Dragon Spirits Marketing

Dragon Spirits Marketing (a Capital Factory validated company) has created the #1 Brand Ambassador Gig Marketplace that solves the massive problem of matching amazing, growing brands with educated, curated, and passionate brand ambassadors at 1000’s of brand activations across the US.

In order to scale and provide top-level brand ambassadors (Dragons) for brands with brand activations all over the U.S., we created our in-house marketplace platform, aptly named The Dragon Engagement Network™ (DEN), in 2018.

Our DEN has catapulted us to new levels - because now it enables brands to source curated gig workers - brand ambassadors we affectionately call Dragons - DIRECTLY - for a multitude of brand activations, while giving Dragons a place where they can learn, grow, and have fun, telling the stories of great brands - all with a dependable, high-paying source of income, paid on a weekly basis.

What is Brand Activation?

Brand Activations build brand purpose, consumer action, and emotional connections through several types of brand experiences such as trade shows, street teams, special events, in-person sample campaigns, and in-store (grocery stores, liquor stores) demo samplings.

Brand Activations are vital for brands who want to engage and interact with their customers directly - building brand awareness and loyalty to their brand and products.

According to the Association of National Advertisers and PQ Media’s report “The U.S. Brand Activation Marketing Forecast 2016”

“Spending on brand activation marketing in the U.S. rose 5.5 percent in 2015 to more than $560 billion, accounting for almost 60 percent of advertisers’ budgets, according to a groundbreaking new study by the ANA (Association of National Advertisers) in partnership with PQ Media... the report also projected that activation spending will top $740 billion by 2020”

Today, the Brand Activation Industry Spends Over $2 Billion Every Single Day!

This space, called the Brand Activation Industry, spends over 2 BILLION DOLLARS EVERY SINGLE DAY to promote their products because it is the ideal way for brands to introduce themselves to consumers at “liquid to lips” or “food to mouth” type of brand activations as well as “in-person experiences” like festivals and trade-shows.

Gig-Work Thriving and Dragon Spirits Marketing will be a LEADER!

There are thousands of gig workers looking for great brand ambassador positions, but many have never experienced an effective system to find the best opportunities that pay well, fast, and don’t hire just a pretty face. Unlike UBER for drivers, or FIVVER for creatives, no one has created a killer marketplace for this overlooked, GIANT part of the gig economy - the brand ambassador gig workforce. UNTIL NOW THAT IS!

Brand Activation Historical Hiccups

The MASSIVE PROBLEM in brand activation is trying to be at 1000 places at once. For one, brands can’t pay full-time employees to participate in every event because it’s simply not cost-effective. Secondly, and the more pressing issue, is it is really hard to find, educate, and impart a brand’s culture on part-time workers - gig workers if you will - and effectively transform these gig contractors into bonified ‘Brand Ambassadors.’

How we fundamentally transformed and changed the Brand Activation Industry

We have changed the brand activation industry by rebuilding it to its core.

🐉 We made the brand activation industry more inclusive 

🐉 We are a gig company that does good for ALL gig workers (over 8 years now)

🐉 We created the most powerful and comprehensive marketplace and learning technology platform currently available in the market

Inclusivity

Creating brand activation experiences is NOT about looks; it’s about having the right Dragon culture fit, the passion to learn and share brand stories and products, and the drive to offer an incredible brand activation experience. 

We are a gig company that does good. 

Being a brand ambassador (BA) is gig-work. We strongly believe gig-workers are the bloodline of many businesses like ours. BA's need to be respected and treated as crucial partners.

Our Dragon Culture

🐉 Curating, supporting, educating, and elevating Dragons to be and do their best

🐉 We pay our Dragons weekly and provide ample educational and support tools for successful brand activation.

🐉 We offer meaningful gigs that are fun and immersive. This is NOT dropping off food or people from point A to point B. This is telling the story of a great brand, most of the time family-owned brands, and convincing consumers to take the products into their homes and hearts.

