In every market, success can be achieved by the management and consideration of four basic concepts: product, price, placement and promotion. Tooters, a division of Lingo Inc., has embraced these four P’s, and in the process, the company has carved out a substantial niche providing promotional shot glasses, specialty drinkware, prepackaged shots and more.

Strategic Shooter
    “I had an idea for a single-serving shot product that was a little more colorful and marketable for everyone, including women,” says Tooters President John Lingo. Lingo noticed during the inception of Tooters that shots were not marketed highly towards women and seemed to be regionally specific. “There were Boilermakers in the Midwest, whiskey drinks down South and tequila out West,” he says.
    Tooters set out to broaden bar-goers’ and bar owners’ beverage horizons, strategically opening new avenues for sales with creative and marketable products, such as shooter vessels. “It’s a perfect match for a bar,” Lingo says. “There is no over-pour, it’s good from an inventory standpoint, and the waitresses love to serve them.”

Playful and Profitable
    Tooters’ products come in a variety of sizes and colors, allowing operators much-needed leeway when it comes to promotion. There is the Yard, which will hold 28 ounces of a guest’s favorite beverage; there is the 18-ounce Football Cup, which is great for the game; and there are the 10- and the 2-ounce Martini and Mini Martini glasses, which Lingo says are some of the company’s most popular products.
    “All of these allow the customer to take something home with them,” Lingo says.
    One division of Tooters that bar-goers and owners alike are raving about is the ready-to-drink Tooters. These delicious shots are packaged in 25-milliliter test tube shooters and served up in either 15 or 30 packs at nightclubs and bars all over the United States, Mexico and Canada. Flavors include favorites such as Kamikazes, Melon Balls and Sex on the Beach.   

Service Above All
    Above everything involved in the recipe for success, though, Tooters values customer service.
    “We have the ability to bring customized products specific to our customers,” Lingo says.
    Tooters can work with any type of establishment –– from small jook joints to large nightclubs –– to pinpoint a particular promotional idea and keep drinkers excited about how their favorite beverages are being presented. Tooters also can create a platform for artists or spirits companies to advertise themselves on a particular beverage container.
    “Our customer service is short of no one,” Lingo says. “We will hand deliver our product if need be.”
    Once, a customer needed his Tooters product that evening and it was too late to ship. Lingo says he had the answer to that problem. It was merely a matter of putting the customer’s need at top priority. He flew an employee with product in hand to the venue just in time for the event.
    It seems like word of mouth has spread and Tooters is infiltrating all of the markets in the industry, largely thanks to steadfast industry dedication and examples such as this.
    “Here at Tooters, we’re about innovative quality ideas to increase bar sales,” Lingo says.  NCB