Three years ago, Hard FIZZ was a start-up low-calorie alcohol brand built out of a sweaty shed in Queensland. Today, it has grown to become one of the biggest home-grown alcohol brands in the country.
For Wade Tiller, business is booming. Just a few short years after he took his fun-loving, feel-good booze brand to market, Hard FIZZ has generated $12 million in sales, three and half million cans, and more than one million litres in volume, a metric by which the alcohol industry benchmarks itself. But as the co-founder and CEO explains, it hasn’t been easy.
“Scaling a business is difficult,” he tells me. “The bigger you get, the harder it becomes. In the early days, our learnings were all around manufacturing and logistics and made plenty of mistakes along the way. We continue to learn every day with a ‘can do’ attitude and willingness to win.”
The learned approach is paying off. In recent times, Hard FIZZ closed a whopping $2.5 million capital raise with a list of high-profile investors, each banking on the brand’s rapid expansion. Come 2025, the hyper-colour beverage brand will launch a swathe of new flavours in the RTD (ready-to-drink) category alongside some new ‘expressions’ that CEO Wade Tiller tells us will bring continued growth in our market, and even open the door for opportunities elsewhere.
If you ask Tiller, however, the secret to this fair-dinkum true blue Aussie success story comes a little out of left-field. In reality, the driving force behind the brand’s explosion in momentum was a ‘Shoey’ for none other than The Great White Shark, himself. Greg Norman’s viral moment, captured at the LIV Golf tournament, supercharged Hard FIZZ’s growth, generating more than $1 million in bottle shop sales, but the question remained—was it a case of right place, right time, or a very well-executed guerilla marketing strategy?
The brand is backed by an investor group of celebrities that includes professional surfer Laura Enever, TV chef Hayden Quinn, and frontman and founder, Grammy-nominated music producer, FISHER, so it arrived with a leg-up on the competition. However, there’s more to this story.
I sat down with CEO Wade Tiller to talk through the brand’s birth, growth and how the unique ambassador ownership model separates Hard FIZZ from the usual pay-to-play influencer models in the industry.
MOM: Wade, could you start by telling us the origin story of Hard FIZZ? What inspired you to launch this brand in such a competitive space?
It was really a matter of timing. I had a background in liquor sales and marketing and had been doing a lot of research in my previous role into the future of ‘ready to drinks’ (RTD). That was 2019. In the meantime, (Grammy-nominated DJ) FISHER was blowing up in his career and was seeing White Claw at all his shows in the U.S. and Joel Scott, who’s our marketing and content wiz, had exited another business and collectively we thought we had the pieces to enter the RTD market and make some serious noise. So, we sprinted through the concept to launch in just over 6 months.
MOM: Every brand has a pivotal moment when things start to shift. Was there a particular turning point or breakthrough that set Hard Fizz on its path to $12M in turnover?
We turned COVID and all its restrictions into an advantage. Funnily enough, it remains the one time only that we were all together, stuck in Queensland and not able to leave, so it was the power of the group – FISHER, (his wife) Chloe, Joel and I assembled a crew and went HAM on socials to break through and be a leading player in the space.
MOM: How would you describe the unique appeal of Hard FIZZ that sets it apart from other hard seltzer brands on the market?
At FIZZ, we have always been about creating a lifestyle and a community, not just a drink. We bring the balance of ‘better for you’ drinks but lead with fun, cheek and energy, while other brands lead with a muted approach to the category. When building a brand, I think it needs to be more than just the ‘vessel’.
MOM: Can you share some of the challenges Hard FIZZ faced in its early days? What were some key lessons learned from those experiences?
Scaling a business is difficult. The bigger you get, the harder it becomes. In the early days, our learnings were all around manufacturing and logistics and made plenty of mistakes along the way. Over the journey, we have had to adapt to changing consumer behaviour and pushed the brand into multiple categories to suit certain occasions. With that, brings some challenges in efficiency and clarity of brand message. We continue to learn every day with a ‘can do’ attitude and willingness to win.
MOM: Hard FIZZ has clearly tapped into a growing market for seltzers. How have you adapted the brand to align with shifting consumer preferences and lifestyle trends?
We’ve adapted by moving to high ABV and fuller flavours whilst maintaining our core no-sugar hard seltzers. Mixed-pack varieties are key, and we’re always dropping new flavours to keep it fresh and exciting.
MOM: What role has branding and marketing played in Hard FIZZ’s success? Could you tell us more about the brand’s identity and messaging strategy?
‘Let’s Get Fizzy’ is a pretty good sum up, with this being our trademark call to action. ‘Don’t take yourself too seriously’ is also a mantra and we keep it simple. Our ability to win in socials has been critical and our ambassador ownership model separates us from the usual pay-to-play influencer model which struggles to remain authentic. Our ambassadors are our first owners of the business and their 15 million follower reach globally is a competitive advantage.
MOM: With such impressive growth, there must have been some key partnerships or distribution milestones. Which partnerships have been instrumental in scaling Hard FIZZ?
We proudly built this brand as an independent over our first 18 months and getting ranged with national banner groups in Cellarbrations and Bottlemart was instrumental. More recently, we have partnered in large-scale partnerships with BWS, Dan Murphys and Liquorland which have helped provide the next level of growth. We also partnered with the recent LIV Golf tournament in Adelaide, which saw Greg Norman and Cameron Smith (among other golfers) doing ‘shoeys’ from a Hard FIZZ shoe – that footage went global.
MOM: The alcoholic beverage market is highly regulated. How has Hard FIZZ navigated these regulatory challenges, and what advice do you have for brands entering similar spaces?
We will always remain a brand that markets on the edge but remains responsible. We truly believe what we have built in our drinks is centred around a ‘better for you’ proposition from alcohol strength, natural brewing, low and no sugar but we don’t want to lose the fun!
MOM: What does innovation look like at Hard FIZZ? Are there any upcoming product lines or flavours that you’re excited to share with us?
We are always looking to layer on innovation and there are some interesting ones in the pipeline. This summer, we have just launched a new Passionfruit 6% alcoholic soda which is FISHER’s favourite. We’re also excited about the rollout of our Raspberry Fire Truck 4.5% on tap which is now in over 100 venues and counting nationally.
MOM: Looking ahead, what are your visions for Hard FIZZ’s future? Where do you see the brand in the next five years, and what strategies are in place to keep momentum going?
We are looking at continued growth around Australia but also scoping some exciting opportunities in other markets which I’ll be keen to share soon.
