Profile: Centerra Wine's Fresh Vintage

It's 9 a.m., and the members of Centerra Wine Co.'s National Promotions team are up to their elbows in corrugated. They're assembling one of their signature pieces, a 168-cubic-foot yellow behemoth called the "Moose Caboose" that got cases of its hot 3 Blind Moose brand off shelves and into shopping carts in fall 2005. The team members are fastidious about their P-O-P, bustling around to align bottles and turn corners just so. Still, they're all grins as they set up to show their stuff at the Centerra office, which sits oceanside in a beautifully landscaped plaza on San Francisco's Battery Street. Like their brands, the close-knit team strikes a great balance between having fun and taking themselves seriously ... and they are passionate about their displays, down to the last detail. Because they work in an industry where P-O-P is particularly key, their enthusiasm is understandable. "I think P-O-P plays a more important role than other advertising for wine, just because so much of the brand decision is made when you get to the store, versus before you go in the store," says Oren Lewin, senior vice president marketing, who joined Centerra in August. "Wine, as a category, isn't growing because of television advertising," Lewin continues. "Wine is growing for a number of reasons, which are largely lifestyle and demographic led. As a result, because of the category's growth and because the category is so fragmented, it's not about trying to convert the person before they get to the store. They go to the store knowing they want to buy wine, and when they get to the store, they make that brand choice."Who's WhoCenterra Wine Co. (formerly Canandaigua Wine Co.) in 2004 joined the wine division of Constellation Brands, the world's largest wine producer with nearly 90 million cases sold each year. A major part of Constellation's U.S. operations, Centerra's brand portfolio spans nearly 30 labels, including Manischewitz kosher wines, Cook's sparkling wine and a variety of specialty dessert beverages alongside its wines from across the United States and Australia.Lewin oversees the various aspects of marketing for Centerra's premium table wines, including brand marketing, public relations and, of course, promotions and P-O-P, which are done through the National Promotions team. The premium brands division has seen exponential growth with recent acquisitions. Most notably, Centerra purchased independent Robert Mondavi just over a year ago, and several months ago acquired Vincor, which added the popular Toasted Head brand to the premium category. Ravenswood, a "cult favorite" wine brand, also came to Centerra from a sister company.The National Promotions staff has grown along with the department, and now includes three assistant national promotion managers: Christine Vestfals, Ashley Canonica and Kelli Kim, who together oversee approximately 15 brands and their national campaigns. The team of three reports to the department director. Vestfals, Canonica and Kim manage the promotions from start to finish, overseeing creative development on all point-of-sale. "We brainstorm with the brand to see what type of promotion they want to do, what kind of display to create for the promotion," says Vestfals. "We have an agency in Rochester, NY, Vine Design, that works exclusively with Constellation Wines, and they help us develop our programs. We go to our vendors and see what their ideas are, and we get feedback from the salesforce as well, and from regional promotions offices around the country."Even with the focus only on top-tier wines, balancing promotional activity for Centerra's diverse portfolio is an organizational challenge. The premium wines have three specific promotional periods: spring, summer and holiday. For each of those, eight to 10 brands see a national promotion; some have more than one. Within that, most brands will have a mass display piece, made of corrugated, wood or metal, that will display 20-50 cases. Smaller, freestanding displays will carry case cards, and most promotions are also executed via bottle neckers offering value-added savings or a mail-in rebate. In addition to seasonal displays, brands get what the team calls "flow" pieces, like the Moose Caboose, which can work any time of year. New product launches (Centerra has about two per year) and label redesigns warrant displays as well. Pompous No MoreBy the numbers, it's a great time to be selling wine. "There are a lot of dynamics driving growth," explains Lewin. "One, I think, is that we as a country have been underdeveloped in wine compared to other societies like Europe and Australia. Secondly, we are benefiting from a double demographic effect. We know that as consumers age, they tend to become more involved in wine. We've also had this younger group, the millennials, who have come into wine earlier than usual, when traditionally their age group has skewed more toward beer, coolers and some spirits. Lastly, we're seeing an effect of trade-up, where consumers across a lot of the alcohol beverage categories are drinking better, which is primarily economically driven."When a category's target market is getting younger as it gets bigger, it means big changes in marketing. "The 21- to 25-year-old demographic is the largest growing consumer segment [of wine], and 25 to 29 is the second largest," says Kim. With so many novice shoppers taking on the category, the Centerra group finds it's important to help shoppers choose their wine using language that cuts the intimidation factor."Lifestyle brands like 3 Blind Moose and Toasted Head are definitely appealing to consumers because they are more accessible," says Lewin. "They don't have all of the