Fredrik Motelius talked us through his model that capitalises on the Swedish popularity for Amarone during the session on Wine Clubs at WBIS 2014

1. A lot of fun, a wine club and two
businesses…

2. Club Amarone - wine club and businesses
 A Swedish wine club founded in 2005
 focuses on wines from the region of Valpolicella in northern Italy
 feeds two businesses today
 Wine Distributor - Wine Group Sweden AB
 Travel Operator - Italy By Wine AB
 profitable since the first year with a current yearly turn-over of
almost 1.000.000€
 operated on spare-time by the 3 founders.

3. The founders
Club Amarone was founded back in 2005 by
 Håkan Bjurström, founder of SEO company
 Martina Ciccarello-Montelius, online marketing and social
media consultant
 Fredrik Montelius, COO of IT-company

4.  The objective of this session is to
 Explain how we created a group of wine consumers
interested in a specific type of wine
 and share how we managed to turn this idea into a profitable
business!

5. The journey from 2005 2008
2012
2013
2006
2009
2007
2005
2011
2010
 SalesAmaronewith web with 50% clubamarone.se allowing the
Systembolaget launches
 Collaboration own 10 at the monopoly
Sales volume
Five products increased shopown e-commerce
 Launch of ouravailable producers in Valpolicella platform
Sales membersis foundedits on
Club volume doubled
4.800 volume up 150%
 2.300 members in orders AmaroneSystembolaget products products
50% drop in sales Club online
 members to Valpolicella Amarone in to 30 members eachright
Systembolaget
400 members in involume, 6 a group of get select the time
 3.200 members Club Amarone to model tosales volume back
1.200 members launches a months Sweden (to find
Several Amarone-tasting sessions
Two trips to place Club with new
 Introduction Martina leave Sweden level of aClubof 30 30and then to
5.500 new members)
for
Firstthestandard trip to Valpolicellawith group of members
 Fourthmembers inassortiment a group in 30 members and
Secondand to Valpolicella with
withthe organized Club Amarone
Fredrik trip of Gold to Valpolicella move to Amarone
4.000organized trip Membership towithgroupCanada
One trip
 Two tripsthe Valpolicellainown Amarone30 the on
6 products the Club’s the group of aged club
members tooflaunched with a members of members eachmonopoly
Sales of to first product at Systembolaget - the Swedish
Barcelona
 production Valpolicella for standard assortiment Swedish oak
 Thirdcustomized in Club withimportantof 30 members firm
 One trip to Valpolicella an a group Swedish bank
6.000 members Valpolicella for
 First B2B trip to trip for Amarone major Swedish law
 One trip to Valpolicella for the members
 One B2B trip to Valpolicella for an important Swedish bank
2005 - 2013

6. The Swedish market
 Sweden has a total population of about 9.6 million
 Systembolaget has the monopoly to sell alcohol beverages to
private persons. This is done via 420 shops all around the
country.
 Systembolaget purchases its products from distributors and
import-companies
 Systembolaget has two assortments
 Standard assortment where the products are available in
the shops
 Order assortment where the importer delivers wine to
Systembolaget for each end-customer order

7. Why starting “Club Ama..what” ?
 First reason, we love Amarone!
 Great interest and demand for Amarone in Sweden
 60% of sales of red wine over 25€ in Sweden is Amarone
 Since 1996 sales of Amarone have increased by 4000% in
Sweden
 Our idea was, and still is, to build a wine community
to drive and increase the demand for products from
small top quality producers from the Valpolicella

8. How do we do it?
 Website clubamarone.se – to get new members
 Biweekly newsletter – to drive sales
 Tasting sessions 6-8 times per year in Sweden – to
strength the members’ loyalty by sharing a great
Amarone experience and make the members talk about it
in their network of wine lovers
WineWine
distribution
distribution
business
business
 Gold membership – to build loyalty through premium
offerings and a unique ownership of Amarone aged on
Swedish oak
 Wine trips to the Valpolicella – to share the best possible
travel-food-wine experience in the Valpolicella
Travel
Travel
busines
business
s

