Massican:
Digital readiness and paid ad strategy for a cult Napa wine brand
Problem
Massican publishes almost as much as it sells. Dan Petroski fills the site with Muses, issues of the Massican Magazine and chapters of a cookbook, and he wanted to post them himself, whenever he had something to say. The site he had looked the part but was slow to work in. Behind it, Massican’s ad, analytics and business accounts sat with outside vendors, so campaigns couldn’t be run or measured with confidence.
Background
Massican is the only winery in Napa Valley making white wines alone, Mediterranean in style, and Dan is one of the most respected winemakers in California. The Massican Magazine, made with Phaidon Press, has run since 2020. We came in in March 2023 to support Massican’s digital marketing: fix what the existing site would allow, then run ad campaigns on a sound footing.
Solution
We moved the site to our hosting, took out the animations and scroll-jacking, fixed product data in Commerce7 and brought every account back under Massican’s control, with a new Tag Manager container and GA4 tracking Commerce7 orders. We then rebuilt the site in WordPress with the look Massican’s following already knew, so Dan could design and edit pages himself. It launched in June 2023, ahead of the Gallo acquisition.
“Wine brings people together, but it’s also a gateway to talk about things that matter.”
Dan Petroski
Keeping pace with Dan
Dan wanted a site he could publish to whenever he had something to say, and one that would sell the wine he was writing about. Over 2023 that meant steadying the old site, rebuilding it in WordPress, and setting up the tracking and ads that pointed new drinkers to the shop.
Site remediation
Moved the site onto 5forests’ hosting, removed the animations and scroll-jacking, and fixed Commerce7 product data.
WordPress rebuild
Rebuilt the site in WordPress, keeping its look, so Dan could design and edit pages himself.
Analytics & attribution
Built a new Tag Manager container and set up GA4 to track Commerce7 orders properly.
Google advertising
Ran Google search and shopping campaigns and set up Meta tracking for Instagram campaigns.
Project details
Client
Massican
Region
Website