• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, June 10, 2021

When the hardworking folks at Minneapolis commerce agency The Stable finish a long day, they can crack open a cold one … that the agency owns.

The brand is fundays Hard Seltzer, and it is now available at select Target stores around the country.

The agency’s CEO, Chad Hetherington is also an entrepreneur and back in 2019, he decided to create a new brand aimed at Gen Z and millennials in the hard seltzer category. The agency cites a projection that the category will grow to $4.7 billion by next year.

The agency’s team did a lot of the legwork putting together a launch plan. And it partnered with Cardinal Spirits and Buffalo Bayou Brewing company to develop the product.

“Like most businesses I have started, we got a real-life education figuring it all out as we went along,” said Hetherington.

But this time, he notes, he could rely on the experts at his own agency to help with the heavy lifting.

The shop has 200-plus retail specialists, strategists, designers and data scientists who work with brands launching at Target, Walmart and Amazon. (Quip and Cora are among them.)

The agency developed social and video campaigns to support the launch.

Hetherington says launching the hard seltzer brand was “a bit of fun,” but the agency most likely will stick to its knitting going forward.