Lessons from Lululemon
With so many traditional retail storefronts shuttered by the impact of COVID-19, to read that fitness apparel phenom Lululemon is actually thinking of adding stores should give marketers pause, including wine marketers.
But wait, you might say, most wineries don’t have Lululemon’s multimillion-dollar marketing budget. That’s true. Also, wine is so much more saturated, not to mention regulated, a market compared to yoga apparel that there are no comparisons to me made. False.
I’ll grant that there are indeed many more people who would rather spend $98 on a pair of yoga pants than a bottle of wine at the same price point, and that yoga pants can last for years while a bottle of wine is gone in an evening.
Lululemon’s not-so-secret sauce is that it has built a vibrant community, one so engaged that they feel like they are part of something much more than a group of yoga apparel fans. And while wineries may not be able to cast their nets as far due to personnel or budget considerations, there are still lessons to be learned.
A quick look at Lululemon’s IG feed, with its 3.3 million followers, gives us some clues.
1 – Lululemon isn’t just a yoga pants brand. It’s a wellness brand.
Many wineries stifle the full potential of their marketing strategies because they think of themselves solely as wine brands, not lifestyle brands. Such wineries are easy to spot. Their content doesn’t focus on much more than the three B’s: berries, barrels and bottles (not that these aren’t important).
Lululemon’s heightened sense of brand awareness has opened up their content possibilities immensely, and, more important, helped build a community around the brand.
Sure, their IG feed is full of people of all shapes and sizes wearing their apparel, but these folks are also taking part in a virtual yoga session, offering tips on staying loose after a run, and chatting about a title in the Lululemon book club. The company even suggests mindfulness tools and inspirational quotes in their IG feed.
And wineries?
Do an IG live with the winemaker and discuss how to put on the perfect high-end BBQ. Put a special package of wines together that can be enjoyed during the feature.
See if any of your best customers would be open to a quick Zoom conversation about why they enjoy your wine and how it elevates their lifestyle. Record it and include it in an email campaign.
Partner with a chef and record a quick cooking demo for an easy, healthy dish that complements one of your wines.
Peruse some of the classic food and wine writers and post one of their quotes about wine’s importance in their day-to-day life.
There is no doubt that these ideas take more time to arrange than simply snapping a photo of a barrel being racked. And while the latter has value, with so many wineries doing the exact same thing, it becomes much more difficult to stand out.
2 – Lululemon makes diversity a priority, and they were doing this long before the tragic events of 2020 made diversity the critical issue of our times.
Wellness is not a concern of only one ethnic group, nor is a lifestyle that appreciates the good things the world has to offer. Lululemon gets this better than most brands. Again, a quick scroll through their IG feed and you see women and men, people of color, old and young, gay and straight, all trying to embrace a culture of fitness and health.
The result? A community where everyone feels welcomed, valued, and informed. Are those who feel this way more likely to buy the product? Absolutely.
Wineries so often use the phrase, “Wine brings people together,” and “Wine is the most social beverage,” and yet most winery marketing campaigns seem like they only want to bring together one type of person.
As I’ve written before, there have never been more resources available to help wineries cultivate a more diverse target market. A great place to start is right here.
3 – Lululemon understands the importance of brand advocates.
Lululemon has enlisted a fleet of “ambassadors” in the fitness and wellness space (many with massive IG followings) to champion its culture and its brand around the world. (Granted, Lululemon compensates them with a combination of apparel and/or cash to serve in the capacity.)
The ultimate example in the wine space is Jean-Charles Boisset, who enlists his own cadre of ambassadors who earn money presenting his wines to their friends and colleagues either in person or via their social networks. (COVID-19 has obviously forced these interactions to be solely online.)
It’s true that cultivating a network akin to what Boisset and Lululemon have cultivated is not possible for small- and medium-sized wineries, but there are still lessons to be learned.
Have a wine club? Create a referral program that allows you to credit your club members who drive their wine-loving friends to your online store or tasting room. If they love you enough to buy your wine multiple times a year, it won’t hurt to at least ask if they’d like to participate. Sure, some might refuse, but many won’t, and it could result in a new channel for customer acquisition.