Steve Raye is the president of Bevology, a marketing company that helps wine and spirits brands enter and grow in the US market. He discusses how the US drinks market is being disrupted by changing consumer trends, particularly among millennials, who are more open to imported brands and use online resources to research wines. Raye advocates non-traditional marketing strategies like using social media to engage consumers, populating authoritative websites with brand content, partnering with apps that offer delivery within an hour, claiming brands on wine apps like Vivino, and using e-commerce as a strategic tool to reach consumers nationwide.

1. U.S. DRINKS MARKET: DISRUPTINGTHE SYSTEM
Non Traditional Marketing Strategies
Steve Raye

2. Non-Traditional Marketing
Strategies to Gain a Competitive
Edge in the U.S. Drinks Market

3. Steve Raye is President of Bevology, Inc.
a U.S. marketing company specializing in helping wine and spirit
brands enter and grow in the American market. His particular
passion is in educating producers on the U.S. three-tier system and
helping suppliers navigate its complexities.
Steve is a recognized thought leader in the industry and frequent
speaker at conferences around the world on the issues driving the
American Drinks market. He has lectured at Hochschule
Geisenheim in Germany, and most recently at the LondonWine
Fair andVinitaly. Steve is a graduate of Cornell University
Clients of Bevology include McWilliam’s and McGuigan as well as
wine promotion organizations for Spain, Chile,Austria,Australia,
Santorini. They also represent Cape Classics and Golden Ram
Imports and trade marketing in the US forVinitaly and ProWein.
He also has extensive experience working on Pernod Ricard
brands including Jacobs Creek andWyndham Estate as well as the
beer portfolio of Heineken USA.
Steve Raye
Steve@BevologyInc.com
+1-860-833-6272

4. Marketing Company that helps brands enter and grow in the
US Market
• Strategic planning: Route-to-market and brand development
• PR:Trade and Consumer
• Advertising
• Trade Marketing
• Digital and Social
– Social media marketing and engagement
– Content population
– Brand website design, development and optimization.

5. Changing ConsumerTrends
• Millennials represent the largest wine
consuming age cohort—77 million.
• They are driving a trade-up to higher
priced wines,with the most growth in the
$12 - $15 and $15 - $20 segments.
• They behave very differently from previous generations
– Seek out what’s new and different (to them)
• Moscato,Prosecco,Red Blends
– Very open to imported brands,and particularly NewWorld wines.
• They don’t get their information from magazines,
they get it on their smartphones and from online resources and their social networks

6. The influencers are changing
• They seek“authoritative” information online at sites and on apps like Wine-
Searcher,Vivino,Wine4me, Snooth,HelloVino,Delectable et al.
• And personal recommendations and evaluations through social media
• They do not subscribe to magazines or pay for access to scores on
WineSpectator.com
And the scale is changing as well
• Wine Spectator – 400,000; Wine Enthusiast – 177,000; WineAdvocate – 48,000
• Wine-Searcher gets 3 million unique visitors per month, and their data feeds many
other sites
• Vivino has 10.9 million users…up from 10.3 millions just one month ago
Changing Consumer Dynamics

7. On Line Wine Buyer
• They’re more likely to use phone apps, websites and search in Google…and less likely to use
print as wine information source.’
• Buy more wine
• Buy more expensive wine
• Consider themselves knowledgeable about wine and talk about wine with friends.They are
regarded as the experts in their social circle and are more influential than all the wine
magazines and websites … combined.
• Online wine buyers vs. non-online buyers
-buy on average two more bottles of wine/month
-spend more on wine/month: US$135 vs. $81.61
spend more than US$18.50 on a bottle
-interested in wines that are: premium quality, from a recognized growing region, from a
family owned and/or boutique winery. (Also less interested in wine at a sale price)
Sources: Sonoma State Univ, Wine Market Council

8. So What DoesThat Mean?
“I know half my
advertising doesn’t
work…I just don’t
know which half”
Pure E-
marketing/
Ecommerce
ROI

9. 1. Stop shouting and start talking
Engage on Social Media, and monitor,measure and manage the conversations
2. Content is king,context is queen
Take responsibility and control of how your brand is presented
3. Retail is evolving:
Delivery-within-an-hour services, Apps
4. Retail store trading areas are no longer barriers
E-commerce becomes a strategic tool
Adapt or Become Irrelevant

