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Case Study

Gary Dunlop on placement with Hughes Craft Distillery Ltd | RubyBlue Spirits

In 2017 as a final year student working towards a BA (Hons) Liberal Arts degree with a concentration in History, Gary was on placement with Hughes Craft Distillery Ltd, maker of RubyBlue Spirits. While there, he worked under the guidance of Rachael Dalzell, who is the Sales and Marketing Manager at the distillery.

Hughes Craft Distillery was set up in 2010 by Barbara and Stuart Hughes, a husband and wife team from Lisburn. Initially, the RubyBlue Spirits product line was just a selection of real fruit liquors and for several years that was the only product that they made and sold. Whereas the market had many specialist Gins available research indicated a gap in the vodka market leading to Barbara and Stuart creating RubyBlue Vodka. Barbara and Stuart also conducted their own market research and came up with a suggested cocktail, RubyBlueThyme, which is RubyBlue vodka with lemonade garnished with green apple and thyme. This signature cocktail has become a popular choice in many luxury hotels and restaurants.

The majority of vodka on the market is distilled from wheat or barley: RubyBlue is a unique product, advertised as "Ireland's First Potato Distilled Vodka, exceptionally Smooth and Pure with subtle notes of vanilla and crisp apple. Buttery and well-rounded with just a little earthiness" (www.rubyblue.com). Compared to other high-quality premium spirits on the market, RubyBlue has done exceptionally well. It won the Vodka Masters Award in New York City in 2013, beating world-recognized premium vodkas Grey Goose and Belvedere. What makes this victory even more impressive is that the awards were conducted using a blind taste test, empirical evidence for the high quality of the RubyBlue product.

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1. Placement Experience

Placement with Hughes Craft Distillery involved shadowing the work of Rachael Dalzell, Sales and Marketing Manager. As Hughes Craft Distillery is a small and considerably young company, it has a team limited to three people handling all the operations of the business. Gary spent the majority of his period of placement travelling with Rachael, visiting different hospitality businesses and attending hospitality trade fairs located in Counties Antrim, Down, Fermanagh and Armagh. Gary was in the position to gain an understanding of the role of a brand ambassador, which involved the promotion, marketing and selling of the RubyBlue brand. The opportunity to observe Rachael giving her sales pitch, promoting the RubyBlue products and being in a position to give accurate sales data was a lesson in professionalism. Being in a position to give factual information on the terms of contracts and, at all times, having the ability to give faultless answers to ad hoc questions by potential clients was a valued experience. The skills required to secure and maintain sales included the ability to demonstrate a clear understanding of the UK and international spirits industry, an awareness of product competitors and a knowledge of marketing theory and terminology.

Gary Dunlop with Rachael Dalzell, Sales and Marketing Manager at Hughes Craft Distillery Ltd | RubyBlue Spirits

Planning and organisational skills quickly emerged as being essential to the sales and marketing role, along with the need for an awareness of the strategic direction of the business in order to deliver on operational level tasks in a meaningful way. Apart from dealing with day-to-day business, time needed to be set aside to plan for the week ahead involving in-depth market research and analysis of hospitality businesses in various locations that did not yet stock RubyBlue Spirits. This analysis involved sourcing the bars, restaurants and hotels in a target area to judge if RubyBlue products could potentially become an adopted brand. Selected businesses would then be cold-called and pitched over the phone to try to secure a formal meeting with key personnel.

Alongside the focus on acquiring new business, catering for existing accounts had equal importance involving the need to check if the terms of each merchandising contract regarding the display and selling of RubyBlue products were in place.

During his placement Gary became involved directly at all levels of the sales and marketing operations, building a background knowledge of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) within the alcohol industry as well as the company’s regulations, procedures and the legal framework associated with Hughes Craft Distillery Ltd.

Gary being presented with the O’Callaghan Entrepreneurship Cup by Rachael Dalzell, Sales and Marketing Manager at Hughes Craft Distillery Ltd | RubyBlue Spirits during the college Commencement Ceremony.

2. Personal Knowledge & Experience Gained – the student’s view

Gary commented:

"My placement this year was very worthwhile and offered invaluable experience. As I have family members that work in the FMCG/alcohol industry, I already had an idea of what it was like and how rewarding it could be in terms of career progression and potential earnings. I learned so much in such a short period of attachment to RubyBlue. Shadowing the sales/marketing role allowed me to observe the professional approach taken to building networks along with developing a knowledge of the marketing strategies used to gain competitive advantage over other brands. I also became aware of the challenges and restrictions imposed by dominant drinks distributors when attempting to build market share.

"In general, I could now see the absolute importance of my time on work placement at St Mary’s, especially in my final year. In addition to my choice to study Liberal Arts, the opportunity to participate in the Study USA programme further enhanced my ability to get the most out of work placement and contributed to my level of self-belief and personal ambition. My advice to undergraduates would be to make the most of your time at university, build experience, network intensively, introduce yourself to everyone while on placement and use all methods available to get your name out there because it could land you a job once you finish college. For me, registering my profile on LinkedIn resulted in my current job offer.

Gary attending his Study USA graduation event in the Barnett Room of the Belfast Harbour Commissioner's Office with US Consul General Daniel Lawton in attendance.

The Study USA programme, originally known as the Business Education Initiative, was established in 1994. It is a highly successful and innovative programme offering undergraduate students studying in Northern Ireland the opportunity to study business and management for one academic year at church affiliated universities and colleges in the USA.

Gary enjoyed studying business-related modules as well as playing sport at Tusculum College in Tennessee. He was a member of their soccer team and was proud to wear the college colours.

3. After Graduating from St Mary’s - WHERE ARE THEY NOW?