Ask the Collective
The questions independent drinks founders ask most — answered. Distilled from years of community knowledge so the good stuff never disappears in the feed again.
When sponsoring events with product stock, how do you ensure you receive quality content, photography and social media coverage in return?
Event sponsorships often result in minimal content delivery despite organisers' promises. Members recommend setting clear, measurable deliverables *before* sending stock, and verifying the event's capacity to deliver. **Pre-event agreements:** - Draft a formal sponsorship agreement (members suggest using ChatGPT to create a template) outlining specific content commitments - Request branding on all pre-event communications and verify this *before* sending stock - Confirm they will tag you in all social posts on the evening of the event **Specific content deliverables to request:** - A product-focused Instagram Reel (not generic story posts) created to your content brief and hitting your comms pillars, co-posted from their largest account post-event - A committed number of collaborative social media posts if they have a good following (competitions work well to generate new followers) - Post-event email campaign to all attendees with an intro offer for online orders **Reality check:** - Several members noted that random story posts with your product are "meaningless" and rarely worth the stock investment - One founder advised it's "almost never worth it unless you can send someone there to create for you, or there is someone specific going who you want a chance of getting a photo holding your product" - Members receive dozens of sponsorship requests weekly and seldom accept them - The safest approach: only sponsor if you can send your own team to create content, or have a specific strategic reason beyond content generation
What fees or licensing costs should we expect when using media publication quotes, logos, and links in our advertising?
Media publications may charge licensing fees for using their quotes, logos, and links in advertising — even retrospectively. **Forbes** charged one member approximately $1,400 USD for backdated use, with a $900 fee to remove the logo. The fee structure varies by geography and publication. **Key findings from members:** - **US publications** typically charge per-publication licensing fees when logos and quotes appear in ads or on-site. - **UK publications** often operate on an annual licensing agreement; one member reported paying around £1,500 per year for a long list of publications. - **Logo usage** is sometimes exempt from fees, though members advise verifying this directly with each publication. - **Quotes and link-sharing** were flagged as potentially subject to fees in the US market, which some members felt was excessive but acknowledged as fair if spending heavily on ads using those logos everywhere. **Member advice:** - Check with each publication's licensing/permissions team before launching campaigns featuring their logos or quotes. - Be aware that fees can be backdated if you've already used logos without a license. - Removing unlicensed content may still incur penalties (one member noted $900 to remove). - US-based publications appear stricter on licensing than UK equivalents.