🐉 Dragons are paid WEEKLY - never missing a week of pay in 8 years.

🐉 Dragons averaged $26/h pay in 2019. Most of our gigs offer the opportunity to earn commissions, too. 

🐉 We recognize and award exceptional Dragons every week with our Dragon on Fire™ award, providing an additional financial incentive as well as public praise. 

🐉 We have implemented a Dragon Discord community to make sure we all thrive together as a Dragon family, helping each other out with answers to questions, solutions, and camaraderie.  

Our CULTURE is everything. Our 5-year goal: 

In the future, brands will no longer hire brand ambassadors, they will instead hire Dragons, as we make the word "Dragon" ubiquitous with a quality brand ambassador for all types of brand activation. 

Scalability

Our comprehensive brand ambassador gig marketplace and educational technology (The Dragon Engagement Network™ or DEN for short) has helped us scale all over the USA.

Our DEN has catapulted us to new levels, enabling brands to source curated gig workers - brand ambassadors we affectionately call Dragons - DIRECTLY!  With a multitude of brand activations, Dragons have a place where they can learn, grow, and have fun, telling the stories of great brands - all while earning a dependable high-paying income!

With the DEN, our clients can log in at any time to see overall statistics about how Dragons performed on an individual level, or see key data metrics over a span of 2 to 1000 events on a macro level. Plus, the DEN works great for big brands and small brands - whether our customers are doing one event every 60 days, or 60 events every day.

The DEN is a powerful tool, but our true differentiation lies in how we integrate technology with how we curate, develop, and support our brand ambassadors. This enables us to craft a rewarding culture for our ambassadors - which leads to happier Dragons - and in turn, higher sales for clients - and better experiences for their customers.

Application and Curation Process

Dragons apply and receive automated communication of the application process. Part of the application process is taking a culture test before being interviewed by one of our Dragon Management.

Dragon University

Brand and Category Education for the Dragons to excel at brand activations.

Brand Activation Scheduling

Brands can easily upload and manage 1 to 1000’s of brand activations events across the USA. 

Booking Dragons

Dragons select the brand activations they want to work and/or brands can select Dragons for their brand activations.

Dragon Badges 

We are gamifying the way Dragons learn and earn badges to help elevate their knowledge and passion of brands for the ultimate brand activation experience.

Dragon Pay Rate

For the first time ever, Dragons can set their own pay rate and in addition to earning commissions.

Dragon Indexes

Brands can easily see Dragon sales numbers, awards, badges, and other pertinent information.

Analytics and Reports that Matter

Brands have access to on-demand reporting of any markets across the USA to ensure brand activation programs are working or need to be adjusted.

Streamline 3-Tier Channel Communication

Anyone on the team including any retail, distributor, and brand partners are able to be added to the DEN to streamline communications on all brand activations.

Dragon Support

Our support and tech teamwork fiercely provide help, guidance, and support for any of your needs, concerns, and requests.

Dragon Traction + Accomplishments

Our focus on customer service and educated brand ambassadors has enabled us to grow nearly 100% by word of mouth - and propelled our revenue growth past 7-figures over the past 2 years combined, despite the fact that half of 2020, we were out of business due to COVID-19.

The Brand activation industry is primed for Dragon Spirits Marketing to take charge because no one has more than 1% market share in this space - and we can easily be the market leader within 18-24 months at our current projections for growth.

Our Client Partnerships

We have secured a roster of over 200 clients. Here is a sample of some of our current client brand activation partnerships.

Explosive 2021 Expansion

In 2021, we have expanded our brand activation services from 3 (in Jan 2021) to over 30 states.

Distilled Spirits Council and Dragon Spirits Join Forces

The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS) today announced on September 02, 2021 that Dragon Spirits Marketing is joining Spirits United as a partner member, growing the platform’s reach and influence on issues important to the spirits industry.

