NBBJ is excited to announce that MJ Dale has been honored with the prestigious Trailblazer Award. This esteemed accolade celebrates women who exemplify a pioneering spirit, make groundbreaking contributions, and demonstrate forward-thinking innovations within the realm of winemaking, viticulture, or the wine business.

The data clouding the wine business these days has been dire, with slowing sales, declining alcohol consumption and waning interest among some younger consumers.

But as the industry faces what’s estimated as three to five years of tough times, it can take lessons from brands and tactics that are winning hearts and palates of consumers, according to speakers at a wine marketing conference in Santa Rosa on Thursday.

The untapped market for wineries is right where they’re not looking — outside their wine clubs.

The upside is MJ Dale, founder and CEO of Customer Vineyard, knows just how to uncover this market.

The wine industry is facing challenges in attracting younger consumers, but there are still significant opportunities to engage this demographic in key U.S. cities and by offering diverse wine varietals at affordable prices. To tap into this potential, focus on understanding and connecting with these consumers through data insights. Learn from successful competition in the beverage alcohol market, such as spirits, and adapt traditional direct-to-consumer (DTC) strategies to leverage the wine industry's strengths, including its natural, grape-based products and established wine club subscriptions tailored for younger buyers.

By now it’s clear to most in our industry that the overall wine category is facing challenges. For more than 20 years, we have steadily grown both dollars and volume at wholesale and in Direct to Consumer (DTC) by relying on our traditional product model and existing sales and marketing practices and expanding markets. And why not? The traditional model has worked well, and our products, story and people were interesting and relevant in the marketplace. To continue this success, however, it’s clear we now need to up our game, better understand our customers and adapt our business.

Unified Wine Symposium’s State of the Industry session provided a comprehensive look at every aspect of the wine industry. The keynote address by Danny Brager featured Customer Vineyard’s analysis on wine consumer trends.

Customer Vineyard industry research was used in three key areas of the SVB State of US Wine Industry Report 2023 and Telecast released this month.

Our work is featured in the Report’s Summary Highlights section as well as in the areas of Demand and Price.

Customer Vineyard Organized and Led the Fifth Wine Executive Exchange in October 2022—a major marketing initiative for our company.

Partnership allows beverage alcohol clients to access customer data insights to increase profits

“Our advanced data insights, coupled with Sovos ShipCompliant’s robust DtC shipping data, will enable clients to attract new customers who look like their very best existing customers, while deepening knowledge of current customers in a way that fosters profitable action.”