Canned cider launch in 140 Virginia grocery stores
Result
41,600 cans sold in 10 weeks
Budget
$64,000
Timeline
12 weeks, March to May 2026
Services
Strategy, paid social, launches and retail, content
From the client
In week five Priya called to move $6,000 out of bus shelters and into tastings, because the tastings were selling cans. No agency had ever told us to spend less on something.
Dana Hollis, founder
The brief
Northbank Cider had sold kegs to Charlottesville bars since 2017. In 2026 they moved into 12-ounce cans and signed with a distributor that put them in 140 grocery stores across Virginia. Dana Hollis needed 25,000 cans sold in the first ten weeks, the number the distributor set to keep the shelf space.
What we did
We planned twelve weeks around one idea: people buy a cider they have tasted. Sam produced one shoot day on the Rivanna for photos and short videos. We booked 86 tastings in 52 stores and ran paid social only within ten miles of a stocking store, so every ad pointed to a shelf someone could reach that week.
Bus shelters in Richmond ran for two weeks. Sales in the stores near the shelters didn't move, so in week five Priya moved $6,000 of that budget into more tastings.
Results
41,600 cans sold in the first ten weeks, against a plan of 25,000. Stores that hosted a tasting sold 2.6 times as many cans as stores that didn't. The distributor added 38 stores in June.
The plan
Week by week, with the budget for each channel
Tell us what you’re launching next.
Lena Marsh reads every inquiry and replies within two business days. The first call is 30 minutes and free.