Ep. 2021 Susan DeMatei | Masterclass US Wine Market With Juliana Colangelo

Who wants to be the next Italian wine Ambassador, join an exclusive network of four hundred Italian wine ambassadors across forty eight countries. Vine Italy International Academy is coming to Chicago on October nineteen to twenty first. And Walmatic Kazakhstan from November sixteenth to eighteenth. Don't miss out. Register now at Vineethree dot com. Welcome to Mastercost US Market with me, Juliana Colangelo. This show has been designed to demystify the US market for Italian wineries through interviews of experts in sales and distribution, social media, communications, and so much more. We will quiz each of our esteemed guests at the end of each episode to solidify the lessons that we've learned to sharpen your pencils, get out your notebooks, and join us each week to learn more about the US market. Hello. Welcome to Masterclass US wine market. Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Susan Dimate to the Italian wine podcast. Susan is the founder of wine glass marketing, a company based in the Napa Valley. Welcome to the show, Susan. It's so great to have you here. Well, thanks for having me. I'm I'm really excited to be here. Absolutely. Before we dive into today's discussion around generational shifts and wine consumption, which we know is always a hot topic. Susan, tell us a little bit more about your background on how you came to start wine less marketing. Yeah. Thanks. So I I have a background in doing actually tech marketing. And, when I moved up to the Napa Valley, just to get out of the cities, about twenty five years ago, I realized how much the wine industry needed good analytics and good technical foundations, especially regarding marketing website structure, you know, tracking ads, you know, social media was just starting. So I started this company to really bring some of the the rigors that I had learned, you know, with clients such like Intel and Sprint and use some of the training that I had to help wineries. So wine glass marketing, we're now, twelve years old, and we have about thirty or so clients. We do marketing in all areas, except PR. We do a lot of, digital marketing and a lot the way I was able to get my certification to be a sommelier so I could write copy a little bit better. And then I went ahead and got a degree at, Napa Valley College in Viticulture too. So I knew what I was talking about. So It's just it's been a long ride and and a really great time. I I I'm glad that I chose wine industry. Yeah. And I think it sounds like you brought a lot of incredible value to the industry, bringing that tech background in that more corporate business side and that intelligence to wineries. So with that that background you have, Susan, today, we're gonna talk about the generational shift we're seeing from boomers to millennials and how this is affecting the wine market specifically. And our three key takeaways and really what we wanna focus on is Number one, how has the internet fundamentally changed? How consumers make decisions about what they're gonna purchase? Number two, let's talk a little bit about what millennials and gen x are looking for and the products that they buy. And some of the reasons why wine might not be capturing their attention. And then finally, number three, let's talk a little bit about the good news as well. And, what this new generation is looking for that the wine industry can really capture on when it comes to to making a connection. So, you know, for starters, we've seen all the negative press in the headlines about younger generations not drinking wine, increasing cannabis use, neoprovisionists, organizations, not recommending, any level of alcohol for safe consumption. And and this is all negative for the wine industry. How do you think this is affecting wine consumption? Well, unfortunately, the media here in the US is very focused on, you know, clicks and views. So negative cells, and that's literally what's leading the headlines. The research that I have seen indicates that Well, first of all, gen gen x, the generation after boomers is incredibly cynical. Right? It's my generation. We don't believe anything. You know? So I I don't think, you know, they're really not affected that much they wouldn't kind of believe anything you told them. But millennials from what I'm seeing in research is that if they're an existing wine drinker, it's not really deterring them. You know, millennials, drink on average wine about, you know, two times a week. They are able to buy higher end wines. They do tend to buy wines that are forty dollars and above. That you have to remember millennials are sort of in their prime time right now, of of earning. Right? They're in their forties, they're in their high high thirties. But they're very busy. They have full careers. They have they they're taking care of their kids and their parents at the same time. You know, so it has to be convenient. And I think one of the the nice dovetails here is the availability for wine online has really met their needs for convenience and delivery. But you know, they are drinking for sure. And the research again I'm seeing is not that it's it's really slowing them down. So, you know, so that's that's good news. Right? We see that there is consumption despite all the the negative headlines, but You know, we also know that, like you said, there's specific considerations with these generations, the skepticism of the gen x, your generation. And then for the millennial, I think, you know, there's not a lot the same level of brand loyalty. Right? We jump around a lot. We're heavily influenced by what we're seeing online and also convenience and how easily and quickly can we get a product. So what do you think are some of the most important considerations for consumers when they're shopping online in general, let's start there and then let's dive into, like, how do we make wine more accessible online for these generations? Yeah. I think