How Barefoot Wine Mastered Brand Positioning and Customer Research to Capture a Market Gap // By Mark Evans
“When Barefoot launched in the 1980s, the U.S. wine industry was well-established.
In fact, there was a sense that if you were serious about wine, you drank French. American wines, on the other hand, were often viewed as inferior.
To make matters worse, wine had a snob appeal—expensive, sophisticated, and reserved for special occasions. For the average consumer, beer was the everyday go-to, while wine was often seen as out of reach.
This is where Barefoot Wine saw a huge opportunity. They saw a gap between the high-end wines and the casual beer drinkers.
There was room for an everyday wine, something affordable, approachable, and consistent. Their vision was simple: create a wine that’s easy to drink, available year-round, and, most importantly, predictable—no surprises, just a product that delivered every time.”
Read the full story from Marketing Spark below:
Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.
Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.
They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.
Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.
To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.
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