“As brand representatives for many of our favorite spirits products, Dragon Spirits Marketing is a perfect fit for Spirits United,” said Chris Swonger, President & CEO of DISCUS and Responsibility.org. “Its ‘Dragons’ promote products across the country, and now, with their help, we can spread the word about the most pressing issues facing spirits producers, retailers, and consumers. We are excited to partner with Dragon Spirits Marketing and look forward to growing our collective voice.”

This graph contains forward-looking projections that cannot be guaranteed.

Revenue Growth and Projections

🐉 Right now we are averaging gross margins of 40%+ on 500+ events a month.

🐉 With software enhancements, we can easily grow that to 10,000 events a month all across the country.

With your investment in Dragon Spirits Marketing, we will be focusing on these key areas:

Build More Features

🐉 Hire 2-3 software developers for DEN

🐉 UI/UX Upgrades

🐉 More support as we scale nationally

Legal + Insurance

🐉 Legal permits - alcohol promotion in some states

Sales/Marketing Outreach

🐉 WeFunder Lead Generation!

🐉 Partner with additional trade associations - such as Naturally Austin and DISCUS

🐉 Inside/outside sales personnel in key markets

🐉 Social media/advertising spend

Our Dragon's Guild

Our 9-person team has been together an average of 5 years - demonstrating our commitment and passion to be the best brand activation platform for our clients and our Dragons.

Our Advisors

We are very blessed to have an amazing team of advisors that continue to catapult Dragon Spirits Marketing as the #1 Brand Ambassador Gig Marketplace.

In Closing

We will exponentially scale and solidify the #1 Brand Ambassador gig marketplace in America - a smart investment that values the hard work of great Brand Ambassadors, delivers measurable, effective marketing to our clients, and delivers a fantastic return to our investors.

We are confident that our company will make a better world for gig workers, while supplying brands with the best possible Dragons to tell their story...and ultimately put fantastic products in people’s hands and minds.

If you want to make the world a better place by giving gig workers better opportunities for great quality work, helping brands tell their story effectively, and making a lot of money while doing it - Then this is the investment for you.

Exit Strategy and ROI Expectations

You may be wondering how you are going to get a return on your investment with Dragon Spirits Marketing. The reality is that there are multiple pathways, and though there is a risk, we believe we have the evidence to show you why a substantial Return on Investment is likely.

With your investment, Dragon Spirits Marketing will be an ideal acquisition target for a variety of companies, especially as it surpasses 1% market share, which we are on track to do by 2023. This type of M&A outlook is easily justified by the staggering numbers behind gig-economy acquisitions in the past few years:

🐉 Favor acquisition by HEB

🐉 Fiverr acquired “Working not Working”

🐉 LGC Hospitality acquisition of ShiftGig

🐉 Target acquisition of ShipT for $550M

🐉 IAC Acquiring Care.com for over $500M

🐉 The creation of large SPACs specifically looking for disruptors in this space

As you can see, it is not just related companies making acquisitions - traditional non-gig companies are buying up gig-economy startups as a way to expand and reach new markets.

As we grow, companies we are already working with such as large chains (Total Wine and More, Whole Foods, Kroger, etc) or distributors (Southern Glaziers, RNDC, Mexcor) will be interested in leveraging our network to outpace their competitors.

Additionally, freelancing platforms such as Upwork and TaskRabbit may view this as a strategic acquisition target, considering automated access to Dragon’s higher-paying jobs at a time when low-paying gig-economy jobs are taking considerable flack (Dragon Spirits Marketing averages a little over $26/h in pay for Dragons)!

It is also worth mentioning that your SAFE note will convert to equity with any funding event or acquisition, paying out investors based on the valuation cap explained in the terms of our fundraiser. It is our current plan to execute a Series A round to fund additional growth within 36-48 months, which will be at a significantly higher valuation ($25-$30MM).

On execution of a funding event, your investment will convert to equity at a significant discount, and the opportunity to take profits will be presented to every WeFunder investor in the round.