sophisticated cues that could make you fear you're making a mistake if you don't know what you're doing. A simple brand like 3 Blind Moose basically says, 'I'm a fruit-forward, approachable merlot; give me a try.' By buying that, you're saying, 'I'm not about all that stuffy stuff.'"Lewin does see a lot of opportunity for educating new wine buyers about the product, but says that it has to be done in a way that contemporary younger shoppers will find appealing. He lauds retailers -- Target in particular -- who have taken steps to simplify the category with bold signage and direct language. Centerra's own in-store messaging aims at new wine buyers with accessible language. Most prominent among their P-O-P efforts are bold floor displays like a spooky telephone-pole display for Ravenswood wines and clever standees featuring the brands' memorable characters. Promotional themes are another tactic for squashing the intimidation factor. "We do a Trove case card geared toward not what wine to pair with food, but what wine to pair with your mood or your event," says Vestfals. Marketing for Trove, which is packaged in a box, also aims to educate shoppers on how many more glasses they'll get from a box compared to a bottle."For Alice White's new bottle, they're being more descriptive of each varietal, of the fruit flavors, or if it's richer or drier," says Kim. It's also important to make careful decisions about where and when is best to give shoppers more information. Tasting notes, when appropriate, go right on-shelf, where consumers are stopping to choose. On an end-aisle, the team uses larger P-O-P that grabs attention but doesn't require the shopper to stop and read copy. Copy-heavy items that the group has found successful include bottle neckers, shelf talkers, box decals and even notecards that fit in racks in areas outside the wine department, like the seafood aisle. Centerra's PR department is responsible for the copy, generally outsourcing the work to professional food and wine writers.Since wine tends to be a product that consumers like to sample, the next challenge in marketing is to drive a repurchase. "The most important thing is having wine that over-delivers, but there are two merchandising elements that can contribute to repeats from a merchandising standpoint," says Lewin. "One is frequency and timing of merchandising. If I do merchandising only once a year, the likelihood that a consumer sees me again is lower. We want to make sure that we're displayed on a regular basis, as often as the consumer is buying wine. Where legal, we also use tactics like purchase incentives, case discounts and rebates that encourage multiple purchases."Merchandise offers are also good ways to drive repeat purchases and build a relationship between consumer and brand. The 3 Blind Moose brand is running a promotion called "Year of the Moose," with a new astrology-themed caricature of the Moose released each month, represented in-store with standees and other P-O-P. "If you buy three bottles of wine, you get a 3 Blind Moose calendar for free," says Canonica.Project GenomeFostering and deepening these consumer-brand relationships is paramount in a category that constantly sees new brand launches. The unique brand logos and personalities, supported in-store with consistent promotions, have earned many of Centerra's brands a standout and trusted status amid their competitors on crowded store shelves. "In special cases like with 3 Blind Moose, or the Toasted Head bear, hopefully your eye is drawn to that and you automatically know what brand it is," says Canonica. Centerra recently undertook a major internal research project, called Project Genome, to study wine consumers in order to better address their needs. The end results will help not only Centerra's marketers, but their retailers as well, in targeting the right market for each wine."There are six different kinds of shoppers," explains Vestfals of the study. "We've got the Enthusiast, the Image Seeker, the Savvy Shopper, the Traditionalist, the Satisfied Sipper and the Overwhelmed. [The salesforce] will show retailers a sell sheet, and our materials will show who the target audience is." The study uses information gathered from focus groups and from independent agencies tracking who buys each brand, and other data. "We consider the Genome study as we think about all of our brands, how they're marketed, and also which retailers we're partnering with and all the tools you'd need for them," says Lewin. "If I think about Robert Mondavi Private Selection, which is targeted to an Enthusiast consumer, the packaging and the wine profile and the educational messages for that brand are going to be tailored to that consumer. All of our point-of-purchase materials, our signage, our messages, even the fixtures we use should reinforce what the Enthusiast is looking for." While there aren't hard-and-fast rules for which P-O-P targets which consumer segment, Lewin says there are some identifiable themes. Wooden pieces and authentic shapes like a wine barrel work well for Enthusiast and Traditionalist brands, while funkier, graphics-driven displays catch the eyes of another shopper. "The Papio rack is for more of an Image Seeker," says Vestfals, indicating a vintage-style floorstand in a trendy green color that pops the brand's monkey logo and the color on the bottles. "They do more retro, fun stuff. Ravenswood is edgier; 3 Blind Moose is always something lively, fun, cheeky and innovative."The study also helps direct which types of P-O-P will be best to sell into specific stores. "If I knew that one retailer tended to be shopped by one kind of Genome shopper more than another, we could skew the tools we'd use for that