New Order, Part 2: How Can Wine Producers Win the Millennial Market?
Nationally, the youngest segment of wine drinkers is poised to become the most important. But how do you reach a market that doesn't follow the rules?
Posted: Oct 25, 2012 1:45pm ET
"The VCR changed everything, because it's the first time in
history that kids knew how to do something their parents didn't," declared
Tyler Balliet, the founder of Wine Riot. VCRs explain Millennial wine habits,
he contended as we talked over beers (there would be time for wine later, at
the Riot), because the generation between 21 and 34 doesn't need to take
purchasing cues from the tastes of elders or "authorities." No one
online lacks for information coming at them on every platform, from Twitter to
ads in their own inboxes. "All other generations are information seekers;
we're information sorters."
Balliet's company Second Glass began Wine Riot in Boston in 2008
when he was 28; by the end of this year, the traveling circus of a walkaround
tasting will have stopped at six cities: Boston, D.C., Chicago, San Francisco,
New York and L.A. He now reaches 15,000 drinkers annually through the
Riot—virtually all under the age of 40—and he's the one who sorts what
information they experience in his careful selection of around 50 vendors.
Balliet has honed the vibe of the Riot such that it is the antithesis of
stuffy, yet not unserious. There are temporary tattoos, a DJ and a photobooth,
but these distractions just help attendees feel relaxed; as Balliet put it,
"Nobody will laugh at me if I ask a question" about wine.
Most booths poured wines at attainable, rather than
super-premium, price points, wines curious drinkers can find in stores later
(obviously you will have logged favorites on your Wine Riot app). Selections,
which varied by location, came from respected names like California's Hess
Collection, Germany's Dr. Loosen and Mionetto Prosecco, as well as smaller
quality producers with a U.S. presence like Domaine du Vieux Lazaret in
Châteauneuf, Sauvion in the Loire and Elderton in Barossa. Balliet also
emphasized wineries local to each city, such as Red Newt in New York's Finger
Lakes. Perhaps most importantly, Balliet has designed the tasting to educate.
The Loire Valley Wines booth, for example, was backed by a 10-foot-high partition
splayed with a giant, colorful map of the region, with grapes and styles
pinpointed.
Balliet does not paint quite the same picture of the
sophisticated, moneyed Millennial connoisseur of obscure Burgundy cuvées and
the Jura's finest Savagnins that I discussed a
few weeks ago; his audience is more national and, perhaps,
more casual than the New York/San Francisco wine bar set. But the habits of
Millennial drinkers nationwide follow those in the gourmet enclaves in three
important ways. One is the thirst for education. Another is the draw of wine at
a younger age than earlier generations felt it. The third is that "their
open-mindedness to wines from all places, all grape varieties is much
higher," said Tom Steffanci, VP of marketing for Deutsch Family Wines.
"This generation grew up with eating sushi, Mexican food, Italian food.
They would of course want to try wines from all over the world."
Wine Riot booths, like this one for Loire Valley Wines, often featured illustrations of maps with grape varieties and styles pinpointed, food pairing suggestions and even cocktail recipes, to educate attendees.
Steffanci added, "These are consumers that grew up in a
mass marketing age, and they're quite conscious of being advertised at."
Balliet claimed, "Nobody knows what the 100-point system is" (guys!).
So you have a huge, growing segment of drinkers who supposedly (granted, these
aren't the first assertions that have been made about Millennial tendencies)
don't trust ads, don't care about reviews, don't know much but are eager to
learn, and would rather do so by hopping around the world of wine than picking
a favorite Cali Cab and sticking with it. How do you market to these crazy
people?
"How do you invite people into your universe? That is the
challenge." Prince Robert of Luxembourg, whose family owns Haut-Brion, La
Mission Haut-Brion and others, knows a thing or two about the headache of
marketing Bordeaux to Americans, especially the young. The answer at his Domaine
Clarence Dillon is a new wine (circa 2005) called Clarendelle that addresses
several common gripes about the region—overpriced, dominated by corporations as
small growers struggle, undrinkable in youth—as it's priced at about $20,
sourced from small farms around the Gironde that could use the boost, blended by the Haut-Brion/LMHB team and held till
it's ready to drink (the current release vintage for the red is 2005). Prince
Robert considers the unique project "an answer for Bordeaux [at large], a
new mix that would be successful in attracting a younger audience."
Château Guiraud, in Sauternes, just
started up a U.S. office this year: It is brand ambassador Fiona Perrin, 22.
"When people look at me presenting this kind of wine, it gives another
image" than the idea of boring old France that the new drinker might have,
she told me. Guiraud's ground game is a work in progress, but by pushing the
attractively priced second wine, Petit Guiraud, and encouraging Sauternes in
mixology—also an angle for other niche styles like Port—the chateau, like DCD,
clearly sees payoff promise in the American Millennial market.
A slew of brands like Petit Guiraud and Clarendelle have either
been created or repositioned in the last few years largely to reach the
Millennial drinker, but many are marketed sloppily, even condescendingly.
Deutsch, however, excels at this game. One label, HobNob, aimed squarely at
young drinkers, has quickly grown to 200,000 cases. In the last three or so
years, Deutsch has stepped up its overtures to the kids' table even with its
established brands like Georges DuBoeuf Beaujolais Nouveau and Yellow Tail.
Steffanci cited some recent successful Deutsch campaigns. HobNob
sponsored a stage at Austin hipster music mecca South X Southwest, played by a
series of rock acts I had not heard of. "You could drink the wine and
enjoy live music, and we were tweeting from there and posting on Facebook what
was happening," said Steffanci. But he adds, "We weren't telling
people to go buy HobNob. What we've tried is not to talk at them, but more to
show that our brand can be relevant in their lives." Deutsch is serious
about this approach, especially in the digital sphere: They even commissioned
Yellow Tail Facebook fans to come up with names for two new labels, with fans
selecting "Sweet Red Roo" as a favorite in a competition; in another
promotion, a fan suggested "Tree-Free Chardonnay" for a new unoaked
wine.
Another: This year's DuBoeuf Nouveau theme is
"magique." The label art was designed by a Swiss man named Marco
Tempest who is "the forerunner in techno-magic"; when you wave your
smartphone in front of the bottle "the label actually comes alive,"
said Steffanci.
So, winemakers, the bad news is a heart label and a tagline that
sounds like Mom's impression of a twentysomething pick-up line isn't going to
cut it. I'm gonna need a mindblowing, yet immersively educational,
techno-magic, rock 'n roll, Facebook extravaganza, priced at under $20, please.
But I'll take care of the name for you.
You can follow Ben O'Donnell on Twitter at twitter.com/BenODonn.
Tyler knows what he's talking about. I interviewed him last summer for a video about Millennials and wine (if you want to see it, search "Millennials Talk Back" on Vimeo), and was very impressed with his insights and what he's been able to achieve at such a young age. He's right: wine education can (and should) be fun.