10. Build a community
Empower/encourage them to share and
tell your story to their friends in their
words
• Don’t try and do everything, Pick one or two
platforms and do them really well: Facebook,
Instagram,YouTube,Twitter
• Facebook’s New Reality: Pay-to-Play.
• Images andVideos rule: fun, engaging, short.
Commercial messages can be cool but bring
something new to the party.
1:Social Media Strategies

11. Social Media
Think of it as free Market Research
Data ActionInformation Insight
Free Market Research: real time, behavior based
Integrated with
Delectable

12. 2. Content is King,Context is Queen
Content Population Strategy
• Publicity that exists forever on the web and attracts visitors at
the precise moment in time when they are most interested in the subject.
• Where it is posted is as important as what is posted
• Leverage the authority and authenticity of trusted sites.

13. Content Population Results
• 7,823% more views as archived file than
when it was originally posted.
• And they spent twice as much time
viewing the content
• Why this is important: Reaching people
at the precise moment in time when
they’re searching for this information
Santé Magazine Content Population Results
Page views generated in the week the article
was posted
Total page views over 15 months
% incremental
page views AFTER posting week…
and still growing
12 articles
posted monthly
575 44,984 7,823%
Average visit duration Site average 2:03
More than double
Chile article average 4:15

14. Content Population is Evergreen
• 275 registered for live
webinar
• 5,591 views since then

15. Content in the Right Context Moves Boxes
Unfamiliar category, product name, and how to
use.
Email to opt-in database sold out initial 11 cs.
inventory in 3 hours, replacement inventory in
two days.
Generated 100 cs. of volume in 4 months and
the store continues to promote and sell
Lesson learned: target the influencers who
impact sales vs. opinions.

16. http://www.vivino.com/claim-your-winery
Claim, Manage your Winery onVivino

17. 3. Retail is Evolving:Delivery-within-an-hour
• Drizly, Minibar Delivery, Drync, Saucey
• Laser-Targeted to Millennials
• Geographically targetable
• Tool to drive retail distribution, support
wholesaler/importer
• Added value:
– motivated retailers
– E-commerce partner

18. E-Commerce
• Allows you to sell in multiple states, nearly nationally,
when you may only have distribution in one.
• Strong penetration with Baby
Boomers, average purchase is 3X
typical physical store purchase
• Recognition that it represents a
way to access broader selection
of wines found on the web—
viaWine-Searcher.com

19. 4. E-Commerce as StrategicTool
• Strong penetration with Baby Boomers, average purchase is 3X typical physical
store purchase
• Has established awareness that it represents a better selection of wines and the
question:“Where can I buy this wine I heard about?”
• Allows you to sell in states where you may not even have distribution
• Consummates ratings, reviews, whatever the source.
• E-commerce consumers
– buy more wine
– buy more expensive wine
– consider themselves knowledgeable about wine and talk about wine with friends.
– They are regarded as the experts in their social circle and are more influential than all the
wine magazines and websites …probably combined!
Sources: Sonoma State Univ., Wine Market Council

20. Bottle photo
Tasting notes
Technical notes
Food pairing
After
Before
E-Commerce
Optimization

21. U.S. competitions accepting currently-
non-imported wines and spirits
Ultimate Wine Challenge/Ultimate Spirits Challenge
http://www.ultimate-beverage.com/
BTI (Beverage Testing Institute): Australia deadline March 1, 2016
Wine: http://trade.tastings.com/get-reviewed/wine/any-style-wine
Spirits: http://trade.tastings.com/get-reviewed/spirits/any-style-spirit
San Francisco Wine Competition
http://www.sfwinecomp.com/
NewYork International Wine Competition
May 17-18, 2015 (Deadline for entries May 12)
https://www.nyiwinecompetition.com/

22. Takeaways
You can compete by doing a few things really, really well
– Don’t be involved, be committed
– Engage via Social Media
– Content Population
– Apps:
• Delivery within an hour
• Claim your brand onVivino
– E-commerce as strategic tool

23. ThankYou!
Steve Raye
Bevology Inc.
Steve@Bevologyinc.com
Blog: OH-pinions
+1-860-833-6272
www.BevologyInc.com