Growth coaching and Academies
Work with our team of globally recognised leaders in growth - using their deep sector experience enhanced by BevSage tools and models to help you meet your growth objectives.
Academies are training pathways delivered by Hydra Consulting on their learning platform utilising a blend of off-line work with AI tools, online individual coaching and online/live group workshop(s). Academies have been established for all sales channels for beverage businesses.
Our standard Academies are shown below. We can also custom design academies for specific applications. All academies are fully scaleable for up to 25 participants. Pricing and structures shown below are for 12 person groups.
Coaching
Start working with our coaches for a regular hour a month, every month. Great for maintaining access to an external voice and supporting your efforts via our experience and access to advanced AI tools.
Light-touch external support throughout your growth journey + monthly Business tier BevSage access.
Growth support
Make us part of your team, on-demand to support your growth needs up to one day per month. External growth support for as long as you need it or until you outgrow the need.
Your nominated account manager + on-call access to our whole team + Premium BevSage access.
Mentoring blocks
A 4-hour block is perfect for a quick supercharge of your next growth effort. Preparing for trade activation, rebuilding your club, ideating a tourism concept, upgrading your website. Help with whatever you need.
Rapid readiness for a short-term opportunity or challenge + one month of Premium BevSage access.
Build specialist skills
Focused programs designed to strengthen a specific commercial or marketing capability. Choose from AI in Marketing, Pitching, Brand Building, Trade Sales or SME Market Research.
Focused capability development + direct business application.
Build growth capability
Structured programs built around a specific commercial growth objective. Choose from Domestic Wholesale, Export, Tourism, Direct-to-Consumer or Story.
Capability sequence + practical application session.
Our Coaches
-
Darren Oemcke
A leader in alcoholic beverage market analysis, pitching, storytelling, and market entry growth with individual producers, regional, state and national industry associations to grow brands locally, nationally and globally.
Creator and co-founder of BevSage. Has consulted to or coached hundreds of brands from SME’s to national giants and industry organisations in tourism, wine, spirits, cider, and many foods such as honey and grains.
-
Liz Mencel
Wine sector export sales and marketing specialist who has worked with many brands on their international growth strategies as well as with regional, state and national bodies on major growth initiatives and sales and marketing capability building.
Owner of Purple Feet Consulting and has worked with Wines of Western Australia, Wine Australia, Margaret River Wine Association, Stella Bella, Flametree, and Domaine Naturaliste.
-
Amanda Whiteland
Industry leader with over 25 years’ experience across Australia, Europe and Asia, delivering growth, market development and tourism outcomes for leading global and boutique regional brands.
Amanda draws on leadership and marketing experience with LVMH, Treasury Wine Estates, Margaret River Wine Association and Wines of Western Australia, combined with current market insights, to help businesses strengthen their strategy and unlock growth opportunities.
-
Phil Reedman MW
Phil is a wine consultant, educator, judge, and the principal of Phil Reedman Master of Wine P/L. He has worked in the industry for over 40 years across grape picking, winemaking, retailing, importing, wine buying, blending, brand development and wine education.
He has worked with wineries, importers and retailers, including on wine production, strategy, communication, market access, wine buying and education across Australia, NZ, Europe, Nth America and the UK.
-
Ron van Buuren
Ron has been growing businesses for over 35 years in sectors as diverse as process automation, beverage packaging, beverage production, with some very interesting work in advanced materials. With a strong focus on businesses development and financial performance, Ron will keep the focus on relationships that work.
Co-founder of BevSage who works extensively in business accelerators and consulting supporting founders and their teams to grow businesses.
Academy overview
Some Academies
| Academy | Commercial objective | Tool sequence | Application session |
|---|---|---|---|
| SME Market Research Growth Academy | Build practical market research capability for better commercial decision-making. | Business Type → Market Research → Pricing → LeadFire | Market Entry Plan |
| Domestic Wholesale Growth Academy | Win more retail, wholesale and on-premise customers while improving channel profitability. | Business Type → Story + Pitching → Pricing → Personas + Occasions | LeadFire & Activations |
| Export Growth Academy | Develop an export strategy, identify priority markets and commence international sales. | Business Type → Story + Pitching → Pricing → Market Research | LeadFire & Activations |
| Tourism Growth Academy | Increase visitation, conversion, visitor spend and repeat visitation. | Business Type → Story → Concept Builder + Personas → Journey Builder | LeadFire, Tourism Channels & Activations |
| DTC Growth Academy | Increase direct sales, customer loyalty and customer lifetime value. | Business Type → Story → Personas → Occasions → Journey Builder | Journey optimisation, DTC Channels |
| Story Growth Academy | Develop authentic brand stories that connect with customers and differentiate the business. | SWOT → Story Building & Adaptation → Story Containers → Brand Operating Manual → Category Entry Points | BevGPT Copywriting |
| AI in Marketing Skills Academy | Use AI to improve marketing quality, consistency and productivity. | AI Fundamentals → Prompting → Workflows + Agents → Marketing Applications | — |
| Pitching Skills Academy | Build compelling stories and pitches that win customers, distributors and investors. | SWOT → Story → Personas → Pitching → Re-Pitch + Global UVP Review | — |
| DTC Sales Skills Academy | Build a distinctive, memorable DTC or toruism brand that supports long-term growth. | DTC & Tourism Personas → Consumption Occasions → Story → UVP/USP → Category Entry Points → Distinctive Brand Assets | — |
| Trade Sales Skills Academy | Improve trade sales capability to win more customers, distributors and retail ranging. | Trade Personas + Consumption Occasions → Pitching + UVP → Category Entry Points → Distinctive Brand Assets → Activations | — |
Academy model in detail
| Stage | Duration | Participant activity | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. 👤 Pre-work | 60 min | Complete the academy diagnostic before the first coaching session. | Business capability profile and priority growth areas. |
| 2. 👤👤 1-on-1 Coaching | 30 min | Review the diagnostic, agree commercial objectives and tailor the academy to the business. | Personalised growth plan. |
| 3. 👤 Module 1 | 30 min | Complete and apply the first academy tool. | Practical business output. |
| 4. 👤 Module 2 | 30 min | Complete and apply the second academy tool. | Refined strategy and recommendations. |
| 5. 👥👥 Group Workshop | 120 min | Share outputs, discuss implementation challenges, review examples and learn from other participants. | Peer learning and improved implementation. |
| 6. 👤 Module 3 | 60 min | Complete and apply the final academy tool. | Implementation-ready output. |
| 7. 👤👤 1-on-1 Coaching | 30 min | Review all outputs, answer final questions and finalise the implementation plan. | 90-day implementation plan. |
|
8. 👥👥 90-day plan presentation (Growth academies) |
60 min | Develop a market engagement plan, review target customers or distributors and prepare for market entry. | Distribution, activation or market engagement plan. |