Bibendum creates new consumer profiles

Are you a ‘new nester’, a ‘mature foodie’, a ‘big weekender’ or a ‘stretched spender’? These are just some of the new wine consumer categories thought up by UK distributor Bibendum PLB.

A total of eight new categories of wine consumers have been designed by Bibendum PLB to help it advise its customers on how they can better serve their shoppers, diners or drinkers.

They have been designed to paint a “detailed picture of what matters to different drinkers”, the group said.

The portraits, designed using Bibendum’s own analysis plus consumer polling and demographic data, combine lifestyle factors like household income, geography, age and marital status.

The profiling also uses information like alcohol spend and preferences in both the on- and off-trade to reveal eight “clear-cut” types of wine consumer.

There is the ‘Moneyed Minority’, to whom “money is no object”, ‘Urban Professionals’, who are described as “high-spending trendsetters” and the ‘New Nesters’ that “put family first”.

Along with those, there are ‘Mature Foodies’ that “invest in quality”, ‘Traditional Communities’ for whom everything must be enjoyed “in moderation”, ‘Suburban Families’ that enjoy “occasional treats”, ‘Big Weekenders’ that enjoy nights out and ‘Stretched Spenders’ for whom money is tight.

As an example of how the new profiles can be used to better target consumers, Bibendum said that, based on their research, 47% of New Nesters – affluent young families between 25 and 45 – would choose wine as their preferred drink over beer, cider or spirits.

They also “prefer fresh and smooth styles of wine and are fairly confident when choosing a wine from a list”, Bibendum said.

The point is to make Bibendum’s customers in the on- and off-trade sector better aware of what their target audience is looking for, Alex Linsley, head of market insights for the group said.

It is “an invaluable tool that will help us advise our customers on how to make their drinks range relevant and exciting for their consumers,” Linsley said.

Michael Saunders, CEO of the Bibendum PLB Group said, “We can now go to our customers with this information and work with them to identify, with more understanding and knowledge than ever before, who they are selling to and how best to sell to those customers.”