People Inspire Brand Loyalty: A Short Guide To Marketing In 2023
Wild Turkey master distiller Jimmy Russell during my 2015 trip.
In a recent New York Times article, Eric Asimov accurately spells out the crisis of marketing facing our profession, writing “the wine industry as a whole has to take steps to inspire curiosity and intrigue about wine, and to highlight aspects that…would appeal to younger generations.”
The root of the problem, in my opinion, is that much of the wine in today’s market has become completely removed from those who actually make it. We read the names of winemakers on the label, but we have no idea who they are as people. Are they kind? Are they passionate about life? Would you want to hang out with them at a party? Laugh all you want, but younger generations aren’t buying into the wine-drinking lifestyle or the aspirational keeping-up-with-the-Parker-points frenzy that drove the desires of previous eras.
That being said, I can promise you this: send a group of millennials into the Sonoma Coast vineyards with Jasmine Hirsch and they’re going to find that inspiration. Bring the Gen Z kids to Steve Matthiasson’s spot in Napa and I’m pretty certain they’ll leave with a new-found appreciation for real winemaking. In the booze business, the people with honest passion and character have always been the best ambassadors. You can’t help but get swallowed up by their sheer talent and drive. Remove them from the equation and all you’ve got is corporate speak: a soulless and utterly empty proposition that has younger generations looking elsewhere for their buzz.
The phoniness of today’s marketing and a lack of connection to people are fueling the decay of the wine and spirits industry. On the whiskey side, social media has become obsessed with trophy hunting and ostentatious bragging, which tends to attract men with low self-esteem rather than budding and curious newcomers. In reaction, whiskey companies have pushed all of their chips into the premium side of the market, hedging their bets that high-end collectors will continue to drive sales. Today, it’s completely normal for a brand new Bourbon or single malt to release at $100, despite a complete lack of credentials. The industry is banking on the gold rush of excitable collectors who are eager to spend and discover the next big thing, rather than any real sense of propriety.
Adding to that misplaced focus, new drinks companies are scurrying like mad for retail placements, hoping that a wide landscape of accounts will boost credibility and support a potential buyout. Yet, it’s the pull-through that long-time professionals like myself are more focused on—and rightly so. Getting your wine or whiskey into a retailer doesn’t mean anything if the bottles don’t sell. Reorders are far more important than placements. A few customers may try a bottle once, but do they come back for seconds? Thirds? Do they develop a loyalty? Do they tell their friends and family? Without the right people in place, they don’t.
Let’s look at Wild Turkey as an example.
There are plenty of great Bourbons available in the $20-$30 range, but few of them carry as much weight as Wild Turkey 101. In my personal circle of friends, colleagues, and professionals, it’s the everyday whiskey of choice for a simple reason: we love the way it tastes and we love Jimmy Russell. His humility and grace over 60+ years in the industry are legendary. When there are ten options on the table and all ten of them taste pretty good, I’m going to choose the whiskey made by the people I respect—and I’m not alone in that philosophy. During my last retail contract, we experienced an overall decline in demand for heritage brands like Jack Daniels and Jim Beam—each marketing a historical founder—yet the pull-through on Wild Turkey 101 was immense. The reason behind our success was simple: we had a credible and contemporary face to market and customers responded.
Granted, most wine and whiskey drinkers won’t ever have the chance to spend quality time with the people I’ve mentioned in this article, but that doesn’t matter one iota. In order to achieve any lasting success, the passion and credibility of these faces must create an intimate bond with the next consumer base—especially younger drinkers whose social values come into play. Whether it’s through social media, travel, or tourism, consumers of all ages respond to people they respect and love. Yes, quality is also important, but quality only matters to customers who have already committed.
In short, our industry is facing is a crisis of interest, not quality. There are more quality wines and spirits on today’s market than at any point in history, yet subsequent generations care about these brands less than ever. And why don’t they care? Because we haven’t given them anyone to care about.
-David Driscoll