I mean, even to be a little bit broader, I think, to to dovetail on your your point, yes, I millennials buy it differently. They're not gonna buy like Boomers or Genex. They are going to buy because they have grown up with the internet, and they're gonna buy make decisions a lot quicker. They, they buy based on things like reviews and good descriptions. So all of those things are important when you're, when you're trying to sell a product online. Think think of it this way. With my father wanted to buy a car, right? He might subscribe to car and driver magazine three months before. And he would, get consumer reports. My mother was really into consumer reports. You know, you you read everything. This is how boomers made decisions. Before the internet, you did all the research you could and and typical, you know, magazines, newspapers. From kids, they were used to going and using the library and encyclopedias There was there was like a reverence for Right. Doing the research. Right? It showed you put in the time. It showed you made smart decisions. And it wasn't this sort of immediate demand society that we have now. So these type of consumers, when they went to wineries or when they're looking at at wines, they'll read all the technical notes. You know, they wanna know the history of the vineyard. All of these things are very important to them, and they have the patience, and the respect of that information. Fast forward thirty years, and we're looking at a generation that grew up with I don't know this answer. I'm gonna ask Siri, and I'm gonna get it in twenty seconds. Right? So there's there's not that patience for all of that data. Right? They they want the bullet points. Right? And and not only do they not have the patience for weeding through it, they don't need it. To make a decision. You know, now we're perfectly comfortable buying a three thousand dollar couch on Amazon. We don't even go and see where the couch is made. Right? Right. So all we need to do is we need to think like that when we're presenting our wines, what do they need to know? Are there ways that you can, make the tasting notes come alive with don't don't write like a sommelier. You know, don't write like a winemaker. And please don't have your winemaker write your tasting notes. Have a marketer write your tasting notes. Absolutely. It should be it should be descriptive. It's in in terms that we can understand. You know, nobody I mean, how often have you eaten deceased? Yeah. I might know. I can say that. Definitely. Never. Yeah. And and and so, you know, maybe it's it's like a winefolly. You know, winefolly does a wonderful job of of of explaining flavors using icon icons or graphs or, you know, as far as mouthfeel or or food that it goes with, those are the things you need to think about when you're when you're selling wine online is how do I give consumers the most information could possibly do. Absolutely. And I think, another key component that is influencing the decision of this younger generation when they're buying things online is influence. Whether that's influenced by friends or by quote unquote influencers. So, Susan, how do you think within a digital marketing strategy a brand should be thinking about their how their social media and influencer marketing can impact their online sales. Oh, I think it's it's critical because the first thing this this target will do will be look at their social channels, you know, to see if they're a legit com company the fact that you have to have the basics. Right? You have to have a a decent wide and a decent price. Alright? Once you check that box, it comes down to your story, your background. Do you match the beliefs that that they have? Do you fit into their, lifestyle view. Right? I'll give you a great example. Blue Wale is a is a brand that's really blowed up here, on the West Coast. It's a, a gin. And my friends know I'm I'm really into gin. And so when it first came out, they they brought it over and said, oh, this is this new, you know, local botanical gin. And within, like, again, ten seconds, we were all in our phones looking at the story you know, and it was like, oh, it's from Big Sir, and they're they it's called Blue Wales because this is where the whales migrate, and they only use botanicals from this coastal area, and then they give money back to the whales. And, like, within a minute and a half. We all knew the story. We all knew what it was about. We were all excited about it. You know? And, like, that's now my when I wanna treat myself, that's my gent because it's it's not cheap. And you learned all that information from their Instagram, what where where did you go? It was a yeah. It was their it was their website and their Instagram. Right. Yeah. So it's it's treating, I think, in a lot of ways too. You you really not only need it up to date and relevant and clean, concise eye catching website. You need to treat your Instagram like your website as well. I know myself, if I'm gonna go to a restaurant, or a product, I I'd go to Instagram before I even go to their website because I'm just on Instagram. I'm using that platform so frequently. So I think that's also a pretty critical, piece of advice. Our research shows that email, Google, and Facebook, and Instagram, like meta together are the three most used categories. You can't not have Google ads going on. You just you just have to. You you you really need to have a presence and really understand the search engine marketing for your website to attract new consumers. Right? And then their email is not dead. Email is not dead, and and, Facebook is not dead. For sure. Facebook's Facebook's kinda ubiquitous. You you can get all sorts of it's like it's like television. You know, like you have certain channels for you know, people watching the Golden Girls reruns, and then you have people watching MTV. Right? So there's there's different programs for different types of people. And that's kinda like Facebook. Facebook has different pockets