Creating a New Reality
Story appeared in the 2020 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.
BY HAYLEY PICARD, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING
ALUMNI JENNIFER TURTON–MULGAT (’87)
“Becoming a business entrepreneur can be relatively simple. Yet, being an entrepreneur who consistently innovates and drives to evolve by pushing creative limits is when most are viewed as truly successful.”
As with many things in life, when a ride, lesson or competition does not go according to plan, it is easy for riders to start blaming their horse. Powerful emotions such as frustration, anger, jealousy and anxiety can arise. During our Mental Performance workshop and one-on-one sessions facilitated by renowned clinician Dave Freeze, QMS equestrian students learned that these emotions are often “borrowed from the nasty list.” The “nasty list” is a tool Dave Freeze uses to help riders connect their emotions with physical performance.
When Jennifer Turton-Mulgat (‘87) started The View Winery on her family’s Okanagan estate in 2006, she quickly realized that the region was filled with fantastic wineries. How would she set her business apart from the rest of her peers and capture a portion of an increasingly lucrative market? Jennifer shares that since the beginning, she has tirelessly worked to promote The View Winery in new ways to keep her clients buying their products. In 2020, The View Winery became the first winery in Canada to market their wine with an augmented reality label. This fun, light-hearted technology integration to traditional bottle labeling has captured the imagination of consumers providing them with a giggle while searching for their next favourite flavour.
Q: How did the augmented wine label come about?
The wine industry is very competitive. There are a lot of good wines out there, so you have to do something to set yourself apart from the crowd. We recognized that the people coming through our wine shops were young millennials, so we felt it would be a good opportunity to expand our market to appeal to them. We were inspired by 19 Crimes Winery (in California) and realized that no one in Canada was mimicking their living labels platform, so we wanted to be the first. Being first means so much exposure!
We always like to have a little fun. We take our wine seriously, but not ourselves. The labels are a little cheesy, each has its own pick-up line which is gender neutral, and they (the couple on the label) talk about the wine which is a useful tool for the consumer. They tell you about the aromatics and if the wine is a limited release. The technology had to be a tool for the consumer and we needed it to be authentically useful. If the label has a story, it has added value and resonates with the consumer.
Once the consumer completes their augmented reality experience, the app zips them through to the website to provide ordering options and wine club options. The app is only for iPhones at this time, sorry android users!
There are 10 labels in total throughout our white and rosé collection which highlight our iconic red stiletto imagery. We don’t have our red wines labeled the same as they are more gender neutral because the red shoe doesn’t fly with all wine sellers. Typically, male consumers are picking-up the reds versus the whites and rosés, so we wanted to appeal to those consumers too. We developed a label that was more neutral to appeal to them by dialing down the femininity a little. Our reds feature a berry grape cluster and fibonacci spiral. This spiral is related to a mathematical formula we see in nature, such as tree branches growing to maximize photosynthesis, grapevines, etc.
Q: Do you have plans to expand using this technology?
We were thinking of using it in our vineyard tour signage. Yet one of the concerns I had was people seeing our use of this technology as a gimmick and it negatively impacting the value of our wines.
We had one critic accuse us of this saying, “If this wine’s good, you don’t need a gimmick to sell it.” I reached out to the critic, clarifying that in such a competitive market we needed to stand out. Our conversation ended well and I appreciated the chance to clarify our reasoning with them.
Q: How do you keep The View fresh and authentic when it comes to marketing, branding and promotion of your products?
We constantly brainstorm new ideas and events that people respond well to and find exciting. Our best marketing tool is our consumers, so if we offer affordable and approachable experiences, there is no better way to keep us fresh than chatter on social media. It’s so valuable to your brand. We are very active on social media and when people have a great experience, we encourage them to post their experience and offer swag prizes.
All of the wineries in the [Okanagan] region are working hard to partner with agri-tourism, it drives our economy. Children are welcome on tours now, even here. We hand out juice boxes, provide red stilettos to play with, and have a picnic area in the orchard where kids and even dogs can run around.
The View is the first vineyard in Canada to package wine in a can, it’s called Bling. That is an interesting story. We had invested in a canning line for our ciders, and a comment we received was that people didn’t want a whole bottle of a sparkling wine, they wanted a single serve. We live in a recreational area and people want to take a single serve out with them into nature. I really wasn’t sure how it would go and only made 500 cases. We sold out in two months. We doubled production and sold out again! We have witnessed a 900% increase in production and sales in the last five years for Bling.
Q: What is your ultimate vision for The View Winery?
We have been on our land for 100 years. Our vision is to continue to be relevant and stay in front of the trends and grow our business so we can keep our family viable for generations to come. It’s in our mission statement, we are being the best winery and cidery we can be for our land to be viable for the future. We have been here for five generations and would like to think we will be here for at least another five.