Ste. Michelle Wine Estates

Ste. Michelle Wine Estates

It is the challenge of modern wine marketing – how to efficiently manage multiple wine brands to take advantage of economies of scale, while retaining the boutique authenticity of each individual brand. For Ste. Michelle Wine Estates, that means a “string of pearls” strategy that uses technology as connective tissue, but allows each of their brands its own voice.

At the heart of the system is a content management and database application that drives all of the ensuing brand sites (web, mobile, and trade) from a central administrative user interface so simple that a novice marketing resource can manage it.

From this central technology platform, FINE has rolled out distinct digital environments for 30+ unique consumer brands.

The design and development of these winery sites was unencumbered by restrictive data requirements that reduce wine sites to uniform templates. Instead, each site gets a full creative exploration and celebration of its own brand. Each also gets tailored feature functions, from a trade site providing product assets through web or phone, to consumer sites providing event schedules or interactive wine blending.

The rollout of Ste. Michelle Wine Estates' digital ecosystem proceeds with mobile site versions, iPad tasting room kiosks, promotional sites, and a more robust push into search engine optimization, social media, and other digital marketing efforts that will continue to enhance traffic to these world-class destinations.

A Single Source of Data

A central content delivery system drives data across all environments. Whether a wine appears on a brand website, an integrated store, a digital sell sheet, a mobile fact sheet site, a retailer locator, or an acclaim record, it’s all managed from one place, in one way.

E-Commerce Integrated

A single source of content extends to a single e-commerce platform developed for the Ste. Michelle Wine Estates brand family. Wherever they go, users can create accounts, sign up for wine clubs, check wine club shipments, create persistent shopping carts, update shipping and billing information, and ship single orders to multiple locations.

Empowering the Sales Channel

Where the centralized solution shines most is for tools of the trade. A Download Center serves up assets (fact sheets, wine reviews, images) across all brands, for easy bundling and sharing (via custom link) with customers. An industry-leading Sales Resource hub makes myriad information and resources available (and update-able) to the trade across all brands.

“...and on the twenty-third day of February of the year two-thousand and nine in a little chateau in Woodinville, Washington, the most epic beat-down ever issued to wine industry website-kind began across the land and was bestowed upon thy people. Game on.”