Jessica LaBounty ~ Juggernaut, Element[AL] and NPD

Jody Bogle sits down with Jessica LaBounty, Director of Marketing, to discuss Juggernaut Wines and Element[AL] Wines.  As two brands that are relatively new to the Bogle Family Wine portfolio, Jessica shares what makes each brand stand apart from the competition and each brand’s distinct personality.  Learn about the unique selling points of these wines that will resonate with buyers, as well as their continued potential for growth in the marketplace.

To learn more about Bogle Family Wine Collection visit boglewinery.com.

Transcript

00:00 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Cause marketing is near and dear to my heart, because I feel like when you get it right, when it's a good match between the brand and the cause, there can be magic there, and then the consumer can feel like they're part of not only choosing something for them, but something that's doing some good and something that is bigger than everybody, and everybody wins. 

00:27 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Welcome to the Bogle story. I'm Jodi Bogle and I'm so happy to be sipping here with you today. We are talking with Jessica LaBounty, director of Marketing. Hi, jessica, hi, you started with us in January of 2022. That's right, so you're a relative newbie. 

00:44 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Yeah, ish, yeah. Somehow it feels like longer in the best possible way. 

00:49 - Jody Bogle (Host)
I don't know, it's probably not a very good thing. Anyway, talk a little bit about your road to Bogle, how you got into the wine business, yeah. 

00:57 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
So I started at the very beginning of my career, at 22. I was just a year out of college. I went to Davis a local, and actually I don't know if I've told you this Bogle I was brought to on my 21st birthday. 

01:11 - Jody Bogle (Host)
I did not know that. 

01:13 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
There was a Davis and I didn't know anything about anything and somebody rounded up a bunch of girls and we took a van out there. 

01:18 - Jody Bogle (Host)
It was my first tasting room experience. 

01:20 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Oh, that was your group, yeah yeah, yeah, circa, not that long ago. So yeah, first tasting room experience was at Bogle. So when I graduated I worked for a year and then found myself in Sonoma County and I got a job in a tasting room just to kind of figure out that transitional period from college to adulthood and never dreamed it could be a career, didn't really think grownups could make a living. But I very much fell in love with the industry, with that particular place, with Sonoma County, and was just having the time of my life. The tasting room is a great place to learn about wine because people ask you questions you don't know the answer to. You got to figure it out. 

01:54
I cut my teeth in the tasting room for sure. It became a clear passion. I was very lucky that that company was expanding their marketing department at the time and I got a tow in and then worked my way up and was there 11 years in all different marketing capacities. That was very much focused on tourism and direct-to-consumer side of the business. And then they were acquired by the wine group and I had another six and a half, seven years on the three-tier national, more brand management side, and those two things together when when Bogle was expanding and looking for a director. I had moved back from Sonoma County to SAC, have some family ties here and couldn't kind of believe my dumb luck. That seemed like both sides of my experience so far was was what y'all were looking for and it felt like a really good fit. 

02:42 - Jody Bogle (Host)
So just a few years ago we had really you know, one brand right Bogle Vineyards, that everyone knows, the retail brand that's out there, that people are familiar with. But over the last several years, last decade or so, we've really been transitioning to what we are now, what we consider ourselves a collection of wines, the Bogle Family Wine Collection. Talk about your specific role within the marketing department for the Bogle Family Wine Collection. Talk about your specific role within the marketing department for the Bogle Family Wine. 

03:07 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Collection, yeah. So when I came in, juggernaut needed more kind of devoted resource. So I was going to brain manage Juggernaut and I was going to help not help but shepherd. New product development were my kind of two main goals and when I was interviewing I had no idea what y'all were up to. I didn't know. 

03:29 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Elemental was the thing I didn't know that there was an appetite, you know, kind of beyond what I knew of Bogle. I wonder if that was strategic by the VP of marketing at the time to not really let you know what you were coming into. I was delighted. 

