In the second part of Global Drinks Intel‘s interview with the co-founders of New Zealand-based Invivo, Rob Cameron (above right) and Tim Lightbourne (above left) consider the power of celebrity in the current trading environment, the risk of consumer fatigue towards fame and their hopes for the Spicy Jalopeño extension of their SJP sauvignon blanc.
How is the draw of celebrity bearing up with consumers in today’s challenging trading environment?
Tim Lightbourne: We’ve seen many celebrity brands come along and not work. Just because you partner with one, doesn’t mean it’s going to become a huge brand. There’s a lot more behind the scenes to it, and the quality of the wine needs to stack up, otherwise everything else we do is going to fall over.
Rob Cameron: Since we started, we’ve been outsiders. Neither of us came from a big history in wine We literally have no right to be here, so we’ve had to over-deliver on every single metric that is required to sell a wine product globally. We’ve had to work so damn hard on our quality, our price point, our positioning, our marketing, just to get to the table in the first place.
To say it’s about the celebrity, I feel it’s more about the body of work that Invivo has built – of course with the help of our ambassadors, who amplify our story – over the last 15 years. We haven’t been resting on our laurels; we’re pushing constantly. That’s what’s got us into the good position we’re in now, and we’re not going to change that.
How do you feel the industry views your use of celebrity?
TL: In the early days, until we’d proved ourselves and shown how involved Graham and Sarah Jessica Parker (above) were in it, I think they just thought we must have lots of money. We didn’t, we just worked hard! There’s an authenticity to the partnerships and a quality to the wines.
Today, we’re aware of customer fatigue. There are a lot of brands coming into the category, so we need to keep evolving ourselves and do a few things differently. Rob’s a winemaker and we’ve got a winemaking team, so we can go to the vineyards and do things. If you’re just slapping a celebrity on something, it’s a bit more difficult.
In the UK and Ireland in particular, though, the trade has been really receptive to what we’ve been doing.
RC: As a trade, it feels like we talk up the bad news a bit too much. Maybe it’s not as bad as everybody thinks. If you’ve got a good product and a good attitude and you work hard and you connect with consumers … . There’s still a massive business out there and we need to foster it, look after it and not focus on the negative so much.
Do you feel you’ve taken a different path to the usual route to get to the consumer?
TL: We have done things differently over the years. For example, we’ve leveraged both Graham and SJP’s followings through their social media so that we get the attention of a buyer. When New Zealand shut down after Covid, we launched ‘Invivo Air’ with a branded plane. Then, we protested against shipping suppliers by getting out in front of a big tanker. This sort of approach reaches our consumer target and shows that if we get turned down, we’ll come back in another way.
It also helped us build our credibility. We’re just launching a spicy jalapeño SJP sauvignon (below) across the US, and I’ve never seen buyers take up a wine so fast. We’ve had to scramble to produce more of it.
RC: It’s taken a while for the big retailers to realise how important and how powerful that social media space is. If their consumers are engaging with something, then that becomes a powerful tool to drive footfall. That’s what Tim and his team have been doing for many years.
Is Sarah Jessica Parker to the US what Graham Norton is to the UK and Ireland for Invivo?
TL: Initially, when we started the partnership with SJP in 2019, we hoped it would open the door into the US and Canada. Today, we’re getting good traction for SJP wines in Ireland. They’re different wines with different styles, so they can operate in the same market, so it’s not really about geography anymore.
What’s your longer-term priority; expand into new markets or go deeper in your current ones?
RC: We’re only just scratching the surface with what we’re doing so far. It’s taken us so long to get the company in a position where it’s scalable and we’ve just done that.
TL: It’s all about going deeper where we are. We’ve recently started a distribution partnership with Australian Vintage in the UK and Ireland, which is exciting. Then, it’s going to be interesting to see how the consumer takes to our jalapeno-infused wine. I see wine cocktails going crazy in the US, so could there be more infused sauvignon products? That could be interesting for the Gen Z market.
What’s your exit strategy?
RC: What’s an exit strategy?
TL: We’re just enjoying growing the business. We’ve got good momentum right now, so there’s no exit plan. Besides, what else are we going to do? Rob’s enjoying making his wine and we’re out marketing and selling it and working with some really great people. We’ll keep going.
RC: I’m not going to lie, it’s not easy, but it certainly has its fun moments. We feel like we’re just entering our next phase of really pushing and seeing how far we can go.
