Invivo, a New Zealand wine producer, is entering the highly competitive U.S. market with a strategy that is popular in the liquor industry these days: a celebrity collaboration.
Behold Invivo X, SJP, a wine collaboration with Sarah Jessica Parker. The collection already includes a sauvignon blanc and a pinot noir from Marlborough as well as a Provençal-style rosé.
Invivo, founded in 2008, has received over 300 international awards and expanded distribution to 42 countries. The company has previously made headlines with the launch of “Invivo Air,” touted to be the world’s first winery airline.
Invivo cofounders and winemakers Tim Lightbourne and Rob Cameron recently shared more with Forbes about their experiences navigating the U.S. market, the impact of the SJP collaboration on reaching new consumers, their creative partnership with Parker and their innovative plans for future growth.
Could you share some insights into your unique backgrounds as co-founders of Invivo? How did your experiences and expertise complement each other in building the company and driving its success, and how did these factors shape Invivo’s innovative approach to winemaking and marketing?
Tim Lightbourne: Rob and I met at age 14 when we attended Auckland Grammar School in New Zealand. We played on the same sports team and became firm friends quickly.
My background has been a mix of small business startups to working at global FMCG/luxury brands internationally, including Groupe Danone, L’Oreal and HJ Heinz. From a start-up perspective, I launched my own company in my early twenties where I needed to be innovative with virtually no marketing spend and develop important storytelling skills for myself and my business. Later, working at large multinational companies gave me insights into partnering with large retailers across several countries, understanding what it takes to succeed and lead a category. I learned that needing a good amount of data was crucial for making good decisions and standing out in competitive categories, insights which I would then take to the wine industry, which was typically more traditional in its approach.
Rob was a classically trained winemaker earning a bachelor of viticulture and oenology at University in New Zealand and then made wine in New Zealand before heading overseas. Rob chose to avoid taking the well-trodden path of most winemakers to glamorous Napa, Bordeaux, Burgundy, or Tuscany. Instead, he worked challenging vintages in the likes of Moldova, Cyprus, Hungary and Bulgaria. He then was an advisor to one of Spain’s largest wineries, Codorniu. His diverse experience taught him unparalleled innovation and wine making skills which he brought to Invivo, helping us earn the global acclaim and accolades that we have today.
Our backgrounds and skills complement each other—Rob with winemaking and myself with commercial and marketing skills. We opened our first joint business bank account in 2007 with just $65. Over the years, our unique approach to wine has created a loyal following in New Zealand. In 2015, we became the first wine company to crowdfund to secure our own winery, raising a record $1 million NZD ($600,000 USD) on our opening day. We have since raised over $4 million USD through crowdfunding with over 800 shareholders to date, building Invivo into a true tribe winery.
The Invivo X, SJP wine collection.
Given the differences in market dynamics and consumer preferences, what were the most significant challenges you encountered in entering and establishing Invivo in the U.S. market, particularly in terms of retail distribution and adapting your marketing strategies?
Lightbourne: Being from New Zealand, we initially faced challenges in establishing ourselves in the U.S. market, where no one had heard of us, and organizing meetings with agents or buyers was nearly impossible. Understanding the U.S. market and the three-tier system was new for us, so we brought in two expert advisors: Annette Alvarez-Peters, former head buyer at Costco, and Steve Raye, a U.S. drinks industry veteran and author of How to Get U.S. Market Ready: Wines and Spirits. Annette’s deep knowledge of the US retail environment and Steve’s expertise in distribution channels were invaluable in navigating the complexities of the market.
Given the oversaturation of the U.S. market, our marketing strategies must be laser-focused. We work on running targeted trade marketing campaigns with branded displays in stores and tasting programs in key states. Highlighting the quality of our wine is crucial, as our sauvignon blanc has consistently received high accolades, including 90 points from Wine Spectator for five consecutive years and being named in their Top 100 wines twice.
Additionally, our annual blending and tasting sessions with Sarah Jessica Parker have become a distinctive and essential part of our marketing strategy. This year, for example, as a non-traditional winery, we chose a stand-out location and took a camera crew and blended wine with Sarah Jessica in the middle of Citi Field, home of the New York Mets, on second base.
Who is your target demographic for the Invivo x SJP collaboration? Can you elaborate on the specific marketing and branding strategies you employed to connect with this demographic, and what insights have you gained about their preferences and behaviors?
Lightbourne: In a recent study, we tracked 3,406 wine consumers across the United States over six months through the market and brand research company Tracksuit. The research showed that our awareness is predominantly skewed towards Gen Z and millennial wine drinkers, with nearly three quarters of Invivo X, SJP wine drinkers being 44 years and under. This contrasts with our competitors, whose audiences are typically aged 45 and over. Our brand was highly rated for trust, quality, relatability and special occasions.