03:37 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
It far exceeded. I was so impressed that you know what I thought of as like a very traditional kind of like risk conservative family was as open as now. I know that we are to new ideas and to even being real front runners and things that are uncharted. So, to answer your question, I work on Juggernaut and I helped bring Elemental into the world and I'm now in charge of that brand health, while also keeping our innovation pipeline going. So you're busy, I'm busy. Yeah, never a dull moment. 

04:08 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Let's start with Juggernaut. You were not here when we first launched the Hillside Cabernet Sauvignon. That was the first SKU launched in the brand, to be followed by the Russian River Pinot Noir, then the Sonoma Coast Chardonnay and, just this past spring, the really exciting Marlboro Sauvignon Blanc. Juggernaut started because we wanted to introduce a higher tier brand. Bogle was living about, you know, in the sub $10 range, still does and we wanted to play in, you know, a higher, you know premium tier. And the kind of story behind Juggernaut I'm sure you've heard this was we had the name well before we had the label. That's a great name. And it kind of started as a joke, you know, tuesday production meetings for, you know, over you know, for a decade and a half, bogle was growing double digits the Bogle brand. And so, you know somebody would say Bogle's a juggernaut, it can't be stopped. 

05:12
And so when we thought about what we wanted to brand you know, the second line of wines we thought gosh juggernaut, it is a good word, it's a good name, it's a strong word, it's memorable. Ear sticky, I like that, and so we had the name. What we didn't have was a label, and so Warren, ryan and myself, as well as the entire production group at the time, we must have looked at hundreds of different labels. Well, it was fun for a while. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you keep thinking, oh no, it's not here. 

05:44 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
I don't see it Number one. 

05:45 - Jody Bogle (Host)
it's hard to make a selection like that by committee, but you know, coming out with a new brand was not something that Bogle did very often, and so we really wanted to try to knock it out of the park. We looked at juggernaut is an unstoppable force, that's the definition of the word juggernaut. So we looked at freight trains and volcanoes and asteroids and a million other things, but when we all saw the lion, we all said wow, it grabbed our attention. It was something we wanted to learn more about. We wanted to pick it up and put it in our hand and, as we all know, in the wine industry, you got to get it picked. 

06:21
It's got to come off the shelf off into someone's hand, so talk a little bit. You've had more opportunity with the last two wines, the Chardonnay and the Sauvignon Blanc, to work with them, and because each label is different, it is almost like creating a new wine. So how was your experience in the label creation and how did those two labels come together? 

06:43 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Yeah, well, to your point. I mean, the Cabernet was the brand for a little while and then when the Pinot Noir came along in 2019, you were kind of right at the beginning of COVID, so the Pinot Noir didn't have Cabernet's chance to soar to introduce a pun, and that. So Cab has been the hero right. It really is most of the brand mix. So Cab has been the hero right. It really is most of the brand mix. And as we've introduced these additional SKUs, it's shifting and we hope it will continue to shift in a way that's like, really healthy and balanced and lets us explore these huge categories in the super premium space. It's a very intelligent thing to do. 

07:19
But, to your point, there's a difference between the lion with that long label and that being the entire brand, and it's a different animal to introduce a proper brand with four SKUs. So we've spent a lot of time talking about, like, who is the real customer and what is our tone of voice and what is the personality and what unifies these things across. You know all of their respective categories, and it's been super fun, all of their respective categories and it's been super fun. And each addition to the portfolio has really, I think, rounded it out in a way and kind of earned its keep. Like the Sauvignon Blanc, the quality is phenomenal. Our first import out of New Zealand. 

07:57
It's been so interesting listening to Eric talk about how he works with that partner, but the quality is exceptional and, I think, really over-delivering for all of its competitors. And then the Chardonnay to be a Sonomiko Chardonnay and have that kind of quality. And then allow us to tell what I think has become the unifying thread, which is the places we choose to grow are difficult and challenging, but in a really good way that allows us to showcase the character of the verattle and the place where it's grown, and so we can talk about how cold it can be on the snow coast, the fog that doesn't burn off the wind and breeze that comes in that makes ripening take longer, sometimes being consistent. That requires more hand pruning, more attention throughout the growing cycle, and the hillside Cabernet, which I mean I'm talking to my boss here, but it was so brilliant because, like as a wine person, I remember picking up that bottle, not figuring out who it was from, but being like. 

