Case Study: On-Demand Success with Corona Beer

Challenge

Gambrinus and Barton Beers, major importers of popular beer brands such as Corona, Corona Light, Pacifico, Modelo, and Negra Modelo, operated under a highly unstructured and informal model. Their brand merchandise was managed through a licensee model involving over 100 independent licensees.

Each licensee was responsible for designing, producing, and selling branded merchandise, with almost no brand guidelines or centralized approval process. Licensees sold merchandise to both retail and corporate clients, with no clear distinction between the two markets. This led to inconsistent branding and a lack of control over how logos were used. Furthermore, since licensees held inventory at their own risk, they primarily stocked items featuring Corona, the most recognized and best-selling brand, while the smaller brands (Pacifico, Modelo, Corona Light, Negra Modelo) received minimal exposure.

Opportunity

During our initial engagement, we discovered a significant gap in how Barton and Gambrinus handled internal merchandise purchases. While most licensees focused on retail, we identified that corporate sales teams and wholesalers had dedicated budgets for each brand. They always struggled to find suitable branded merchandise for the smaller, lesser-known brands. This gap represented a clear opportunity to introduce our on-demand model.

Solution

We proposed customized on-demand stores specifically for Barton and Gambrinus employees and wholesalers, distinctly separated from retail operations. Our solution allowed their internal teams to access a wide range of name-brand merchandise featuring any of their beer brand logos, without the burden of holding inventory or meeting minimum order requirements.

We worked closely with Barton and Gambrinus to establish brand guidelines, approved colors (the two companies had different PMS colors for the same Corona logo), and logo standardization, something they had previously lacked. This was one of iCoStore’s first big on-demand clients back in 2008. At that time, Corona Beer was just beginning to establish itself as a major brand. Initially, Barton and Gambrinus were just happy that anyone wanted to make or buy Corona Beer merchandise. However, as the brand grew, they recognized the need to control their branding, and iCoStore played a pivotal role in helping them achieve that.

One of the major results for iCoStore was proving the need for on-demand solutions. We learned how to service large, decentralized companies while maintaining brand control. As a result, Barton and Gambrinus cut their number of licensees from 100 to just 8, and iCoStore was one of the 8 that survived. We remained a close partner for over 10 years, working alongside their brand and marketing teams to build compliance and standardization.

Results

Our partnership with Barton and Gambrinus proved to be a pivotal success for iCoStore, serving as the proof of concept we needed for our on-demand model. We gained amazing traction with the secondary brands.

Through our collaboration, all marketing and sales employees were able to order high-quality branded items efficiently using their allocated budgets. The success of this program demonstrated the value of our on-demand model and helped solidify iCoStore’s position as a leader in branded merchandise solutions.