Beyond the Celebrity Halo: How BERO Is Building a Brand That Lasts

Hey everyone,

Welcome back for another bite to chew on.

We recently sat down with John Herman, CEO and co-founder of BERO, the premium non-alcoholic beer brand he's building with Tom Holland (yes, Spider-Man himself). 

But this conversation went way beyond celebrity endorsements.

Before BERO, John scaled C4 energy drinks from $200M to become the #4 brand in the market before a major investment from Keurig Dr Pepper. 

What makes his insights valuable isn't the celebrity angle. It's his approach to building something designed to last long after the initial hype fades.

On the Menu:

• The Founder-Celebrity Balancing Act

• Building for Sell-Through, Not Just Distribution

• The Five-Year Vision Every Brand Needs

• Bonus: The One Question That Changes Everything

This is just a snippet of the stories and insights John shared. You can listen to the whole conversation here 👇

Or find it on:

• Spotify 🎧

• Apple 🍎

• Youtube ▶️

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The Founder-Celebrity Balancing Act

When we talk to brands about working with influencers or celebrities, the conversation usually revolves around contracts, content requirements, and ROI.

But John's approach with Tom Holland was more straightforward. 

"It wasn't this moment of being starstruck," John told us about their first meeting. "It was two guys talking about what they could potentially build together."

This foundation of mutual respect created an environment where both contribute to their strengths – John on operations and business strategy, and Tom on brand vision and authenticity.

But what really sets BERO apart is their deliberate strategy to evolve beyond being "Tom Holland's beer brand":

• Year 1: 80% Tom's story / 20% lifestyle and brand

• Year 2: 60% Tom / 40% brand

• Year 3: 50% / 50%...

This gradual shift ensures the brand builds its own identity over time. 

"The brand needs to stand on its own... it wasn't because Tom doesn't want to be involved, but I think it was important that the brand could live without him too."

John and Tom also created a decision-making framework upfront.

"When Tom’s on set, I can’t wait weeks for approvals. We aligned on the non-negotiables early so execution wouldn’t stall when we couldn’t connect in real time."

🔑 Chew on this: If you’re working with any influential partner (celebrity or not), set clear guardrails so the brand can operate independently day to day.

Building for Sell-Through, Not Just Distribution

Many DTC brands get themselves into trouble by focusing on retail placement without a strategy for sell-through. 

As John bluntly put it: "Turn down business if you can't launch the brand."

When BERO launched in Target, they didn't JUST get shelf space – they secured end caps in 1,400 stores, creating unmissable visibility that John calls "the biggest single piece of marketing after the earned media press."

But getting end caps was only half the battle. 

Many digitally native brands overspend on digital ads but underinvest in in-store execution. For BERO, boots-on-the-ground merchandising mattered more than flashy online campaigns at this stage.

Their retailer pitch focused on 5 key pillars:

1. Market validation: Showing consumer behavior trends in the non-alcoholic space

2. Brand differentiation: Positioning as premium in an underserved segment

3. Financial stability: Strong funding to support marketing and operations

4. Operational expertise: Track record of delivering reliable inventory and quality

5. Authentic story: Tom's personal connection to the product and category

🔑 Another key decision → They didn’t pour paid media dollars into driving retail foot traffic.

"Driving paid ads to retail is expensive and hard to track. Instead, we focused our paid media on driving discovery…sending consumers to our website to learn the story and find the nearest stockist."

This strategy not only protected CAC, but also reinforced their brand story before the shopper ever reached the shelf.

To track success, they monitored store locator traffic and measured upticks in retail reorders, focusing on signals that mattered at this stage.

👉🏽 Chew on this: Winning retail space is only the beginning. Make sure to invest in in-store placements and experience to ensure sell-through.

The 5-Year Vision Every Brand Needs

While most startups focus on survival, John emphasized the importance of building with the long game in mind. 

BERO created their long-term vision nearly a year before launch:

"The five-year plan we rolled out in January of 2024 is still pretty much intact. There were placeholders, we didn't know what we didn't know, but we had the framework."

For example, their early plan led them to prioritize on-premise (bars and restaurants) alongside retail, ensuring both brand visibility and volume growth.

This long-term thinking isn't just theoretical – it shapes daily decisions and creates guardrails for the brand. 

The non-negotiable elements of your five-year vision:

📊COGS improvement targets: Map out how your gross margins improve at scale
💵 Cash conversion milestones: When will you break even? How will you manage cash until then?
🧱 Volume building blocks: What channels will drive growth in years 1, 3, and 5?
💗 Brand evolution strategy: How will your story and positioning mature?

Bonus: The One Question That Changes Everything

We asked John for one piece of advice that any brand could implement immediately. His answer was refreshingly simple:

"If you don't ask, you'll never get."

Whether it's better placement from a retailer, improved terms from a supplier, or a partnership that seems out of reach, the worst outcome isn't hearing "no," it's never asking the question.

This mindset helped BERO secure major retailers, premium positioning, and even their brewmaster (who was happily retired until John proposed the BERO concept).

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