08:53
This is something else. This label is striking. This word is super cool in that you think you know what it means, but I bet a lot of people don't know what it means, but it's intriguing. So there's something about the combination of the word juggernaut, the strikiness of the labels, and then Hillside in particular. I knew that wasn't an Appalachian, but it sure sounds like an Appalachian and it sure sits on the shelf like it's from a real premium place. And I thought, oh, that's real clever, because that can expand and scale in a way that doesn't make them change the Appalachian all the time. And so, anyway, from a marketing perspective, very, very smart. 

09:31
So I mean back to today, being able to talk about harnessing the power of nature, which is our tagline now, is unique to Cabernet, unique to Chardonnay, unique to Sauvignon Blanc, but it's still cohesive. And then we can invite the consumer in to be like how would you interpret that philosophy for yourself? How are you a consumer, that, or an individual that harnesses the power of nature? How are you as an individual, somebody who thinks about overcoming challenges, building character? 

09:55
So we can talk about the character in the wine duh, but we can also talk about the character of the person that pushes through, that reaches farther, that tries harder, that is not intimidated by something big and bold and scary. And so we get. It's a very aspirational brand, exactly the word I was going to say. There's an aspiration. So even if you aren't rock climbing on the weekends, maybe you'd like to think that you will One day, and then, when you're done, you have a glass of juggernaut. Tell somebody about it. I love that. 

10:25 - Jody Bogle (Host)
So, as we look to kind of build this brand, we don't want to get too in the weeds as far as specific programs or things like that. But what are some of the things? What are some of the? For example, we have partnered with Four Oceans. Yeah, For example, we have partnered with Four Oceans. 

10:42 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Yeah. 

10:43 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Talk a little bit about how the brand we're reaching outside kind of the wine industry for Juggernaut. 

10:52 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
So cause marketing is near and dear to my heart, because I feel like when you get it right, when it's a good match between the brand and the cause, there can be magic there, and then the consumer can feel like they're part of not only choosing something for them, but something that's doing some good and something that is bigger than everybody, and everybody wins. It's sometimes done to death or done with causes that aren't specific enough to the brand. It's like good, but how does that relate to you? And that doesn't work as well for me. So when we found 4ocean, we were just launching the killer whale on the South Blanc, so it was our second ocean animal. 

11:28
Obviously, the great white is on the Chardonnay, and 4ocean's deal is pulling plastic out of oceans all over the world. And it's more than just that, although that, honestly, would be enough for me. They have this whole down the path where they've built their own recycling centers, so the trash they pick up isn't just going back into the ocean. They employ local villagers to make these bracelets and to turn the plastic into something productive that they can sell to continue their operation. And so for us, it's people that are devoted to ocean health, which is something we can all care about, devoted to ocean health, which is something we can all care about. And they're also going places that are kind of that juggernaut extreme and they are building things from nothing and they are like it was a bunch of surfers that started something in Florida because it mattered to them and to their hobby, and so their kind of entrepreneurial spirit feels like juggernaut and it was something that just felt so natural Even if we didn't have ocean animals the nature part of it made sense. 

12:27
Well, it fits with the brand personality for sure, totally, and so we initially, in our first year, committed to pulling 10,000 pounds of plastic out of the ocean through our partnership with them, something we can talk about all the time and throughout the year, people can grab a bottle and feel like they're participating. The next level of that is how can we make it more personal and more like for every bottle sold? We're doing blah, blah, blah. That's market specific, it's complicated and so it's not a nationwide thing, but we're going to dip our toe and see how we can deepen this relationship and make it more actionable for distributors and for retailers. 

13:05 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Well, I think and, at the end of the day, meaningful for our family, our employees, to know that we're giving back in that manner, so really important. So we've talked about the launch and some of the programs you have out in the market. How is it doing? 

13:14 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
So I mean Juggernaut I'm so proud to talk about whenever I'm with my industry friends because it's one of the few super premium brands that is really doing well and has been consistently year on year on year. 

