A lot of fun, a wine club and two businesses…

Club Amarone - wine club and businesses

A Swedish wine club founded in 2005 focuses on wines from the region of Valpolicella in

northern Italy feeds two businesses today

Wine Distributor - Wine Group Sweden AB Travel Operator - Italy By Wine AB

profitable since the first year with a current yearly turn-over of almost 1.000.000€

operated on spare-time by the 3 founders.

The founders

Club Amarone was founded back in 2005 by

Håkan Bjurström, founder of SEO company Martina Ciccarello-Montelius, online marketing and

social media consultant Fredrik Montelius, COO of IT-company

The objective of this session is to

Explain how we created a group of wine consumers interested in a specific type of wine

and share how we managed to turn this idea into a profitable business!

2013 Sales volume up 150% Systembolaget launches a new model to select

products for the standard assortiment

6 products launched in standard assortiment 6.000 members in Club Amarone One trip to Valpolicella for the members One B2B trip to Valpolicella for an important Swedish bank

2009 Collaboration with 10 producers in Valpolicella 3.200 members Fourth organized trip to Valpolicella with group of 30

members

2010 Launch of our own web shop on clubamarone.se allowing

the members to place orders online to Systembolaget 4.000 members in Club Amarone Two trips to Valpolicella with a group of 30 members each First B2B trip to Valpolicella for major Swedish law firm

2008 Sales volume increased with 50% 2.300 members in Club Amarone Introduction of Gold Membership level in Club Amarone

and production of the Club’s own Amarone aged on Swedish oak

Third trip to Valpolicella with a group of 30 members

2006 Five products available at the monopoly 400 members in Club Amarone First organized trip to Valpolicella with a group of

30 members

2007 Sales volume doubled 1.200 members in Club Amarone Second trip to Valpolicella with a group of 30

members

2005 Club Amarone is founded Several Amarone-tasting sessions in Sweden (to find the right

products with the new members) Sales of the first product at Systembolaget - the Swedish

monopoly

2011 4.800 members Two trips to Valpolicella with a group of 30 members each

time Fredrik and Martina leave Sweden to move to Canada and

then to Barcelona

2012 Systembolaget launches its own e-commerce

platform 50% drop in sales volume, 6 months to get sales volume

back 5.500 members in Club Amarone One trip to Valpolicella for the members of the club One customized trip for an important Swedish bank

The journey from 2005 -

2 0 0 5 - 2 0 1 3Series1

The Swedish market

Sweden has a total population of about 9.6 million

Systembolaget has the monopoly to sell alcohol beverages to private persons. This is done via 420 shops all around the country.

Systembolaget purchases its products from distributors and import-companies

Systembolaget has two assortments Standard assortment where the products are available in the

shops Order assortment where the importer delivers wine to

Systembolaget for each end-customer order

Why starting “Club Ama..what” ?

First reason, we love Amarone!

Great interest and demand for Amarone in Sweden 60% of sales of red wine over 25€ in Sweden is Amarone Since 1996 sales of Amarone have increased by 4000% in

Sweden

Our idea was, and still is, to build a wine community to drive and increase the demand for products from small top quality producers from the Valpolicella

How do we do it?

Website clubamarone.se – to get new members

Biweekly newsletter – to drive sales

Tasting sessions 6-8 times per year in Sweden – to strength the members’ loyalty by sharing a great Amarone experience and make the members talk about it in their network of wine lovers

Gold membership – to build loyalty through premium offerings and a unique ownership of Amarone aged on Swedish oak

Wine trips to the Valpolicella – to share the best possible travel-food-wine experience in the Valpolicella

Wine distribution business

Travel business

Wine distribution business

Travel business

clubamarone.se - to get new members

High Google search ranking Relevant contents Technical structure of the web

site Other websites linking to our

site

Conversion from visitor to sign-up

Conversion from visitor to customer

Recurring visitors Information bank and articles Travel recommendations

Biweekly Newsletters - to drive sales

Open Rate (30-40%) Subject line is important Interesting and relevant

content for the reader with a mix of latest news, trends and producer portraits

Time of the day when newsletter is sent is not important for us

Click Through Rate (1-8%) Attractive offerings / products The overall presentation of the

products

Newsletter Launch of new producer Massimago

Gold membership

Yearly fee: 200 EUR

Receive the most important information and product launches in advance

Special travel discounts in the Valpolicella 20% discount on wine Special 3-night package at B&Bs with

tasting, lunch&wine tour

Amarone aged in Swedish oak Since 20008 we have been producing a

unique Amarone that is stored in Swedish oak

To build loyalty

Each year a new artist is invited to express its interpretation of the wine 2008: Designer

2009: Composer 2010: Poet

Yearly production of 300 bottles are available only for Gold members

Draft - vintage 2010Vintage 2008

Vintage 2009

Amarone tasting sessions - to build loyalty

Tasting sessions are presented by Henrik Ungerth, the leading Amarone expert in Sweden Vertical tastings, old vintages, rare and

often expensive Amarone 6-8 times per year in Sweden

To share a “Great Amarone Experience” that members remember and talk about

To build loyalty and a community feeling among the members

Travel

Yearly trips to Valpolicella for the members to share the best possible travel-food-wine experience

Some members joins these trips year after year

We now get requests from companies that want to share a unique and high quality experience with their customers or employees

Macro Trends

Technology

Easier living and

well-being

Individual and

image

Service and

expertise

Outlook

*Source:Systembolaget “Trends and the world in which we operate”

Macro trends

Technology85% of the adult population has access to the internet and 50% has a smart phone

Easier living and well-beingPeople are feeling the impact of time pressure and a clear trend is also the desire to treat themselves with something that makes them feel good.

New purchasing habitsSimplicity and a high quality interaction are important Communication must be mobile compatible

More people are looking for a good, quick and uncomplicated approach: join wine tastings, receive wine recommendations in the phone, travel with a group to share a unique food&wine experience

Macro Trends

Technolog

y

Easier

living

Well-being

Individual and imag

e

Service

and expertise

Macro trends

Individual and imageMany people are keen to use their consumption and their consumer behavior to create an identity, a sense of belonging.

Service and expertiseCustomers don’t want to feel like part of a crowd: they want the interaction to make them feel special – feel “chosen”. They want easy access to the guidance and advice they need.

Food and drink habits are a common way of marking where we belong. Wine clubs fill an important role.

The winners will be those companies who dare to be personal, and who see the customer behind the computer screen. Through the club you can meet your customer and share experiences together.

Macro Trends

Technolog

y

Easier

living

Well-being

Individual and imag

e

Service

and expertise

2014, 2015 and beyond…

1. Wine clubs will continue to play important role in the Swedish wine business – it can be great way to meet the wine lovers and your customers

2. Our members are our best clients and “sales force”

3. We will continue to do what we and do it better

4. We will try to expand our concept into new markets!

T h a n k YO U ! ! !

Fredrik Monteliusfredrik.montelius@winegroup.se