retailer toward that Genome segment," says Lewin.Retailer RegulationsThe National Promotions staff works only on nationwide campaigns; regional promotion managers in seven offices across the country work on Centerra's retailer exclusives and state- or region-specific promotions. Taking the brands into a wide variety of doors nationwide means navigating carefully around retailer regulations, which are getting tighter."One size does not fit all. I think that might be the single most important thing that I can stress," says Lewin. "We need to be tailoring our tools to the needs of the different types of outlets, and actually the specific outlets, what their needs are, and what they are trying to accomplish with their shoppers." In general, however, Lewin has found that retailers tend to be pleased with displays that differentiate their stores from the competition's and lend a premium, clean look to the store environment.Getting out of the wine department is a major part of that strategy. One example, a wheelbarrow display for Robert Mondavi's Private Selection, lends itself to the produce section, or lets retailers cross-merchandise other items in the deli department, like bread or seafood.The team also favors racks that fit under seafood counters or coffin cases, finding new space within display areas that have traditionally been used for something else. The group also brings support to the wines on-premise, from high-end restaurants to sports bars, national chains to independents. Smaller, permanent pieces are the displays of choice. "We do a lot of back bar things," says Canonica, indicating a lit 3 Blind Moose sign and a Trove bottle dispenser, both meant to sit behind the bar. "We also do dummy bottles, and wine chillers that are branded." No matter where displays are going, the team keeps retailers happy and interested by constantly refreshing each brand's in-store presence. By annually updating the flow pieces that fill in between holiday promotions, the team ensures that brands have a fresh look while still maintaining consistency.A new plan for one brand takes the ease of update a step further, simplifying planning for retailers and ensuring longer display runs for Centerra."We have a flow piece for Woodbridge that the field just loves," says Vestfals of a simple wooden arbor bearing the name of the brand, which is the largest premium domestic wine brand in the United States."It goes up and stays up for a year, sometimes longer. So for the holidays, we decided to holiday-ize it with garland decorations and a hanging sign. For spring, we're going to have a conversion kit, so you can either order a spring arbor, or you can turn your flow arbor into a spring arbor," she says. When a kit allows the display to look festive year-round, the team agrees, retailers are more likely to leave it in place.Materials, Testing and SurveysTo stay on schedule, the team begins planning as much as a year and a half in advance. They start working on programs about nine months ahead of rollout, both in order to allow adequate time for design, production and distribution, and also because their salesforce needs that lead time to adequately sell a promotion in. The team regularly surveys its salespeople around the country about what it's like to get the displays in-store. National Promotions staff also check in with regional promotions managers every month for regionally specific feedback on programs they're considering renewing, adjusting or phasing out. Staying in touch with the field has helped the team cut down on waste by establishing a projected demand. "In advance of our major release windows, our sales organization lets us know how much they want of the different tools," says Lewin. "We're trying to produce and deploy the point-of-sale based on the actual demand ... as opposed to simply peanut-buttering various displays around the country, which causes a lot of point-of-sale to pile up in distributor warehouses and eventually get thrown out."The design is a collaborative effort between the National Promotions team, the suppliers and agency Vine Design. Suppliers submit three or four designs, the team makes a choice and the design goes to prototype. Then, P-O-S goes through Centerra's distribution center in Rochester, NY, or sometimes vendors will drop-ship, depending on the size and weight of the item, and on the timing. To ensure that displays are sturdy and easy to set up, the team relies mainly on feedback from the salesforce, but does its own trials in-house during development stages. "The prototypes come in and we can see how it will set up, or make changes then. Even at the prototype stage, we can tell if it's going to be substantial," says Canonica. Working with a small group of vendors also helps maintain consistent quality, adherence to schedule and a learning curve. Centerra has a list of approved vendors who are reviewed on a yearly basis, and the team views its longtime vendors as partners. Centerra's primary vendors include ICON Design and Display, Santa Rosa, CA; The Display Connection, Moonachie, NJ; Sterling Promotional Corp., Purchase, NY; and Ruszel Woodworks, Benicia, CA. Surveys help the team gauge the effectiveness of promotions. At the end of each promotional period, they send out surveys asking both subjective and objective questions on everything from tie-in partners to the physical displays. The team looks at each promotion with the expectation that it would be successful enough to repeat and improve upon. As for hard numbers, Lewin says, "We are always measuring the lift as best we can through the available depletion data and retail consumption data, and trying to match that with the actual placement of our point-of-sale."