13:24 - Jody Bogle (Host)
We just earned a hot brand our second hot brand award for 2023. And we'll probably hear about 2024. 

13:30 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
So Juggernaut is just a bright spot in the industry and it's something that people point to and say like here's, here's success. Why can't you X, y and Z, you know be more like Juggernaut? And two ways that I like to underscore, because it's different, by varietal. But from a brand perspective, we're driving the category. Pick your varietal. Our health is helping drive that category and that's been very, very consistent. And secondly is our ACV. 

13:58
While we're kind of keeping up with being one of the fastest growing or leading the pack, our ACV is underdeveloped compared to our competitors, and so that is just like runway. That's good news. We have not capped out in any way, shape or form. There's so much potential left and when you put us on the shelf we're going to do really well. And so our distributors and our retail partners should have a lot of confidence that leaning into this brand, expanding how many SKUs you carry, expanding how you're supporting it, is only going to pay off in dividends, because our sales per point of distribution are consistently there, and yet we don't quite have the footprint that some of our other competitors have, and so that's just a call to action, that's just good. 

14:58
No, that's just a call to action. 

14:59 - Jody Bogle (Host)
That's just good. No, that's great, and it's an important point because, you know, our hope is that, with these podcasts, we're sharing these tools and this information and this brand messaging that will help everyone out there get one more bottle on one more shelf and one more distribution, exactly so, well, great. Well, let's take a step toward your other very exciting brand, elemental Wines. Yes, when we first wanted to, as a family, to kind of explore alternative packaging after hearing the call that, you know, the glass is 30% of the carbon footprint of wine and we need to be looking at alternative options, it was, you know. 

15:25
We looked at Tetra and we looked at bag and box and we really felt like aluminum was something we wanted to explore because it ticked so many boxes Infinitely recyclable, lightweight, can be found readily here in the US. So for us, aluminum was the way to go, but we didn't love the can, sure. And so that's the point at which we approached multiple aluminum production companies and asked about the possibility of making a true 750 wine-shaped aluminum bottle, and we were all told it couldn't be done. Yep, and this is about where you came in. 

15:58 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Yeah, well, when. I came in and was shocked to find that there was such a project at all. Ccl had said yes, we can do it, we have figured it out, but that's where we were. You know, what should it be? What should it look like? What should it be called? Who are we talking to? Which was incredibly exciting work and thrilled to be a part of it. So we launched in 2024 and learned a whole lot along the way. 

16:25
And you know, you and I both got to sit through the consumer focus groups where we were behind the glass and listening to people react and have their kind of knee-jerk opinions change from concept to actually seeing the design Within minutes. 

16:36 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Yeah, absolutely within minutes. Like a visceral reaction, it was really impactful to me to see that. 

16:41 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
I've sat through a lot of focus groups and you normally don't get something that is that directional. Usually you have to go back and slice a lot of data and have a data scientist tell you this is what this means. But I think we knew in that room like this is something. 

16:54 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Well, the company, the consumer research company we used even said we've never seen anything like this. 

16:59 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Yeah, you don't usually. I mean not to make this a research podcast, but you've got five boxes. You don't usually see that percentage in the top two boxes. It usually hovers more towards neutrality, and so to have the reaction of like yeah, and then like oh hell, yeah, I'm into this was pretty impactful. 

17:17 - Jody Bogle (Host)
It definitely gave us the kind of what we needed to make that decision to go forward, because even at that point there was still so much we needed to learn and so much that needed to happen to get the final wine on the shelf and we don't need to talk about all you know, the four years of you know blood, sweat and tears right. But so where is Elemental now? Where does it stand so? 

17:43 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
it's out, it's launched. We have had so much early success. I mean, the other thing that was striking about Elemental was how many retailers before they could taste it, before it was shipping, we're like, yeah, it's authorized on a national level, let's bring it in. And I think that gave us another huge boost of confidence that this was going to be something. We're now in the stage where we're looking at general market and we're looking at independence and we're looking at restaurants and we're building a brand kind of one account at a time, which is the healthy way to do it and is going to be stable over time. 

