Meet A Millennial

Comment

Comment by Dennis Grimes Eagles Nest Winery on March 29, 2009 at 10:14am

Thank you for the thoughtful post. I lok forward to reading your posts on this topic.

I have mixed feelings about marketing in general, and marketing to specific generational groups in particular, but in reality, wine lovers are a diverse lot sharing similar interests in different ways. I have discussed and shared articles on Millennials on our winery blog.

Frankly, I'd rather be making wine and sharing the wine lifestyle with wine lovers young and old. But we've never aspired to be anything but a quality low key producer.

That said, I'd hope that “hyper-individual” Millennials would seek out small producers (aka Boutique Wineries) to find "special and unique" products and experiences that say something about themselves as individuals.

Comment by HeidiBelle on March 25, 2009 at 11:37pm

The most frequent thing I hear when programming Discover the Wine, Discover the Music for Wente Vineyards is that our early adopting Millennial target peeps can't get a decent glass of wine when they're at a gig-- don't under-estimate Millennials' palates or enthusiasm-- but really get inside their lifestyle choices...I will post pix from last week's uber-successful SXSW presence. The Hold Steady headlined the showcase we sponsored, & were the fourth most Twittered band at SXSW-- more than Janes Addiction, NY Dolls, & The Decemberists...



Comment by Enrique López on March 25, 2009 at 9:33am

Hi Leah,

In theory you are right, Millenials are crucial for the wine industry. Nevertheless, I have also been researching this generation and its implications, and the picture is not always so rosy.

First of all it is really simple to grow fast when you start from a very low base, the growth pattern you show in your post is applicable to many other products.

Millenials experiment in wine, no so much because they are more adventurous than previous generations but because they are overwhelmed by choice like never before. Moreover, this generation is getting to an age where most start to have some disposible income and understand that developing an oppinion on certain wines is a sign of sophistication. Other generations at that age had much less to choose from and expressed sophistication differently. Last but not least wine is the ultimate "social" drink, Millenials are as sociable as previous generations, they just have other ways to socialize.

As to their hability to support the industry in the current recession, I am affraid that millenials will have to endure a very hard couple of years since their jobs are most likely to be made redundant very early on in any crisis. Because of this and the fact that they want to minimize their risk when buying a bottle they are most likely to be value shoppers.

Having said that, I think that educating this generation in wine is terribly important since it will determine the styles of wines and price stuctures that will determine the future of the industry.

Best

Enrique

Comment by Joe Roberts on March 19, 2009 at 7:46am

Great post!

Comment by Shawn Santos on March 18, 2009 at 10:27am

Hi Leah,

I really appreciate your angle and focus--great insights.

Thanks,

Shawn