A family winery came to me because sales had been dropping for years. The fear was real - if it continues like that, they will die slow death.
Their plan? Launch a better wine.
I told them to wait.
Because here's what I've learned: people don't buy better. People buy new.
When I started digging into their target market (millennials and Gen Z) something interesting happened. These people weren't just drinking less wine. They were drinking less alcohol in general. Gym culture. Health trends. Calorie counting.
But they still wanted to socialize. They still wanted to hold a nice glass at aperitivo hour.
They wanted Aperol Spritz vibes without the sugar and alcohol.
So we didn't make "better wine." We didn't even make non-alcoholic wine (wine drinkers won't touch that anyway).
We made an aperitivo.
Same category people already understand. Completely new product within it.
Think Tesla. They didn't sell "better electric cars." Electric cars before Tesla were dorky and low-status. Tesla sold a lifestyle, and the car happened to be electric.
An my client - they sold la dolce vita without the calories. It just happened to be wine.
First batch sold out.
From a village of 400 people.
National TV picked it up.
But the best thing? People started to buy their normal wine as well!
I see this pattern constantly with founders stuck at €4-6M. They're tweaking UX, adding features, rewriting landing page copy, trying to be better when they need to be different in a category people already get.
Here's what I'm curious about:
What's the "aperitivo" hiding inside your product? The thing that reframes what you're actually selling?
Hit reply. I'd love to hear what you're thinking.
See you next week,
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