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~ Alcocat ~

This makes our product much friendlier for the environment able to provide quality service to our customers worldwide.
and much more hygienic.” Online, people can get confused and scared very easily. Hav-
ing a local support team can comfort them. We contracted
“At the same time, we kept an eye on functionality,” Martin Salesupply to lend their expertise and experience to this task.”
adds. “We wanted everybody to be able to use our product As the awareness of Alcocat is growing, both in the B2B and
easily.” B2C market, the three friends are looking into new ways of
marketing their product. “Online, we are using social media
Cool cats to target our specific audience,” says Irene. “We have started
A second challenge the Alcocat team faced was the alcom- to collaborate with influencers, which can be very important
eter’s image. They are often seen as boring, purely functional for us if we see that they are willing to promote our product.”
products. In general, people will not use them for any form
of entertainment. Irene says, “We changed the image of our Cheers to the future
product so it can be much more of a fun gadget.” The cocktail glasses are empty, the olives eaten, and the Al-
In general, all alcoholmeters work the same way. There is a cocat team seems satisfied. When we pose our last question,
sensor that measures blood alcohol content from the breath, asking where they will be in a few years, they can’t help but
and the result is shown on a screen. “Our device uses your speculate on future plans. “We want to expand the business,”
smartphone for its display and control panel. The software we says Michael. “Actually, we are already looking into larger
created tells the user in words and images what the readings markets with higher populations.”
mean,” explains Martin.
Martin adds, “New products might be launched too, probably
Michael continues, “So, we believe that we have created a in the drinking culture category and aimed at fun-loving peo-
fun-looking product with useful alcometer functionality. We ple who want to be aware of their safety and responsibility.”
want to inspire people. That’s why we make our software It is time to head home. Alcocat instructs us to walk or take
amusing and lively. It encourages people to use the device, a taxi, though the sun is still shining brightly. A walk may do
improving their responsible behaviour. There is no guilt in us some good. With a final “Cheers,” we depart, pondering
drinking if it is done responsibly.” where the future will lead us. ••

What did Alcocat put into the gadget? Martin explains, “We
offer information to the user about their mood level, or how
much alcohol they have absorbed, but in words and images
rather than numbers. It tells you how long before you will be
sober again. And it records locations and favourite drinks so
you can share them if you want. Since we do not collect any
data, all the user’s inputs are private.”

Alcocat aims to reach a particular target audience, playing to
their interests and preferences. “We aim for young-spirited
people who enjoy life and drink safely,” says Irene. “Because
our device promotes a responsible attitude to its users in a fun
way, our extras are appealing. The design makes our product
more attractive to the audience. It is all about inspiring peo-
ple to use a product and, in our case, act reasonably with the
information it provides.”

The road to success
At first, Alcocat focused on the B2B market but recently, the
company has begun to enter the B2C market as well. This,
however, comes with challenges. “We had to create awareness
for our product in the B2B market first, finding companies
that would want to resell it,” explains Michael. “Now that we
are focusing on the consumer market as well, we have whole
new challenges in marketing and distribution.”

One of the challenges is to provide excellent customer sup-
port in various languages. Martin elaborates, “Even though
our product is not all that complicated, we focused on being

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