In this chapter of Start-Up Stories we spoke to Richard Pollentine, the founder of Sober. Sober are a delicious range of mocktails, an alcohol free alternative that stands out. Richard gives his outlook on the importance of brand, his story and more…
What is Sober?
We are a brand of mocktails developed from my passion to find something new on the market that fits with what I’m looking for. I don’t drink and haven’t in over a decade, I never really liked the flavour, so the trends of non-alcoholic beers and spirits simply don’t appeal to me and millions of others. I wanted to create something fun and inclusive of all and so #Sober was born.
What makes you guys different from ‘run-of-the-mill’ soft drinks?
We are different because we are one of the first brand of mocktails on the market and are aimed at fun-loving laid-back customers who are looking for a funky alternative to alcohol, but something a bit different and more vibrant than the usual.
You have significant marketing experience; how did this help you when launching Sober?
I always had an interest in what makes a successful brand and what they do to resonate and appeal to their audience.
“I think marketing should be very targeted and come from genuine values, I’ve worked for companies who did not take this on board and others that did, and the results are dramatic.”
How important is establishing brand when bringing a new product to market?
The brand I believe is the most important thing to create an impact. Everyone who has seen the #Sober brand always has a second look, whether its the bright colours or the logo, and whether they like it or not, they always notice it. The feedback so far from consumers has been great with so much interest already. The word sober sounds so serious but I have created a new take on it, its fun and not meant to be taken too seriously, just like me!
If you could have one celebrity advocate for the brand who would it be? Why?
Calvin Harris, he doesn’t drink but he knows how to give a great gig.
Describe Sober in 3 words…
“Fun, vibrant and maverick!”
What advice would you give to fellow entrepreneurs looking to start their own FMCG business?
Learn from everyone who has done it before, ignore those who haven’t and who want to doubt you. Take your time, you will make lots of mistakes but its all part of the story. Try and learn some life balance, I haven’t managed this but learning to take some time out is important if you can switch off.
Where can people find your delicious drinks?
Currently we are in discussions with a number of universities and some holiday and adventure parks, plus a major UK distributor so soon they will hopefully be everywhere.
What does the future hold for Sober?
We want to be the UK’s non-alcoholic drink of choice and expand to the middle east, Asia and America int he next few years.
Want to know more about Sober? Check out their website here and be sure to keep up to date by following their Instagram. We can’t wait to see where they are in a years time!
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Force24 Cookies & Tracking Our organisation utilises Force24’s marketing automation platform. Force24 cookies are first party cookies and are enabled at the point of cookie acceptance on this website. The cookies are named below: F24_autoID F24_personID They allow us to understand our audience engagement thus allowing better optimisation of marketing activity. f24_autoId – This is a temporary identifier on a local machine or phone browser that helps us track anonymous information to be later married up with f24_personid. If this is left anonymous it will be deleted after 6 months . Non-essential, first party, 10 years, persistent. f24_personId – This is an ID generated per individual contact in the Force24 system to be able to track behaviour and form submissions into the Force24 system from outside sources per user. This is used for personalisation and ability to segment decisions for further communications. Non-essential, first party, 10 years, persistent. The information stored by Force24 cookies remains anonymous until: - Our website is visited via clicking from an email or SMS message, sent via the Force24 platform and cookies are accepted on the website. - A user of the website completes a form containing email address from either your website or your Force24 landing pages. The Force24 cookies will remain on a device for 10 years unless they are deleted. Other Tracking We also use similar technologies including tracking pixels and link tracking to monitor your viewing activities Device & browser type and open statistics All emails have a tracking pixel ( a tiny invisible image ) with a query string in the URL. Within the URL we have user details to identify who opened an email for statistical purposes. Link Tracking All links within emails and SMS messages sent from the Force24 platform contain a unique tracking reference, this reference help us identify who clicked an email for statistical purposes.