Insightful analysis of how the web has democratized wine marketing permitting smaller wineries to compete on an even playing field with the big guys with big budgets. Presented by Steve Raye of Bevology Inc. at Vinitaly 2015, Verona, Italy.

1. U.S. WINE MARKET:
DISRUPTING THE
SYSTEM
Non-traditional marketing strategies to gain a
competitive edge.© 2015 Steve Raye

2. Steve Raye
 Helping wine brands
enter/grow in the US Market
 Brand Development
 Trade Marketing
 Social Media
Steve Raye
Managing Partner
Bevology Inc.
Steve@BevologyInc.com
+1 860-833-6272

3. Think Differently
Zig
5
© 2015 Steve Raye

4. Think Differently
Zig Zag
© 2015 Steve Raye

5. Marketing Manifesto
Measure what matters: Impressions are important, but they don’t necessarily
correlate with volume. Here’s what really matters:
• Sales on- and off-premise—cases, value, velocity
• Depletions vs. shipments/exports
• Distribution on- and off-premise
• Reorder rates, wine lists and BTG programs
Don’t market to empty shelves: Distribution
is critical, make sure consumers are able to
buy what you’re selling, even if it’s not in
stock in-store.
Get it in, get it out: Getting distribution
on- and off-premise is only the first step.
Drive consumer purchase.
Help the importer and distributor do
their jobs: Drive consumer demand at
retail and ensure the trade is aware of
that demand.
Target audience: You can’t be all things to all people.
Determine your target and focus on it precisely,
comprehensively, and consistently.
Geographic focus: Define your markets based on the
best potential for sales gains, not total category volume.
Identify, then leverage your brand’s unique
strengths:
Have a POD that MAD:
point of difference that makes a
difference.
© 2015 Steve Raye

6. Guiding Principle
Align programs with account needs…help
them build their business: WIIFM
“What’s in it for ME?”
•Increase sales (volume and profitability)
•Increase customer frequency
•Increase new traffic
© 2015 Steve Raye

7. Industry Trends
 Millennials represent the largest wine
consuming age-cohort—70 million +. They like to
explore new and different things and are a primary force
driving wine growth – particularly imports.
 Overall, consumers are trading up to higher
priced wines, with the most growth (66%) in the
$12 - $15 and $15 - $20 segments.
 E-commerce and new/non-traditional distribution channels
are rapidly growing: 3.47MM cases in 2013 (up 9.3%). Wine.com does
53% of its business with imported wines vs. 27% for traditional retail.
 Explosion in delivery-within-an-hour services: Drizly, Minibar Delivery, et
al.. New in 2014 and now active in all major markets.

8. Industry Trends (continued)
Sources: Wine Opinions, Gomberg-Fredrickson, Wine Intelligence, B.I.G. Handbook, Nielsen et al.
• # of wine selling channels continues to grow
• Wine/liquor stores represent the largest number of off-premise outlets (wine sales
in supermarkets is allowed in only 35 states and notably not permitted in NY)
• Wine/liquor stores account for disproportionately higher percentage of $12-$20
wines vs. supermarkets
Off-Premise Wine Selling
Store Counts-by Channel
Dec. 2009 Dec. 2013
Wine/Liquor 40,384 43,675
Grocery- Conventional 16,662 17,019
Drug 8,082 12,390
Mass-Conventional 2,132 2,033
Grocery-Natural/Gourmet 1,066 2,539
Warehouse Club 850 911

9. Industry Trends (Cont.)
• Online access to news, recommendations, where-to-buy
have displaced traditional print, especially for Millennials.
They now seek information on Wine-Searcher, Vivino, Wine4me,
Snooth, Hello Vino et al.
• Reach and Targeting:
• Wine-Searcher gets 3 million unique visitors per month,
predominantly millennials.
• Snooth reaches 2 million people per month
• By comparison print circulations stand at:
Wine Spectator – 400,000; Wine Enthusiast – 170,000;
Wine Advocate – 48,000
Sources: Wine Opinions, Gomberg-Fredrickson, Wine Intelligence, B.I.G. Handbook, Nielsen et al.

