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The Wealthiest Generation Ever: Wine Must Go Grassroots

May 1, 2009 By In Basics, Growth, HOW Series, Marketing, Outreach
Take a tip from Millennials: Go Grassroots

Take a tip from Millennials: Go Grassroots

According to Deloitte Research, Millennials born between 1982 and 1993 have an annual income of $200 billion and can expect to inherit $17.8 trillion from previous generations, making this the WEALTHIEST GENERATION EVER.  Many industries are frantically trying to capitalize on this, from insurance companies to banks to the automotive business, so where does the wine industry fit in?

It is crucial that the wine business harnesses the potential of this affluent generation now.

Millennials love wine and are buying it in record numbers. We have already made the choice to enjoy wine, much to the amazement of many industry professionals.  However, many young people do not feel like they would be accepted in the current wine culture and therefore don’t seek to be a part of it.  For example, many would rather purchase the same big brands in the anonymity of a grocery store aisle rather than risk being embarrassed by lack of knowledge in a wine shop.  For the US Wine Industry, this means that a large part of the generation (which John Gillespie calls the “future of the wine industry”) could potentially continue to support the same few enormous companies that they find in these stores – both domestic and foreign – instead of supporting the thousands of  smaller independent producers and merchants that the American wine industry has to offer.  It is crucial that the wine business harnesses the potential of this affluent generation now.  There must be a paradigm shift.

Take a tip from the Millennials: go grassroots.  Every person in the wine industry that deals directly with consumers has the potential to make an impact.  Be an ambassador.

Invoke The Campsite Rule

Invoke The Campsite Rule

The next time a Millennial enters your store, tasting room, restaurant, bar or event, take the time to speak with them.  Answer their questions, ask some of your own, and add to their base of knowledge.  Many newer wine drinkers, not just Millennials, are intimidated by the “old school” exclusive and snobbish wine culture – make it your goal to debunk this stereotype.  Welcome them into the wine community.  It’s time to invoke a variation on The Campsite Rule: Leave each young wine-drinker with a better wine experience than when you found them.

If we in the wine industry can take advantage of the circumstances and cultivate this group not just as the new generation of wine buyers, but as the NEW GENERATION OF THE WINE COMMUNITY – we can create a lasting relationship that will benefit everyone for years to come.

The How Series 4: Gen wYne Club – Expanding to Millennials

April 24, 2009 By In Growth, HOW Series, Marketing, Outreach

Many wineries today are concerned with the declining number of wine club members. Wineries with smaller case productions especially need to find a way to grow these repeat customers right now – WITHOUT dropping prices. One solution: Build a special club for the younger consumer.

 

Take that club shipment down a notch for Millennials

Take that club shipment down a notch for Millennials

 

With tourist season coming up fast, everyone is going to see younger wine-drinkers walking through their tasting room doors. Unfortunately, many of these 20-30-somethings aren’t the main “target” that wineries are looking at for their wine clubs.  Based on past performance, this is not a group that will spend the money on an expensive high-shipment club. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS.  Now that we all know how to reach out, relate, and create a relationship with Millennials, use it to your advantage and give them the option of joining your wine club at a level that they are comfortable with.  Provide a lighter case shipment option to people 35 and under.  If you normally offer your “smallest” club at 3 bottles 3 times a year, bring it down to 2 bottles twice a year.  

…you are creating consistent sales to a group that is not a part of your current club – that’s growth.

But how does a business owner prevent current wine club members from opting out of their larger shipments and signing up for this new, less intense version?  Limit the club to ONLY young wine drinkers.  Your consumers are only eligible for this if they are 35 years of age or younger.  This is similar to banks and credit card companies offering special deals to students – the terms are more affordable and the payments are more flexible – but only students are eligible.

By doing this, you are offering a solution to an entire group of people that might not feel comfortable spending hundreds of dollars each year at just one winery.  This way you are creating consistent sales to a group that is not a part of your current club – that’s growth.  You are also showing this important consumer group that you are putting in the effort to reach out and cater to their situation.  Odds are that the businesses that offer this will be the first wine club that many young people will ever belong to.  If you can create a life-long customer simply by offering your service on terms they respond to, then you’ve got a good thing going.