18:14
Consumer reaction has been kind of all over the board, of people that initially love it and see it and people that are a little more like what is it? I got to warm up to it. We've invested a lot in demos and tastings, as you know, so that people can experience it before purchase and be like, oh, the quality is amazing. We got early scores from wine enthusiasts on Pinot Noir and Rosé. We got Best Buys on Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio. So we know the qualities. How much blind tasting did we do every single month? Yes, we were tasting against the same wine and glass blinds in a triangle. We didn't know which was which and we couldn't do it. Eric couldn't do it and our winemaker, eric couldn't tell the difference either. 

18:49 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Dana couldn't do it. We were very confident in the quality of the wine and the ability of the aluminum to be a good vessel for this alternative. 

18:59 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Yeah, to be able to count on that. So our job now, the brand's job, is awareness and just getting the word out. This is groundbreaking. We are shattering expectations, all the taglines that we use in our materials. We're changing the world one step at a time. But one thing I wanted to point out like in the infancy stage of like what is this going to be? One of the things we went back and forth with was like is this, at its soul, like in its name, on its package, going to be the eco friendliest wine there is, or is it going to be a little bit broader and we chose to make it cool and chic and modern and contemporary and like literally just something beautiful. 

19:41 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Well, so let's talk about the launch, because the launch was something that we at Bogle had never done anything like this before. You know, we worked with an agency. We had a nationwide kind of marketing plan and program. We did digital, we did video. I mean, we did a lot of different things. 

19:59 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
We did windows in New York City. 

20:00 - Jody Bogle (Host)
We did windows in New York City which were so exciting, but it was very disruptive and very outside the norm for the wine category and why do you feel like that was important? 

20:12 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Because our bottle was so different and it doesn't look like anything else, even not just the fact that it's aluminum, but the, the wrap, the, the full 360 design and the name. Like it's, it's not at the price point, you know, kind of the edge of the super premium price point. You see a lot of line drawings of vineyards and chateaus and you know that that just kind of typical kind of old guy with his hand in the dirt standing next to a barrel talking about wine. 

20:38 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Which we love. We also love. We do that too, because we have one of those old guys with his hand in the dirt. 

20:43 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
We do that very well, but this was something else and so we needed a launch campaign that was as unique as the proposition that we were bringing to the table and we wanted to get because we saw in the research we wanted to get consumers that were kind of more in that occasional bucket than the core wine consumer. So if you're somebody that is interested in fashion and beauty and pop culture and style and architecture and travel and those kinds of things that touch wine, that are adjacent to wine, maybe we can pull you into this category, which we know retailers are screaming for Right to wine, maybe we can pull you into this category which we know retailers are screaming for Right and pulling in a wine. 

21:20 - Jody Bogle (Host)
A young, maybe a younger wine consumer that isn't drinking wine, something so different, so unique, something to show off with, show their friends. I like where we're going now. So we have this big disruptive lunch Yep, very exciting, very eye-catching, really groundbreaking. And now we're easing into seasonal, right and occasion-based and occasion-based. 

21:40 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Yeah, so it's so lightweight we talk about it's 80% lighter than glass. The case itself you pick up a full case of it and it doesn't. 

21:49 - Jody Bogle (Host)
I love picking up a whole case of it. It feels like nothing. 

21:52 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
I've had the experience, but I've seen a lot of other people pick it up and go oh, this is empty. It's not empty, it's so light. So it's easy transport. If you live in San Francisco and you're going up hills from your local bodega, or you're in New York and you're walking around on foot, if you're in an urban area, it's a dream, it just makes sense. 

22:06
If you are in any kind of summer activity, if you're boating, if you're poolside, if you're beachside, if you're someplace where you don one glass, it's shatterproof and it chills quicker, like, and it stays cold. You pick it up. If you have a glass bottle and a bottle of aluminum in your fridge and you touch aluminum, you're like, ooh, that's cold. So it's just, it's such a perfect summer wine. And I think one of the things, like, as we all live and experience Elemental, longer we're learning how to talk about the facets of it better, and so if you have a buyer or a consumer that is really into the green message, like that's their value system, that's where they make their decisions. We can talk about fewer trucks on the road. We can talk about it being infinitely recyclable. We can talk about— I think one-third the carbon footprint of a glass bottle. 

