'There are so many celebrities and influencers that have millions of followers that can't sell a damn thing': Spritz Society's Ben Soffer on building an alcohol brand beyond its influencer roots

Spritz Society rose to fame because of its influencer founder, but the sparkling wine brand is now trying to transcend that.

Ben Soffer, perhaps best known on Instagram as the Boy With No Job, ironically does have a job -- he's an alcohol entrepreneur selling canned drinks both online and in over 400 stores in eight states. Soffer is now focused on expanding Spritz Society's wholesale presence and making his company a brand beyond its social media roots.

"If you have a community, then you can get people to try a product online without ever experiencing it in-person," Soffer said on the Modern Retail Podcast. "If you don't have that community, there's no level of credibility that's going to educate you on why you should give this product to chance -- unless you're dumping money into paid media."

Indeed, it was his community that first launched the brand. Sofer asked his followers via a Google Form in 2020 about what they wanted to see in the brand. "The name of the brand, Spritz Society, comes from the empathetic approach," he said.

But now the company is much more than a few thousand survey responses. The brand is expanding to 70 Walmart locations and in 200 H-E-B stores. "The main driver is grocery and will continue to be. Grocery is where you're looking for this product," Soffer said.

Even though Spritz Society first launched online, Soffer believes that wholesale is the only real way for a startup alcohol brand to truly grow. "It's completely impossible to launch a direct-to-consumer alcohol business without a community behind it," he said.

And community is something he's thinking about a lot. For example, he is very stringent about the types of partnerships he forges with Spritz Society. It may seem like a good idea for a brand to find a celebrity, but it may not be easy to actually sell products. "There are so many celebrities and influencers that have millions of followers that can't sell a damn thing," he said.

With this, the focus is on growing Spritz Society's footprint. While other companies may think about expanding into new products, Soffer says he wants to own the category he knows well. "The goal, first and foremost today, is being laser-focused on building the Spritz Society brand to be a household name amongst sparkling wine cocktails," he said.