Decoded What 'Hosting' Really Means

The Challenge

Despite strong fundamentals and a justified price premium, the brand wanted to differentiate in a crowded and competitive wine category. The team needed to define an ownable strategic territory to drive meaningful desirability, specifically through the lens of at-home hosting.

The Synthesis

Led cross-functional collaboration with brand and research partners to design and execute qualitative research focused on hosting behavior. Mapped the full consumer journey across planning, purchasing, and serving, uncovering emotional drivers, language, and occasion-based needstates. Connected insights to product roles across the portfolio and identified key messaging opportunities.

The Result

• Strategic platform clarity - defined brand’s role in the at-home hosting occasion

• Full consumer journey mapping - pinpointed decision moments and beverage role across hosting types

• Portfolio alignment - matched product formats and SKUs to specific hosting needstates

• Budget was reallocated toward hosting - focused activations and media

Impact

The brand gained focused strategic direction within a highly saturated category. Research unlocked a differentiated, emotionally resonant opportunity around hosting—enabling a confident pivot from broad premium messaging to a targeted, ownable growth platform.