With over 16 years of wine experience having managed or sold over 20 million cases and developed over 500+ wine brands, Eric Guerra is experienced in the wine industry.
Having managed iconic brands like Kendall-Jackson, Mumm Napa, Gary Farrell Winery, Vineyard 29, and the prestigious Maison Perrier-Jouët Champagne, Eric knows luxury marketing.
Eric will be sharing his experiences and knowledge at the 2020 Wine Marketing & Tourism Conference, speaking on Luxury and the Art of Excellence. And if you are in the wine industry, this probably applies to you. As Eric says:
“At either $9 or $1,000 a bottle, wine is not a necessity of life, although we in the industry like to think it is. The same is true with a vacation to wine country. Your customers perceive wine and wine tourism as a luxury product, even if you do not.”
Once we establish that almost everyone in wine (and tourism) is marketing luxury, the question is whether the marketing is the same for small, unknown brands versus large, iconic brands. Again from Eric:
“I’ve been very fortunate to have managed some of the legendary brands in the industry, both large and small. What I noticed is there are not many similarities, as the businesses are run very differently from top to bottom. However, one common element is the passion of the people that work for all of these companies. It is this similar passion that drives how luxury marketing applies to all wine industry businesses regardless of size and stature.”
Eric is not only experienced in working in the industry, he actually wrote a book on the subject: “When Great Wine Is Not Enough: A Wine Sales And Marketing Guide For Wineries, Négociants & Wine Brand Owners“. We asked Eric why he spent the time and energy to write the book.
“I watched so many eager people come into our industry, because it very much looks like a shiny penny from the outside, and immediately focus on hiring a winemaker and sometimes an architectural firm to build a storybook winery… but never hire an equally talented and experienced sales and marketing wine professional, only to find out millions of dollars later how imperative these roles are to their survival. I wrote this book primarily to pass on some of my experiences so that others can create their dream brands and so my marketing and sales experiences colleagues can learn from my many mistakes and successes.”
Eric’s talk is not your typical wine marketing presentation nor even a typical insight into luxury consumers. His presentation will be applicable to all wine and tourism industry participants and will help you define your marketing into the future.