Marketing as a Key Differentiator

Although I have not worked in the wine industry directly, I led the GSB Luxe Trek this year and worked at AB InBev last summer - through my experience in luxury and alcohol, my hypothesis is that marketing is the way to differentiate as a winery in an overcrowded space.

Over the summer, we were testing consumer appetite for dark beer. We poured the same beer (Guinness) into 4 different glasses and created elaborate brand stories and moodboards for each, spanning from established beer to exotic. We conducted this test with over 30+ subjects in our target demographic and not a single subject realized that each glass contained the same beer. They were so carried away by the brand story that they were incapable of distinguishing variation in taste. For this reason, I believe that consumers derive a sense of identity from the brands they consume based on labels, not based on flavor.

Similarly with Inniskillin or Wente wines, the brand story and history is key to delighting customers, although there are 1000+ competitors in the space. This explains why Christine Wente focused on the history of the winery and her family. This begs the question: how you get consumers' attention?

These are some marketing-based developments that I think are exciting:

• Experiences. Clos19 is LVMH's e-commerce platform for wine experiences - this platform showcases experiences that are giftable associated to wine and spirits
• Women. For beer, at least, off-trade is growing. Women own the share of wallet in the home and as a whole feel alienated by beer companies. Communicating with women effectively is key to growth in wine.
• Health Tracking. More alcohol content, fewer calories.