9. clubamarone.se - to get new
members
 High Google search ranking
 Relevant contents
 Technical structure of the web site
 Other websites linking to our site
 Conversion from visitor to sign-up
 Conversion from visitor to customer
 Recurring visitors
 Information bank and articles
 Travel recommendations

10. Biweekly Newsletters - to drive sales
 Open Rate (30-40%)
 Subject line is important
 Interesting and relevant content
for the reader with a mix of latest
news, trends and producer
portraits
 Time of the day when newsletter
is sent is not important for us
 Click Through Rate (1-8%)
 Attractive offerings / products
 The overall presentation of the
products

11. Newsletter Launch of new producer
Massimago

12. Gold
To build loyaltymembership
 Yearly fee: 200 EUR
 Receive the most important information and product
launches in advance
 Special travel discounts in the Valpolicella
 20% discount on wine
 Special 3-night package at B&Bs with
tasting, lunch&wine tour
 Amarone aged in Swedish oak
 Since 20008 we have been producing a unique
Amarone that is stored in Swedish oak

13.  Each year a new artist is invited to
express its interpretation of the
wine
 2008: Designer
 2009: Composer
 2010: Poet
 Yearly production of 300 bottles
are available only for Gold
members
Vintage 2009
Vintage 2008
Draft - vintage 2010

14. Amarone tasting sessions - to build
loyalty
 Tasting sessions are presented by Henrik
Ungerth, the leading Amarone expert in
Sweden
 Vertical tastings, old vintages, rare and often
expensive Amarone
 6-8 times per year in Sweden
 To share a “Great Amarone Experience”
that members remember and talk about
 To build loyalty and a community feeling
among the members

15. Travel
 Yearly trips to Valpolicella for the members to share the best possible
travel-food-wine experience
 Some members joins these trips year after year
 We now get requests from companies that want to share a unique and
high quality experience with their customers or employees

16. Outlook
Technology
Service and
expertise
Macro
Trends
Individual
and image
*Source:Systembolaget “Trends and the world in which we operate”
Easier
living and
well-being

17. Techn
ology
Macro trends
Technology
85% of the adult population has
access to the internet and 50% has
a smart phone
Easier living and well-being
People are feeling the impact of
time pressure and a clear trend is
also the desire to treat themselves
with something that makes them
feel good.
Servic
e and
expert
ise
Easier
living
Macro
Trends
Individ
ual
and
image
Wellbeing
New purchasing habits
Simplicity and a high quality
interaction are important
Communication must be
mobile compatible
More people are looking for a
good, quick and uncomplicated
approach: join wine
tastings, receive wine
recommendations in the
phone, travel with a group to
share a unique food&wine
experience

18. Techn
ology
Macro trends
Servic
e and
expert
ise
Individ
ual
and
image
Easier
living
Macro
Trends
Wellbeing
Individual and image
Many people are keen to use their
consumption and their consumer
behavior to create an identity, a
sense of belonging.
Food and drink habits are a
common way of marking where
we belong. Wine clubs fill an
important role.
Service and expertise
Customers don’t want to feel like
part of a crowd: they want the
interaction to make them feel
special – feel “chosen”. They want
easy access to the guidance and
advice they need.
The winners will be those
companies who dare to be
personal, and who see the
customer behind the computer
screen. Through the club you can
meet your customer and share
experiences together.

19. 2014, 2015 and beyond…
1. Wine clubs will continue to play important role in
the Swedish wine business – it can be great way
to meet the wine lovers and your customers
2. Our members are our best clients and “sales force”
3. We will continue to do what we and do it better
4. We will try to expand our concept into new
markets!

20. Thank YOU!!!
Fredrik Montelius
fredrik.montelius@winegroup.se