{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/62301a5c63c97500122f8a76/6333e9d1cce1250013c67660?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Investing in Experiences w/ Aly Wente, Wente Vineyards","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/62301a5c63c97500122f8a76/show-cover.jpg?height=200","description":"<p>From weddings to concerts to a golf course, <a href=\"https://wentevineyards.com/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Wente Vineyards</a> has a whole portfolio of experiences to share the Wente brand with consumers. Aly Wente, VP of Marketing &amp; Customer Experiences, shares how Wente thinks about managing the portfolio of experiences and how they embed wine and the Wente brand into everything they do. From becoming more of a data company to refactoring their tasting rooms and driving people to the wine club, driving deeper connections with their customers is core to the ROI of experiences at Wente.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Detailed Show Notes:</strong>&nbsp;</p><p>Wente Experiences overview</p><ul><li>Championship golf course designed by Greg Norman</li><li>Tasting room with food &amp; wine experiences</li><li>Concerts, including a tribute band series</li><li>Rent space for weddings and corporate events</li></ul><p>Experiences are viewed as a connected portfolio</p><ul><li>Everything should feel cohesive and true to the brand</li><li>Hospitality team overseas golf grill, tasting room, and booking events</li><li>Embody wine in every experience - concerts -&gt; wine &amp; music events; 5-star restaurant -&gt; tasting lounge</li><li>Look at ROI across experiences to see which to invest more in with limited resources</li><li>Refactored tasting rooms, had two with different feels (one older, traditional, one more modern and food driven where the wine was more lost), into a single “tasting lounge” focused on wine with wine &amp; food experiences</li></ul><p>Recently upgraded tech to become more of a data company</p><ul><li>Use CRM to take notes on customers</li><li>Track demographics and target some events to specific groups</li></ul><p>Key metrics used for ROI</p><ul><li>Customer surveys</li><li>Event ticket sales and difficulty in selling tickets</li><li>Social media engagement</li><li>Contextual ROI when at events</li><li>Wine sales at events - Wente makes money on wine, not ticket sales</li></ul><p>Better understanding customer journeys and how they impact:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>New vs. existing customers</li><li>Repeat visitation&nbsp;</li><li>Club membership</li><li>LTV of customers</li><li>The primary goal of the tasting room and events is to engage customers and create relationships vs. being the most significant profit driver for the brand</li></ul><p>The team needs to be resourced to dig into the data and track it</p><p>Weddings&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Get a rental fee for property (high margin)</li><li>Require min # of cases of wine purchased, and most people buy more</li><li>Pre-2020 - did &gt;60 weddings/year, full-service incl wedding planning and catering - was not the most profitable business</li><li>Today - leaner experience - rent out the property with resources for planning</li></ul><p>Primary priority - Flow into the wine club</p><ul><li>The “pinnacle” of ROI for experiences</li><li>Club members often spend more than club shipments</li><li>Food &amp; wine experiences convert the highest to the club - the more attention people get, the more likely they will join the club</li><li>~6-8% of visitors become club members</li><li>Provide incentives for staff for club signups (~$30-50/signup + club prizes for top performers)</li><li>Now have a “club booth” at experiences with customer incentives (e.g., 30% off 1st shipment if they sign up at the event)</li></ul><p>Secondary priority - Getting everyone’s emails that attend events</p><p>Believes digital experiences will always be around now</p><ul><li>During the pandemic, Wente was 1st to have Amazon Alexa and Google Home virtual wine tastings, buying wine at the grocery store</li></ul><p><br></p><p><br></p>","author_name":"Robert Vernick, Peter Yeung"}