Using data to develop consumer profiles

At Forecast, we’ve recently been putting a new spin on wine tasting.

We help arrange a 'Wine + Data' tasting event and invite people to come and enjoy a selection of wines. Participants answer a few questions about themselves and how they enjoyed each wine, and then we provide a first-hand demonstration of data analytics in action.

We use the data to reveal the “wine persona” of each guest. They might be a ‘Connoisseur of Excellence’, who know their wines and are willing to pay for it; or ’Sensory Explorer’, who are looking for a quality drop at a budget price; or any of several other personas.

We start with a few questions – their age, profession and wine preferences – plus roughly often they drink wine. Then the tasting begins.

Unlike the blind tastings conducted at wine shows, the participants at our wine tastings see the label and know what they’re tasting. This highlights a key difference – wine judges are impartial and judge a wine only by the physical attributes, but when consumers choose their wines they know which brand they’re drinking, and the label and description help shape their perceptions.

Powerful pricing tool

As they taste, our guests record their ratings on each wine through our Vinolytics app. We ask them to rate the sensory experience of the wine – its appearance, nose, taste and overall perception. We also ask them to estimate the retail price for each wine, along with any words they’d use to describe the wine.

We marry the answers on the wine tasting to form the consumer personas, which provides insights for participants about their own wine behaviours. Over time this will help shape wine companies' strategies on wine characteristics, price points, and enable more effective marketing.

For example, a winery with a large membership base wouldn’t just sent out a generic email to everyone on its list. They could instead send targeted offers to different persona groups, matching wines with consumer preferences. In particular, they can draw on perceptions of value for each wine to send different offers and discounts to different groups. Their member base will receive more relevant offers that they can engage with – and ultimately enable the winery to sell wine more effectively.

It can also become a very powerful pricing tool.

Increasing sales margins

Recently we put a big Barossa red into one of our tastings, and the estimated its value was close to $60 per bottle, whereas it actually retails for under $30 which provides opportunity to reassess the price point. 

Data insights like these reveal a major opportunity for the wineries, who can use this information to rethink their pricing policies, and increase the margin they make from some customers. A $5 - $10 price increase on a $30 bottle of wine would mean a large uplift in profit and volumes could be maintained if they’re marketing to the right consumers.

More data = greater insights

Our guests see their personas take shape on the Vinolytics app as they taste more wines. Providing consumers with this interesting information about themselves means they’re much more likely to engage as they see data analytics in action.

As we continue to collect data on wine consumers’ preferences and perceptions we will create a library of 15 - 20 different wine personas, which will help wine companies target their marketing efforts even more finely to achieve better better meet consumer preferences.

Buyer personas can be applied to any product segment, but are particularly useful for consumer products. By understanding their customer base and why consumers purchase their products, consumer businesses can segment them and better match each persona’s preferences in their marketing campaigns.