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Smart thinking for wine brands that want to grow. From practical marketing strategies to bold takes on industry trends, our blog shares what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next in wine DTC. No nonsense. No filler. Just honest insights from the agency trusted by wineries around the world.
This article is a gently edited version of the latest episode of The Wine Marketer’s Radar—our weekly series connecting wine brands with the business and marketing trends that matter most. This week, we’re talking leadership, memory, marketing, and momentum. From boardrooms to your browser, we’ll explore the culture shifts that are shaping how consumers think,…
Continue reading Gen Z, AI, and the Leadership Gap
This article is adapted from a talk originally presented by Polly Hammond and Michael Bourne at the Wine Sales Symposium in December 2024. It has been gently edited for clarity and flow in written form, while preserving the core insights shared live with wine industry leaders. Introduction: What Happens When the Old Playbook Fails? Imagine…
Continue reading Riders on the Storm: How Smart Wine Brands Are Surviving an Existential Crisis
This is the gently edited transcript from the May 19 episode of The Wine Marketer’s Radar, a weekly series by 5forests that connects global business trends to wine marketing strategy. This week on The Wine Marketer’s Radar, we’re looking at how smart brands are building loyalty, trust, and attention. From Pinterest’s role in Gen Z…
Continue reading Loyalty, Trust, Attention, and Gen Z
To sell wine to Gen Z, brands must align with their values, meet them on digital-first platforms, offer transparency, and create experiences over prestige. That’s the short answer. But Gen Z is radically reshaping how—and why—people engage with alcohol. If you’re a wine brand trying to stay relevant, here’s what the 5forests team thinks every…
Continue reading How to Sell Wine to Gen Z (An Insider’s Guide)
Welcome back to The Wine Marketer’s Radar, where we decode the most important business, marketing, and consumer stories outside the wine world—and connect the dots to what they mean for your brand. This week, we’re talking about a shift in loyalty marketing, a breakout brand campaign that ditches AI in favor of abuelas, the continued…
Continue reading CRM 3.0, Anti-AI Campaigns, and the Digital Video Surge
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.” This quote may be more than a century old, but for most wineries today, it still hits uncomfortably close to home. At a time when wine marketing is becoming harder every day, and customer acquisition costs are rising,…
Continue reading How to audit your winery’s digital marketing spend: Stop wasting money and get real results
“Voice of Customer.” Yes, we know, it sounds like corporate marketing jargon (something we diligently try to avoid here at 5forests). Simply put, it means making a deliberate effort to listen deeply and systematically to your customers’ real thoughts, words, and feelings. If you’ve never heard this phrase, don’t worry; it’s neither as scary nor…
Continue reading Voice of Customer: The overlooked strategy that can transform your wine marketing
In this episode of The Wine Marketer’s Radar, we unpack the big shifts every winery needs to see coming: accessibility lawsuits, collapsing loyalty, Gen Z discovery habits, and Google’s latest cookie backtrack. Let’s start with a story that we’ve been tracking for some time… Accessibility Overlays are Dead: Why Wineries Must Build Real Compliance Last…
Continue reading Gen Z, Accessibility & the New Rules of Wine Discovery
Why winery growth needs more than good intentions How many times have you heard me say, “A goal without a plan is just a wish….” Growth is the number one reason people come to 5forests, and most of the time we find ourselves having to first work with our client to define exactly what that…
Continue reading How to Set Goals and KPIs That Actually Grow Your Winery
It’s easy to fall in love with a beautiful winery website—sleek images, elegant fonts, even a splash of wine color theory. But aesthetics don’t pay the bills. If your site isn’t turning visitors into buyers, club signups, or bookings, it’s not doing its job. In this guide, we’re breaking down how data-driven design and conversion…
Continue reading Design Smarter, Sell More: Winery Website Tactics That Convert
[Bordeaux | April 22, 2025] — 5forests, the award-winning marketing agency for the wine industry, has launched The Wine Marketer’s Radar, a new weekly series built to keep wine marketers ahead of the curve by spotlighting the consumer, tech, and business trends shaping how people buy, think, and connect with brands—whether the wine world is…
Continue reading 5forests Launches The Wine Marketer’s Radar
Before we get into this week’s stories, a quick plug for something I’m really proud of. We’ve just dropped a brand new guide: The Strategic Winery’s Guide to Modern Marketing. It’s 34 pages of clear, actionable advice built specifically for winery teams — not generic marketing BS, but a roadmap to help you connect campaigns…
Continue reading Is Premiumization Still Smart for Wine Brands?