New Investment Builds Launch Momentum
Customer Vineyard Builds on Launch Momentum with New Investment and Board Members
The Noel Group Invests in Company’s Future as Industry Veterans Danny Brager and Mary Jo Dale Join the Team
Customer Vineyard, a data analytics and marketing services company, announced today new funding from the Noel Group along with new board members. The Noel Group, a North Carolina-based privately-owned industrial management company, and parent company of Vinventions USA, LLC and Nomaco is investing further in Customer Vineyard to support aggressive growth and expansion initiatives. In addition to this influx of capital, Bryan Bunker, Noel Group’s Vice President of Strategy and Development and Danny Brager, industry expert in beverage alcohol analysis and data translation, joined the company’s board of directors, while founder Mary Jo Dale was appointed Customer Vineyard Chief Executive Officer and President.
The Noel Group was an early supporter of Customer Vineyard’s vision. This new investment deepens the relationship with formal backing of Customer Vineyard’s expansion and demonstrates the increasingly critical role data-based information can play within the beverage industry. Supporting Customer Vineyard is aligned with Noel Group’s mission of providing the resources and expertise to pursue promising new initiatives and create the means to cultivate and capitalize on inter-company synergies.
“We are impressed with Customer Vineyard’s business progress and pleased to make this investment to further its successful growth strategy while supporting the wine industry overall," Bunker said. "Customer Vineyard’s platform delivers unique, data driven value to wineries, and we look forward to its continued success.”
Danny Brager’s role on Customer Vineyard’s Board of Directors will be to provide guidance and insight as Customer Vineyard brings its innovative data-driven marketing solution to market. Brager was most recently the Senior Vice President of Nielsen’s Beverage Alcohol Practice Area, where he supported relationships with Nielsen’s clients in the beer, wine, and spirits industry, as well as with key industry groups and media.
“I’m honored to join the board of directors for Customer Vineyard and to support a talented management team in scaling this important business,” Brager explained. “Customer Vineyard has one of the most effective solutions I’ve seen for supporting wine businesses on their journey to become more sophisticated consumer marketers.”
Mary Jo Dale has been at the heart of Customer Vineyard from the beginning. Dale together with Joel Miller, adjunct professor with Sonoma State University's Executive MBA program, founded Customer Vineyard. She realized early on that wineries spend most of their time tending the land and making great wine, but give less attention to an equally valuable asset, their customer base. Supported by The Noel Group through Vinventions, Dale worked to create a system that allows wineries to leverage the power of big data. Working with the Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University and Rob McMillan of Silicon Valley Bank the concept became a reality with Customer Vineyard. In this new role, Dale will use her deep understanding of data-driven marketing to benefit Customer Vineyard’s current clients and expand with new clients.
"Mary Jo is uniquely qualified to lead this venture," said Marc Verissimo, Customer Vineyard’s Board Chairman. “With wide-ranging experience in beverage, hospitality, and consumer-facing sectors, and more than two decades of experience tackling challenging data and marketing issues, we are thrilled to welcome Mary Jo as CEO and President of Customer Vineyard.”
Customer Vineyard offers services that leverage the latest data analytics to bring world-class DTC marketing to wine businesses. Customer Vineyard has already proven its success with customers.
“Customer Vineyard’s data insights and advanced marketing techniques helped us create ongoing, profitable programs that keep our customers at the heart of everything we do” explained Barbora Hawkins, Director of Consumer Sales & Marketing at St. Francis Winery & Vineyards. Tom Bonomi, President and CFO of Classic Wines added “Kistler Vineyards has partnered with Customer Vineyard over the last three years on many projects, including building our next generation database & analytics platform as well as executing operational programs to increase profitability. Their insights, wine business expertise and team have consistently delivered value throughout our relationship.”