22:52 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Yeah, all of those things. 

22:54 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
But if you have somebody that's like I don't know more of, like a target shopper that's buying things based on aesthetic, that's buying things based on how cool and innovative they are, we can check that box too. And if you're also just looking for like real kind of tactical how do I make my life easier it checks that box as well. And so you have the ability, when you're thinking about pitching elemental, to pick what's going to resonate with your audience and prioritize that. We have a lot of POS tools that are going to allow you to kind of lean into the message that's most impactful for you. 

23:24 - Jody Bogle (Host)
It's not just one message, it can be multiple messages at one time and it can be multiple things for multiple people. So I love that about Elemental and I love that marketing is kind of preparing for that that's great. Jessica, you mentioned that Elemental Wines have gotten great scores. Wine Enthusiast in fact gave 91 points to the Pinot Noir and the Rosé, 90 to the Rosé, 90 to the Rosé. Fantastic scores for wines right out of the gate, right. We also just found out—well I'll let you say it Well Wine. 

23:54 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Enthusiast, has been very supportive. We've got a lot of press in the launch. They were there every step of the way. But we just learned that we are a nominee for Innovator of the Year of their Wine Star Awards. And not only are we going to get a ton of press out of this announcement, but it just solidifies. It's one thing for us to say that we're innovators. It's one thing for us to say we think this is a big idea. But to have an industry leader say, no, really, there's nothing else out there like what you all are doing, I think just gives us so much legitimacy and credibility and relevance. Yeah. 

24:26 - Jody Bogle (Host)
Yeah, one more talking point when folks are out there talking about Elemental and why they should have it on their shelf. Yeah, thank you. So you are also in charge of new product development, kind of managing future innovation, and while I can, as a family member, say there's nothing huge like Elemental in the hopper right now, thank goodness we're going to take a little break from big stuff. You know, we do always want to kind of look forward at what's next out there in the marketplace. 

25:00 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
So innovation can mean a lot of things. Right, it can mean something like Elemental that's truly out of the box, or it can be another SKU in a brand that's already mature, and so we're definitely looking or it can be something for Home Ranch. That's going to incubate with our wine club members and then become something. So we do a lot of as you very well know, different explorations of names and labels and things in the home range all the time. So we're always working on something. 

25:27 - Jody Bogle (Host)
I think it's important, though, to note for everybody out there that we are never going to be the wine company that throws 13 things up on the wall to see what sticks every year. When we do decide to move forward, we're pragmatic, we've done our homework and due diligence. We're working across the departments, talking with sales about what they're seeing in the market and what the you know kind of what trends are. Looking at Nielsen's, looking at numbers, looking at data points before we move forward, points before we move forward, and so you know we want to have a healthy kind of you know cadence, but it's been a little bit compact the last year, and so we hope to kind of you know space things out a little bit more, but we're always thinking and looking at those categories, what's going to be appropriate for the brand, what has the highest chance of success and making it kind of worth our while to go find those exceptional grapes. 

26:19 - Jessia LaBounty (Guest)
Add another thing to Eric and Dana's plate and make sure that we're going to, as you said, launch something that's going to be really successful. So I think the natural places to explore is what's next for Elemental? What's next for Juggernaut? Vogel has so many SKUs and has covered the major, major categories, so that's a little bit of a harder well to dig, but never say never. 

26:39 - Jody Bogle (Host)
So well, and if you look at our entire portfolio, though, it's still very tight yes, five brands compared to other big companies, so I think it's one of our strengths out there in the marketplace and hopefully it's a good selling point. Yeah, so for sure. Well, thank you, jessica, and we appreciate all your hard work. Thanks for having me. It was fun. Thank you for listening to the Bogle Story. We are happy to have you be a part of it.