Buzz Without Bucks

"We're forced to compete selectively," says CEO Mark Bozzini, "so we'll be less conventional than our competition." The Shakers team rigorously vets distributors to find those with a reputation for delivering strong customer service. "We talk to bartenders and retailers and ask, 'Who brings you new products? Who's engaged?' " says Tim Clarke, cofounder and vice president of marketing.

The early evidence is promising. "In my 20 years in the industry, I've never seen anything like it," says Michael Johnson of Johnson Brothers distributors in St. Paul, Minnesota. While Shakers is still only in limited national distribution, Infinite Spirits is projecting first-year sales of $7 million to $10 million on 50,000 cases -- two years ahead of plan, says CFO Steve Cook.

And the buzz, always unpredictable, may be moving eastward faster than expected. Glasser tells of going into a New York restaurant and asking the bartenders to recommend a new vodka. "Two of them practically jumped out from behind the bar, urging us to try Shakers," he says. When they discovered who Glasser was, they said, "You've got to get a table at Jeff's station. He loves Shakers so much he won't let anybody order anything else."

Making a fashion statement

No one plays buzz hardball with quite the same fervor as the denizens of the fashion trade. Need exposure? Try persuading Cameron Diaz to wear your mules while strolling down Melrose Avenue. You can't just write a check. In fashion, buzz is all about product placement, about getting a celebrity to boost your wares free of obvious commercial taint.

"People are becoming far less susceptible to the power of celebrities who are seen as shills for a brand," Salzman says. Instead, buzz depends on the assiduous wooing of editors, producers, and star wranglers whose decisions can make or break a product. Entire companies are devoted to such negotiations.

So it's all the more remarkable that designer Tia Wou managed to build her company, Tote Le Monde, into a thriving business. Wou has just two assets: a small but energetic staff and an unwavering belief in her signature product, a chic but practical striped carryall made from an environmentally friendly recyclable plastic called Wootex.

In 1994, when few designers were interested in handbags, when even Kate Spade was in its infancy, Wou went in search of a market bag like the ones that she had seen in her travels. When she couldn't find what she wanted, she whipped out her sewing machine and stitched up the bag of her dreams. Her friends each wanted one. So Wou turned to a longtime friend living in Bolivia to create a prototype. A Bolivian craftsman made a piece so fine that L.A.'s trendy shop Fred Segal immediately signed on.

A veteran of the fashion industry, Wou was savvy enough to target a few key retailers known for trendsetting merchandise. With samples in hand, she made the rounds of New York's top buyers, and before long, she landed orders from Barneys, Henri Bendel, and Saks. Initially, a publicity firm helped Wou get her totes featured in the celebrity bible In Style, the debut issue of O, the Oprah Magazine, and HBO's Sex and the City. By 2002, sales had grown to $1.8 million a year.

But once Monica Lewinsky got into the handbag business, Wou knew that it was time to move on. By mid-2002, she says, "the handbag market got completely flooded from all directions." Wou had intuitively grasped one of Salzman's key caveats: Buzz has a definite life span, and it can be over in a flash. "Knowing how, when, and where your brand might come down is every bit as important as knowing how to build it up," Salzman says.

In late 2002, Wou decided to focus Tote Le Monde on lifestyle products -- tabletop items, storage containers, bath products, and luggage -- and to phase out the fashion merchandise. Once again, she turned to a fashion-industry publicity firm for help, this time to reposition the business. The publicity firm, Tracy Paul & Co., placed Tote Le Monde's passport wallet in a Today show segment and its dog carrier in Hamptons Cottages & Gardens.

"When I made the decision to go with a PR firm, I knew there would be extra costs -- a monthly fee for them, as well as extra expenses for products for special events," Wou says. A small firm like Wou's typically pays $5,000 to $10,000 annually for publicity and perhaps another $10,000 for samples that go into gift bags at charity events or to celebrities and their stylists.

In the fashion trade, a PR investment can pay off quickly. Wou says that she can see immediate results when a magazine featuring her product hits the stands. "The Oprah hit in 2000 gave us a lot of awareness, but unfortunately, I wasn't ready to catch the sales," she says. "But when Real Simple came out in April, within 24 hours we had sales that were amazing."

Which is, of course, what good buzz is all about. "Generating buzz for the sake of buzz is only halfway right," Salzman says. "Recognition without sales isn't a result."

Linda Tischler (ltischler@fastcompany.com) generates plenty of buzz as a Fast Company senior writer.