10. You Can Change the Equation!
1 + 1 = 11
© 2015 Steve Raye

11. You Can Change the Equation!
1 + 1 = 11
© 2015 Steve Raye

12. Here’s How
 Delivery within an hour, law of unintended
consequences
 E-Commerce optimization
 Content population strategy
 Social Media: What’s now, what’s next?
© 2015 Steve Raye

13. Delivery-Within-An-Hour
 Drizly, Minibar Delivery, Drync, Thirstie,
Saucey
 Laser-Targeted to Millennials: immediate, no
shipping upcharge
 Geographically targetable down to metro
market
 Tool to drive retail distribution, support
wholesaler/importer
 E-commerce solution
© 2015 Steve Raye

14. 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
 Has established awareness that it
represents a better selection of hard-
to-find wines
 Tools like Wine-Searcher drive intent
to purchase

15. E-Commerce
Optimization
Bottle photo
Tasting notes
Technical notes
Food pairing
After
Before
© 2015 Steve Raye

16. Content Population Strategy
 Evergreen PR: Publicity that exists forever on the web and attracts visitors at
the precise moment in time when they are most interested in the subject.
 Leverage the authority and authenticity of trusted sites.
© 2015 Steve Raye

17. Content Population Results
 Visitors saw our content more when it
was archived than when originally
distributed.
 That is a 7,823% ROI reaching people at
the precise moment in time when they’re
searching for this information
 And they spent twice as much time
viewing the content
 Goal/Result: Delight the site visitor,
add value to the site, leverage your
marketing dollar efficiency
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

18. Social Media: Build the
Community
Advertising Phase I: Build the FB community
Advertising Phase II: Engage with the community
• Facebook is powered by a proprietary algorithm that determines what users see in their newsfeed.
Because of this, on average, only 3% of a community’s users will see published content
organically. The game has changed, you have to pay to play.
• Boosted posts are a type of Facebook advertising that will insert our page’s content posts into
user’s newsfeeds based on targeting parameters. This would include both users that have “liked”
the page and users who have not.

19. Twitter: use it
strategically
 Identify Somms, F&B managers, industry influencers who are actively engaged
in subjects relevant to your brand
 Focus efforts on those that the others follow…Klout score, follower base,
engagement, posting frequency
© 2015 Steve Raye

20. Metrics Matter
“I know half my
advertising doesn’t
work…I just don’t
know which half”
Pure E-
marketing/
Ecommerce
ROI

21. Analysis and Performance
Metrics
Some examples:
• Social Media Metrics give us real time insight into consumer engagement and interaction on Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram et al, supplemented by data supplied by Facebook Insights and Google Analytics on
your website.

22. Social Media Activation:
Platform Recommendations
We recommend social media activity be focused on three primary platforms:
Facebook: The to engage
with your broadest audience
of wine consumers.
Instagram: Every
picture tells a story
Twitter: Focus activities on
key influencers
who are actively participating
– Sommeliers and F&B managers
have an active dialogue on Twitter
centered around “wine geek”
subjects of interest
© 2015 Steve Raye

23. Read the Book
© 2015 Steve Raye

24. U.S. competitions accepting
currently non-imported wines
Ultimate Wine Challenge
Accepts brands not currently imported to the US
http://www.ultimate-beverage.com/ultimate-wine-challenge-
UWC/2015-wine-entry-forms/
BTI (Beverage Testing Institute)
Accepts brands not currently registered in the U.S. Check site for
deadlines
http://us6.campaign-
archive2.com/?u=da8603c0af6040dcc7e4d9ed2&id=8fdf91dae4&e=
San Francisco Wine Competition
Deadline May 22, 2015
http://www.sfwinecomp.com/
New York International Wine Competition
May 17-18, 2015 (Deadline for entries May 12)
https://www.nyiwinecompetition.com/
© 2015 Steve Raye

25. Strategies
 Focus, focus focus… and triage your initiatives into “must”, “should”, “could”. Make sure
you do the “musts” before you do “should do” or “could do.”
 Must Do
 Should Do
 Could Do
 Target audience:
 Be specific…demographics are important, but behavior is critical. Only spend
money that gets in front of people who are receptive to your message, AND who can
buy your product.
 Recognize Millennials are a prime target and they do not subscribe to print
magazines like Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Parker, or pay for subscriptions to
Winespectator.com.
These publications are effectively invisible to Millennials: Google can’t see Wine
Spectator ratings.

26. Takeaways
 You can compete with the existing, major
players by doing a few things really, really well
 Content Population: Get your content into the
right places so consumers find it when they are
specifically looking for it.
 Wine Apps: Vivino, Hello Vino, Wine Searcher,
wine4.me
 E-commerce
 Delivery within an hour
 Metrics matter
© 2015 Steve Raye

27. Contact
Steve Raye
Managing Partner
Bevology Inc.
401 Park Ave. South, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10016
+1 212-613-2713
+1-860-833-6272 (m)
steve@bevologyinc.com
© 2015 Steve Raye