The US Wine Consumers’ Identikit

The US Wine Consumers’ Identikit

There are 6 types: guided by price, indifferent, habitual, image searcher, curious and there are only 10% of enthusiasts, really interested in wine

Read for you by Donatella Cinelli Colombini

The six profiles of the US consumers arrive from Constellation Brand, one name that is a guarantee because in the beverage wine marketing has nothing to learn. Constellation is world leader in the premium wine business, and produces and more importantly sells beer, wine and spirits in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, New Zealandand Italywhere they own Ruffino and produce Brunello and Chianti. They are 4^th in the world list of who has the most vineyards and, its most famous winery, Mondavi, is the 4th largest in the world for volume of wine produced and sixth among the strongest brands. Only that Constellation has a portfolio with more than 40 brands. What is most extraordinary is the stock exchange result: the value of its actions has practically doubled in one year.

In other words the opinion of Costellation Brand in marketing is more than trustworthy

and can be found in the study called “Project Genome – The Evolution of the Wine Consumer” that began 10 years ago, among deeper and more careful investigations regarding the American and Canadian wine consumers ever carried out. 7.000 interviewees in 18 months rendered the profile of 6 wine consumer targets in the most important market in the world:

21% consider the price

20% are bound to one type of wine which they consume every day

19% drink if it is occasion but they are not interested and most of all they don’t buy it

18% of occasional consumers put wine among the “accessories” of their social image, in other words they consider bottles to be a sort of status symbol. These are consumers with the highest income but not those who spend most on wine. The average price of the bottles they buy is around 12$

12% are young people who are starting to appreciate wine but who are worried by the

complexity of the matter, they are curious and put wine among the socializing things. Not much money, but together with the following type is prepared to spend more for a bottle, 13€.

10% these are the wine lovers, finally! Wine has an important part in their life. There are not many of them but they are the real promoters of the wine culture, they love wine experiences, research, the shopping, the reading up, and the exchange of opinions with others.

And now let us compare with us Italians using the profiles by Bruno Berni

40% are habitual consumers, adults who drink wine every day and are bound to the territory of origin

30% hedonists, younger, they love wine as a social element and as a lifestyle, they drink less but better than wine lovers, there are less of them but they are good clients, they real know their wine and they move wine into the luxury segment