How a Brand Innovation Agency Won a $700K Engagement in the Alcohol Beverage Space
| Client Type | Brand Development, Innovation and Strategy Agency |
| Win | $700K Engagement, Red Tree Beverages / Coca-Cola |
| Verticals Served | CPG, Beverage, Alcohol, Food & Beverage, Entertainment, Consumer Brands |
The Challenge: Elite Creative Credentials, but No Reliable Path to the Next Major Brand
This brand development, innovation, and strategy agency built a 20-plus year reputation working with many recognizable consumer brands.
But even agencies with strong portfolios run into the same new business problem: getting in front of the right people at the right brands, which requires a level of sustained, organized outreach that creative-led organizations rarely have the infrastructure to maintain.
Pipeline from reputation and referrals is real, but not predictable, and it doesn’t scale.
They needed a program that could take their story to mid-tier and major consumer brands systematically, and open doors that reputation alone couldn’t.
Why Outsourced New Business Made Sense
This client wasn’t going after Coca-Cola directly, but a subsidiary, Red Tree Beverages had its own team and its own agency relationships, focused specifically on Coke’s expansion into alcohol.
That made it a realistic and attractive target for an agency with the right capabilities.
Getting to the right people inside a subsidiary like that still requires work.
RSW/US assigned a dedicated New Business Director to reach brand and innovation decision-makers through phone, email, LinkedIn, and direct mail, with messaging built around what the agency brought to consumer brand development and innovation specifically.
RSW/US scheduled a direct meeting with Coca-Cola, which led to the introduction to Red Tree.
How RSW/US Built the Program
Like a lot of small agencies, this one didn’t have a dedicated new business function, the principals were focused on doing the work, and outreach to new prospects was sporadic at best.
RSW/US built the program from the ground up, starting with a kick-off that focused on what the agency did well: brand development, innovation strategy, and creative work for major consumer brands across CPG, beverage, and entertainment.
RSW/US built a targeted prospect list of consumer brand companies where those capabilities were a good fit, and put an experienced New Business Director on outreach with messaging that spoke to the specific challenges brand teams face when they’re trying to build something new in a crowded consumer category.
Red Tree was on the list as a target. and had to go through Coca Cola to get there, which led to an introduction.
Red Tree ultimately operated independently from the main Coca-Cola business, with its own team, which made it a realistic target for a small agency with the right kind of experience, and the agency was ready when the meeting came through.
The Result: A $700K Engagement with Red Tree Beverages
The agency won a $700K engagement with Red Tree Beverages, focused on new brand launches in the RTD beverage space.
For a brand innovation agency whose practice was built around helping consumer companies earn attention, this was a win that validated the agency’s capabilities and the RSW program that opened the door.
Learn more about The Coca-Cola Company.
Is Your Agency Getting in Front of the Brands It Deserves to Work With?
If your agency has the creative and strategic capabilities to compete at the highest level, RSW/US can help you get in front of the brands that need what you do. We build the program, generate the right meetings, and help move opportunities forward.
Want to see exactly what’s included in a full program? Explore Our Offerings
Want to understand how we work day-to-day? See Our Process
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