Our content-rich marketing strategy is non-traditional compared to other wine brands. We’ve ventured into the NFT and crypto space, and are often referred to as a “tribe” winery due to our crowdfunding efforts. In 2023, we launched the world’s first winery airline, “Invivo Air,” an experiential campaign that garnered global headlines. This content-led approach resonates with the non-traditional and younger wine audience. Our annual tasting and blending sessions with Sarah Jessica Parker are filmed and shared on social media, engaging our wine drinkers and potential customers.
There’s no denying that our partner Sarah Jessica has universal appeal spanning multi-generations and significant influence that appeals to our audience. De-mystifying the wine process with a respected and credible businessperson who is successful in multiple fields is a powerful tool to engage wine drinkers of all ages, but especially the 25 to 44-year-old female-skewed category who we know is drinking our wine.
Liquor has become a big side hustle for celebrities these days. How has the collaboration with Sarah Jessica Parker influenced the creative process behind Invivo X, SJP wines? What role does she play in the development of the unique blends and the overall brand identity, and how does this partnership contribute to the brand’s appeal to consumers?
Rob Cameron:: At the heart of the collaboration is our unique approach to the blending process and Sarah Jessica’s input into the finished wines. Invivo is the only wine company in the world that openly shares this final and crucial stage of the winemaking process year after year. The intention behind this is partly educational, helping our consumers understand how the wines are unique with SJP’s significant influence. The second part of the process is a learning opportunity, helping us to better understand the U.S. market and craft wines that consumers will love.
Authenticity is the bread and butter of our collaboration with Sarah Jessica Parker. She’s genuinely involved in all aspects of the wine business we have created and are growing together. Besides brand and marketing, Sarah Jessica is involved in the commercial aspects of the business, regularly meeting customers, buyers, and distributors with myself, Tim and our team. Together, we’ve traveled across the U.S. to meet buyers from all over the country. We are now in our sixth vintage, and she has still attended over 35 buyer meetings with us in the last 12 months. It’s amazing to see her presenting our brand in buyer meetings; she is phenomenal and comfortable talking about wine, and it’s a real “pinch me” moment for Tim and me.
Lightbourne: She genuinely cares, and it’s important to all three of us that we operate the Invivo X, SJP business this way. Sarah Jessica is a shareholder in Invivo USA along with Rob and me. Creatively, she contributes to all our label designs and colorways. For example, the “X” on the label was hand painted by Sarah Jessica using her pinky finger. Each colorway matches one from her own shoe brand, the SJP Collection. Every element of our collaboration is thoughtfully balanced between “SJP”’ and “Invivo.” From the get-go, we all agreed not to use typical imagery like a river, mountain, New York skyline, or shoes on the label, nor did we want to plaster SJP’s name all over it. We landed on the X together, as it represents the global collaboration symbol and also SJ’s signature sign-off on Instagram, “X, SJ.” We’ve received great feedback from our customers that it stands out on the shelf.
Looking towards the future, what are Invivo’s key priorities for continued innovation and growth in 2024 and beyond? Are there any specific initiatives or expansion plans in the pipeline, and how do you envision the Invivo X, SJP collaboration evolving to further engage consumers and solidify the brand’s position in the market?
Cameron: Our focus is on continuing the positive momentum of the Invivo X, SJP brand. We are currently the fastest-growing premium New Zealand sauvignon blanc in the U.S. and with this growth, we need to ensure we maintain and expand our supply. We currently manage 440 acres of vineyards and have several long-term growers, with plans to increase our vineyard footprint and winery capacity over the coming years. Our historic winery in Te Kauwhata, about an hour south of Auckland, currently has the capacity to produce 3 million liters of wine, a number we aim to increase.
We will continue to showcase our unique winemaking process involving Sarah Jessica Parker in the annual blending sessions, attending buyer meetings together and engaging with customers. While our primary focus is on the sauvignon blanc varietal, we also offer a French rosé and just-released New Zealand pinot noir. The pinot noir came about after SJP was so enamored with a bottle we brought to one of our blending sessions in 2023 that we decided to create a small run of premium Marlborough pinot noir to a wonderful reception and some great reviews. So, while our strategy focuses on key SKUs, we can’t resist exploring new possibilities.
Lightbourne: Our customers know we are a winery that likes to do things differently, so we plan to continue being innovative in our approach. New Zealand currently stands at about 3% of the entire wine market in the U.S., so there is still plenty of room for us to grow.
