Shades of the 1960s: There’s something of a counter-cultural movement among Millennials, driving to look for new brands, brands that are “speaking to them,” and, when it comes to wines, not the same wines their parents drink.
That makes it harder to create brand loyalty, says David Hewlett, CEO of Chardonnay Box, a premier Chardonnay wine club. “It’s more of a change in brand conversation than brand loyalty,” he told us in an interview today. You can listen to the interview here.
Hewlett sees similarities between craft beer and wine. “You go to a store and see a selection of craft beers. The initial sales for a craft brewery may be great, but I’m going off to find other beers – and that leads to a sales slowdown,” he told us.
“That’s going to happen” in wine, too, he says. Millennials are trying new wines, both in terms of varietals and geolocation. So, you have to try to grab them when they are there.
Hewlett acknowledges that there are “lots of wonderful wines that can’t be distributed at the grocery store, so most consumers haven’t discovered them.” That’s where Chardonnay Box comes in. “I like to go to tasting rooms and find those wines for my customers,” he explains.
The entire marketing process has changed, and most large wineries – and some smaller ones – are keeping up to date on social media. The bigger ones — Frank Family Winery, Rombauer, Saddleback – “do a great job.” But there’s a smaller winery in Alexander Valley he visited recently. “The tasting room employee with whom I spoke was excited they had done their first Snapchat post.”
Hewlett argues it’s “very easy” for smaller and older wineries to try social media. “Leverage your current customer base to get the conversation started,” he says.
There’s a new challenge for winemakers, who have to figure out a couple of years in advance what consumers will want. Consumers have gotten much more fickle. “That does make it hard,” he says. “You have to capture your customer in the moment in which you have access, whether online or in your tasting room, you have to give them a good experience.”
Millennials think globally, he argues. “They might taste an avarino from Spain and think it’s fantastic.” That’s both a problem and an opportunity, but it does give wineries the opportunity to start testing different varietals and blends to create interest.
Millennials buy about 25% of the wine, and their influence will grow as that cohort gets older, Hewlett told us. Older drinkers are more likely to stick to what they are drinking. But as they get older, their wine consumption decreases, to be replaced by Millennials.
Not only is this impacting wine consumers, but also producers. Hewlett points to Wente Vineyards, where Eric Wente is head winemaker “and makes fantastic wines.” His son, Carl, is in charge of their sub-brand and is trying to get very creative.
Over at Navarro Vineyards, the winemaker’s daughter has brought in miniature sheep to eat the weeds. They aren’t tall enough to eat the grapes.
Hewlett sees opportunities for importers to look to “new countries” – Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Georgia – to obtain new wines for Millennials to try.
On-Demand Economy
Millennials are customers of Amazon, and expect control over what gets shipped to them. Look at companies such as TastingRoom.com that sends you half-bottles to try and you can fill out a form online for the wines you want shipped to you.
BrightCellars.com uses an algorithm to score each wine by comparing 18 attributes to a customer’s preferences. “Wineries need to think about how they can customize their online experience for their customers, how they can leverage their tasting room to speak to their customers and learn what they like,” Hewlett says.