Inside the Bottle: People, Brands, and Stories

by Arthur Shapiro

Inside the Bottle: People, Brands, and Stories is an intimate and informative behind-the-scenes window to the global liquor and wine business by one of the industry’s leading marketing gurus. As an industry insider and publisher of the popular blog, Booze Business, Arthur Shapiro provides a unique view that appeals to a diverse audience. Marketing, alcohol, and short story enthusiasts alike can learn from and laugh along with Shapiro’s experiences. Inside the Bottle gives a sometimes shocking look at the U.S. alcohol industry in a conversational and entertaining style. It focuses on the key players, their relationships, and stories. It’s about marketing and sales, brand building, image and product excellence, and what it takes for a brand to win. It’s about how a successful industry has evolved and been fashioned.

226 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2016

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well we all know the best part of inside the bottle is “inside the Bottle”. Arthur Shapiro explores that pleasure with humor and a true lesson in marketing. It kind of explains how the liquor business becomes invaded by such unlikely candidate. He clears up the smoke and mirrors.

[JC · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book would be a lot more factual instead of the collection of anecdotes and water-cooler stories. Not a horrible book just not at all what I was looking for.

[Ivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I work in the Spirits industry with many brands covered in this book.

Arthur Shapiro was Head of Marketing for Seagram Americas in the 1990's and early 2000's and "Inside The Bottle" is a series reflections on his time in the industry, collected off his blog, The Booze Business. Working in the industry, one of the hardest questions I encountered is why some brands succeed while others fail. Shapiro has some ideas to answer the question, and sometimes it's just that "the baby is ugly" as was the case with Sundsvall Vodka.

If you're looking for tips on how to get into industry, the book will not help as it is more of a memoir than a how-to. However, if you are looking for stories about business dilemmas, relationships, and brands, you will be highly entertained.

[Slawka Scarso · Rating 2 out of 5]

The synopsis read this was a book on the liquor and wine business. In fact there was almost nothing about wine, the focus was on liquor alone. It was almost entirely based on the personal experience of Shapiro with Seagram which would had been fine if only it had been clearly stated in the description.
Moreover, a large portion of this book was actually taken from his blog. Had I known that, I would have read that right away without spending any money on this book. Very disappointed: I like the idea of the storytelling and it reads well but I was expecting something completely different. I felt quite cheated, like when marketing is not done in the proper way.

[Tara Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway! It was good! I felt it was entertaining, informative, and worth the read, especially to those interested in the liquor industry. Thank you!