for different consumers. So It's it's so broad that it's kind of everybody, and you can get very the the beauty about Facebook is you can get extremely targeted with it, for for transactional. So so things like search are really good at the the top to attract new people. Instagram's kinda good in the middle where you're showing pictures and telling your story. And then when you really wanna do some transactions, you know, Facebook kind of comes into some some really good ROI. So it's it's really combining those three as the most critical. And like you said, they're serving different different chapters in different parts of the consumer journey online. The story and everything is great. But, again, what I've seen and what I've seen repeated back to me again and again when we talk to consumers is the importance of having your act together with good shipping rules that, you know, a good fulfillment partner that works, knowing the the laws and the licensees, having a good return policy that's clear good customer service. None of this will matter if you, you know, don't seem to have your fulfillment and your shipping together. I have things like think things like the the, you know, automated emails when your when your package is shipped are are, like, one of the most important things for consumers, if you can believe it. And it's it's really because Amazon has trained us that, you know, that Amazon owns their own fleet. And so Amazon can say, yeah, I'll ship it there in two days and it'll be for free. And I'm gonna track you every step of the way, and you're gonna see when your driver's two doors, you know, two stops away from you. Seems easy for Amazon to do because they own everything. And now they're gonna be delivering by drone if you can believe it. So now you can even track your drone in the air that's coming down with your package. It's gonna be wild. Yeah. And it's not fair to to to the consumers judge everybody based on that standard, but they do. We do. They come to expect it. Yeah. Absolutely. And I think what you said there, Susan, is really important for listeners is before you even get to the marketing stage and make sure you've got your back end set up seamlessly. As seamlessly as possible. Yeah. There's no tolerance for not having that for sure. Yeah. And, you know, considering our audience as a lot of Italian wineries and Italian wine marketers, you know, we know that this presents a whole different challenge for imported wine. Right, when it comes to consumer marketing e commerce because we don't have the luxury, that Anapa Valley winery does of marketing DTC. So, Susan, do you have any experience, or can you talk a little bit about how we can introduce imported wines to US consumers through e commerce channels. Yeah. I think I think you need to have good partners. You know, you it's best to align yourself with people that already have the the system set up. It's it's not like selling t shirts. You know, you can't just spin up a Shopify site and start selling wine. There's America's weird, and and when and it's considered a controlled substance, and it has to go through a lot of of of, you know, checkpoints. So knowing a partner that can do the, you know, if one partner that can do the fulfillment and all the the, compliance would be amazing. But there are a few of them out there. Mhmm. Okay. So that I would I would look for certainly somewhere that can help you with all of these things. You can't just decide to sew on, unfortunately. Right. Yeah. Any partners that come to mind specifically? Oh, well, there's I mean, there's there's about three or four that do, fulfillment, and shipping. That your wine shipping is one of them. Wine direct is one of them. You can work with a company like, VINoshipper, which is a good one. I don't know exactly how they would all work with imports and what you would need to do specifically for that, but those are those are the main ones that we use domestically that probably probably work. You know, in terms of the marketing channels, we talked a little bit more about Instagram and search and Facebook and how each of those channels can play into your strategy. But what are some other considerations? You know, we we talked about content we talked about compliance, fulfillment, shipping. Are there any other considerations we should be thinking about when we're looking at developing an e com and and DTC strategy? Well, I think one of the you you actually said it earlier that you guys like to jump around. I'm assuming you're a millennial because you referred to him as your you guys. But that I think play into the variety because that is one of your strengths, you know, again, not having anything to do with age, having everything to do with growing up with the internet. The new wine consumers now worldwide, really, are used to, you know, they grew up watching different countries. They grew up on, you know, on Twitter or Facebook or Instagram watching, things have unfold with people around the world. So they're very comfortable with I'm just gonna try that orange wine from Georgia because I have no idea, you know, like Yep. With the heck, you know? So play up the novelty of anything. Also, you don't don't feel the needs that you have to throw a bunch of education at them. Again, they don't really need to understand you know, what what grapes are in, you know, suave to to love it, which is, by the way, one of my favorite ones. And, you know, so they don't need to understand Italian ones are very complex, you know, that I can't pronounce ninety nine percent of your grapes. But, you know, but they're delicious. And they they work so well with the food and, you know, play up the variety and the food. And the other thing that's very attractive to this, again, going back to the psychology of of Americans today is is we're very harried. Mhmm. We just we we're just overwhelmed, with and bombarded with a whole bunch of stuff all the time. So as as much relaxation as anything anything you can