BEST COMPANY IN NAPA COUNTY
W INEGLASS MARKETING
“Our special sauce is our team’s cross training.” —Susan DeMatei, founder
By NorthBay biz staff
“I t’s easier to say what we don’t do than to list what we offer,” says WineGlass Marketing founder Susan DeMatei. “Our niche is…we don’t have one.” Instead, DeMatei and her team of 22 employees offer a full suite of marketing support and skills to wineries who want to better understand their customers and reach them with strong marketing messages. WineGlass is passionate about employing Northern Californians and is one of the few agencies that doesn’t rely on overseas contractors. With an extensive background in the tech sector creating consumer marketing campaigns for some of the biggest names of the ’90s, DeMatei came to wine 20 years ago looking for a new challenge. From the start she was all in. She earned an AA in viticulture from Napa Valley College (20 years after a BA in communications and motivational psychology from Boston University), successfully passed
Employees of WineGlass Marketing have a slew of skills as they come from different areas of marketing, tech, the wine industry etc.
second-level Sommelier Certification and became a Certified Specialist of Wine (CSW) from the Society of Wine Educators. “I wanted to be able to write compelling copy about wine and the wine industry,” she explains. It’s a skillset she also expects from her staff. “Our special sauce is our team’s cross training,” she explains. “We hire wine people and train them in marketing, we hire marketing people who we teach about wine; and our tech department can figure out the rest,” she laughs. DeMatei continues to explain that hiring her firm costs what a headcount would cost a winery, but with that equivalent expenditure the winery gains access to a cross-functional team with a much demographics. “Everything [the wine industry] has done to-date in [direct-to-consumer marketing] has targeted baby boomers and their psychological triggers,” DeMatei continues. “A shift in how we frame benefits must happen if we want to attract younger audiences who grew up very differently with the internet. Digital natives consume information and behave differently; they have separate priorities and cultural touchpoints. Old ways won’t resonate.” broader skill set than one could find in a single individual. The challenge wineries are facing now is a shift in wine
She adds, “I’m very excited to see what’s coming. It is an opportunity to be super creative and to rethink marketing—new packaging, products, experiences and channels. Millennials are a fantastic, open, audience and this is a chance to fit into their world.” WineGlass Marketing is a dog-friendly enterprise that supports several animal-related nonprofits in the Napa community, including Friends of Napa County Animal Shelter (FONCAS), for which it provides email and social media support. “We don’t have a lot of funds to donate, but we have time and expertise,” says DeMatei, whose four rescue bulldogs greet visitors to the office. “We also support volunteer days for our employees and match contributions to organizations they choose.” Given how important the wine industry is to the North Bay—and how impactful a successful marketing campaign can be—it should be no surprise WineGlass Marketing was voted Best Business in Napa County in this years’ NorthBay biz readers’ poll. v
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82 Northbaybiz
Best of the North Bay 2024
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