukwevho, popularly known as MacG, is the founder and host of South Africa’s most-watched podcast, Podcast and Chill. He co-hosts it with his friend and fellow DJ and radio broadcaster, Sol Phenduka. The country has seen the podcast grow and survive cancellation attempts from the tiring woke mob. Such controversy comes with the antics of his broadcast style, which is often controversial. He is a seasoned DJ and former radio host who was fired several times by radio stations, including YFM and 947. I guess being fired several times is a badge of honor in the radio DJ world.
Let’s get down to the business of products and analyze which ones have a consistent sales advantage, particularly in the world of liquor.
Grandeur Gin was launched several years ago when the podcast was emerging, and Chillers Punch was launched in 2023. Grandeur is a 750ML gin spirit that retails for around R300. Spirits have an alcohol volume of around 40%, hence they need to be mixed with a soft beverage like juice, water, or tonic water. Ready-to-drink or drink-as-is alcoholic beverages like spirit coolers, ciders, and beer range around 5% and their smaller sizes range from 330ML to 440ML. Chillers Punch is a 5% alcohol volume, 440ML in size, and retails for around R140 per 6-pack.
Ready-to-drink liquor is bought and consumed more frequently than hard spirits for several reasons, including:
- They are ready to drink
- They are often cheaper per ML as they have a lower alcohol volume
- They come in smaller sizes, e.g., 330ML
Because of these reasons, ready-to-drink liquor sells more frequently.
Understanding the Competition of Different Product Types in the Market through the CMIAM
Products are not the same; they behave differently and serve different and competing utilities. For example, if you buy my book, you probably won’t buy the same book again. However, you will buy bread and roll-on deodorant repeatedly. Therefore, products have different metrics, especially in terms of how often or frequently they are used, bought, and re-bought. A book is not normally re-bought, but a roll-on deodorant is, although periodically, e.g., monthly but for daily use.
This post, through MacG’s liquor brands, provides examples that can help you start thinking about, measuring, and understanding the use metrics of products. Liquor, unlike a book and a deodorant, gets bought daily to be consumed on the spot. A person can buy and drink liquor daily, weekly, or monthly, but only buy deodorant once per month but for daily use. However, bread is mostly bought daily. Yet, its profit margins are usually lower than beer. A person can purchase and consume more units of beer per day, week, or month than units of bread.
So, we say, the ‘Convenience Metrical Interest and Advantage’ (CMIAM) of liquor, more especially ready-to-drink liquor, is higher than that of a deodorant and a book. Comparing between liquor types, the CMIAM of a punch or cider is higher than that of a hard spirit like gin because they are ready to drink and are cheaper. The former is consumed in greater quantities than the latter.
Are you going to choose products based on their competing metrics (e.g., selling continually so you can make money continually), or based on your passion for them? Either way, you should understand their metrics.
The Definition of “Convenience Metrical Interest and Advantage Method” (CMIAM)
This was detailed in the 90 Days to Create & Launch book. I call this method the “Convenience Metrical Interest and Advantage Method” (CMIAM). It originated in my Future of Township Economies book. However, I specifically referred to it as the “Spaza Metrical Interest and Advantage” in that book. “Spaza” comes from “spaza shop,” which is a South African term for small convenience stores in townships and rural areas.
Let me explain the basis of this naming. A spaza or convenience store trades every day. It sells essential products with various uses, such as bread and cups. Bread is needed daily, although cups might not necessarily sell every day; they will be bought from time to time as needed. Nonetheless, a spaza sells different products on a daily basis, needed at varying intervals. These are the metrical dynamics of a spaza shop. It is bought from daily. Its product composition and metric variation lie in the fact that it sells every day to a community or families who, in turn, have their own metrics with diverse needs and wants that are regular, irregular, and/or repetitive. For example, kids want sweets daily, babies need diapers daily, and fathers may need shaving razors weekly.
The product composition and metrics of a spaza shop can be further enhanced by adding other essential and indispensable products like airtime, electricity, and many more.
With this understanding, what are the metrical dynamics of your product? Does it sell every day because it is needed daily, monthly, once-off (like a book), etc.? By product here, I mean what you own and retail in whatever way you deem fit. You can either open your own store (if you can afford it), sell from the trunk of your car, sell online, engage in hawking, etc.
That being said, I am not suggesting that you open a convenience store that sells other people’s products. However, it can be a convenience store that sells your own branded product or even a mixture, like Pick n Pay having its own No Name brand. You are absolutely free to do whatever you want.
Recap for Convenience and Understanding
A spirit cooler enjoys a larger consistent customer base compared to gin, with customers purchasing daily, weekly, or monthly. This translates to regular sales and steady income.
MacG’s Gin Versus Spirit Cooler
If for example his fans can afford the gin once a month, they will drink the spirit cooler on many other days of the month. You can say MacG is competing against himself, but he is also complementing his base and taking business from other liquor brands. The money for gin and a ready-to-drink spirit cooler – the latter bought more frequently – is all going to him.
Way to go, Mukwevho.