Trying to stand out amongst the crowd of RTDs flooding the market these days can be difficult, to say the least. But the Nashville-based brand Spirited Hive seems to have cracked the code to gaining consumers’ attention and is poised to become a significant player in one of the fastest-growing segments of the alcohol landscape.
Launched in May 2022 by recent college graduate Jack Espy, the brand quickly established itself in its home market of Nashville by following an unconventional game plan. It partnered with a professional sports team and launched an innovative advertising campaign across the city—all before ever selling a can of its product.
The brand’s willingness to do things differently is baked into its DNA. Conceived during the Covid lockdowns of 2020, while Espy was still in college at the University of Southern California, during cocktail parties with friends, he stumbled onto an idea no one else had.
“I thought, what if I took a different approach to the whole canned cocktail industry and made a better canned cocktail that was only sweetened with organic wildflower honey?” says Espy. “That was kind of the backbone behind the brand being sweetened with honey and only using natural ingredients to make the drink.”
Jack Espy, the founder of Spirited Hive.
It took almost two years of recipe formulation and branding before he was ready to roll out his product. Through a friend, he contacted the Nashville Soccer Club, a member of Major League Soccer, and entered discussions to coincide the launch of Spirited Hive with the debut of the team’s new 30,000-seat soccer-only stadium. Discussions went well, and on May 1, 2022, as fans entered the facility, three Spirited Hive-branded bars and advertisements on the stadium’s LED signage introduced the brand as the official RTD of the NSC.
They also blanketed Nashville with billboards that introduced Spirited Hive to consumers to hammer home its message. It worked, and the brand quickly gained momentum while also inking deals to be the exclusive RTD for the NFL’s Tennessee Titans and the NHL’s Nashville Predators. That helped them land their products on the shelves and make inroads with major retail chains and distributors, which allowed them to expand into other states. They are currently distributed in Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, New York, and Connecticut, with an eye toward expanding further west.
However, moving out of their home market required the brand to adapt its strategy. Professional sports partnerships are expensive, especially for a startup. To continue driving growth and exposure, the brand heavily leaned into its messaging to consumers, built around its Hive Community initiative.
Designed to connect health-conscious consumers who are looking for healthier drinking options, the brand engages drinkers in both new and existing markets. Using a Hive Ambassador program, they host activations, event tastings, and crew drives that use social media to interact with consumers. Many brands have tried doing this in various forms, with some succeeding and others not. Only time will tell if Spirited Hive does.
Each of the five SKUs in their lineup offers a simple message to drinkers: The cocktail inside the can is made from one spirit and three mixers, one of which is honey. The cans come in four packs priced at $14.99, and they also offer a Tropical variety pack. Espy is hopeful the brand will launch a non-alcoholic beverage in 2024, too.
As the alcohol landscape continues to change as new products and segments emerge, it seems there are stories emerging daily about a new visionary. While most will fade away, it does seem that Spirited Hive might be onto something. Only time will tell, but Espy is bullish.
“Coming from outside the industry, you bring in new ideas that people within the industry don’t think of. It can be a pretty archaic industry that is resistant to change, and to succeed, you need some naivety, stubbornness, and the will to continue moving forward,” says Espy. “The emergence of the RTD sector with so many young founders that don’t have a background in the alcohol industry is causing a fundamental shift that benefits consumers and the industry. Change is good, and I think Spirited Hive is ideally placed to become an industry-leading brand.”