do to position your wine as is fun, relaxing, social, very, like, hanging out with friends, try this recipe with your family, Anything you can do to kind of put your your wine in that space, that head space of just breeze, you know, and it's it just tastes good. You know, anything there, it's gonna be so much more effective than well, let me explain to you all the wines that are in from the pool area, you know, and how we fit in. Like, that's that's not gonna fly. Yeah. Especially we're in an election cycle. We just had our first debate last night between Trump and Biden. I think we could all use some relaxed saying. So I I think that that is really valuable advice that I wanna repeat. You know, you don't have to hit the consumer over the head with the centuries long history of your grandparents and and family and the technical details of the varietal, but really speak to, you know, the lifestyle Italy has such an incredibly rich culture and a lifestyle that Americans want to emulate. Like, look at spritz culture. Right? I think, you know, you see the success of Appral and Compari. And what they didn't do is tell you what Appral and Compari are made of. I don't I don't know really what's in them. Right? Who cares? But what we like about apparel and campari and spritz culture is it makes us feel relaxed. It makes us feel sophisticated. It makes us feel Italian, like, we're embarking in that culture. And, you know, I think there's a huge opportunity for more Italian wine brands to to do exactly that. And and there's a the Sprinter is bring up by wonderful. Another point, this group is not tied to any kind of ceremony around wine. Right? So, like, the French get very specific about, you know, here's what you do with it and how you serve it and how you talk about it and boomers love their toys of the core event and the different decanters and everything. All of that fussiness is not necessary. And it's not really attractive to modern consumers. So, you know, I think, again, the Italian wines can really there's there's a market here to come in and just be, you know, the pleasant choice you know, of the thing that tastes good. You don't need to you don't need to worry about. And we can see this in that one of the biggest trends going on right now is wine cocktails. And it's it's freaking out my winemakers that I work with, because they're, you know, they're working so hard on their wine. And, you know, consumers are like, let's put grapefruit juice in it. You know? I know. I know. I mean, look at, you know, New York Times last month put out that the Limbersco spritz is the hottest drink, one of the hottest drinks of the summer where you're taking lumps to go and adding in tomorrow and adding in fruit juice and and seltzer. And, yeah, like you said, Susan, that's that's a trend we're seeing. So, you know, we're seeing a lot of segri arresters for sure. Well, Susan, this was such a great conversation. I I know I learned a lot, and I I imagine that our audience did too. As we wind down, we'll do a rapid fire quiz. That we do at the end of every episode. So if you can do your best to answer these questions in just a couple sentences, please. Number one, what is your number one tip for mastering the US white mark? So I'm gonna just say it off my my gut, which is I think know your partners, have partners, you know, and know what Absolutely. Realize that the US is not one market. At all, it's fifty. Absolutely. Yep. And you need good partners to allow you to manage those fifty markets for sure. And and and choose your markets. Like, don't try to be in the US. Try to be in floor try to be in Florida. Try to be in New York. Like, pick one pick somewhere. Don't try to do the whole US. Nobody can do that. It's crazy. What is something you might have told your younger professional self about working in the wine industry? You're gonna love it, but it's really, really hard, you know, and, you need to you need to know that it's it's a it's a it's a lot to do, but it's it's wonderful. The appreciation that you have for, again, the the lifestyle and the culture around it is really and the people, I've never seen a market where I don't know if it's like this in Italy, but here, you know, binaries will help each other. Mhmm. And and, you know, when there's fires, when there's a bad market, when, we have conferences all the time where we share information and data, I just have been kind of blown away about after coming from the tech market, going into the wine market, how it really is a rising tide brings up all boats. You know? Sure. So I would just yeah. Absolutely. And finally, we all travel lots in this industry. What's one of your favorite travel tips or travel hacks? My first boss when I used to travel, and I went down to Intel all the time, told me never drink alcohol on the way down, drink, drink a lot of water. And it'll just it'll stop your, your, you know, any any sort of hangover you have from the travel, you know, kind of thing. And it does. It works. If you stay super hydrated, you do, you know, it it it helps you adjust to whatever time zone you're gonna be in. Absolutely. Great. Great advice. Well, Susan, thank you again so much for being here with us today on the podcast. How can our listeners follow along with what you're working on? Yeah. We have a blog, on our website. So it's wine glass marketing dot com. And we have a a blog. It's it's right on our navigation there. Every two weeks, I write articles about either research on consumers or design trends on websites or all sorts of other things. So feel free to sign up there. There's also some links if you have a specific question. But wine glass marketing dot com is the best place to find out more information. Okay. Fantastic. Thanks again, Susan. Thank you so much for having me. This is really fun. Thank you for joining me today. Stay tuned each week for new episodes of Master Class US wine market with me, Juliana Colangelo. 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