Since I first met with Happy Camper’s proprietor Jeff Dye, I’ve believed that he’s got a total winner on his hands for a wine brand.
Today, we talked about Happy Camper some more. Here’s the skinny!
Jeff’s a wine industry veteran. When he decided to create a wine brand, he wanted it to be geared toward a fun, niche audience, and “Happy Camper” immediate came to mind.
As Jeff so aptly puts it, “We wanted to produce a wine that celebrates the freedom of the great outdoors, and who doesn’t like a happy camper?”
In 2006, Happy Camper Wines, whose slogan is “Getting to where life is good,” launched its brand with three varieties: Chardonnay, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.
All of the wines are produced predominantly from fruit grown along California’s cool Central Coast line, and the suggested retail price for each wine is $8.99 a bottle.
Happy Camper speaks to a young and young-at-heart market, both in the brand’s label designs and in all of its story telling.
The label tries to encompass the spirit of adventure and camaraderie that RV people have. Not a brand intended for wine connoisseurs, Happy Camper is meant for everyday enjoyment with adventurers; whether it’s a motor home couple privately sipping under the stars, or someone inviting the lean-to neighbors over for a food and wine barbeque.
Happy Camper also offers a convenient screw cap, which is becoming increasingly more popular for the ease of opening it provides to consumers. Once neatly tucked in for the night, there’s no worry for the person who’s purchased Happy Camper that the bottle of wine will be “off.” There’s no turning back once the rig’s tied down, the tent’s set up along the stream bed, or the shelter’s been constructed for the night along the white water trail. Screw caps had to be the answer, so there would be no disappointments.
Jeff also realized he could successfully target several market segments:
- Summer outdoor crowd
- Millennial generation who have yet to form strong brand affinities
Happy Camper is just about that… Being a Happy Camper with Happy Camper wines, and getting to where life is good.
As I reflect on my trekking adventures across the country with all my Petite Sirah buddies in a motor home (through many a financial district, I should add), I can’t help but ask myself, “How could anyone not love these labels?”
And, the juice’s good, too!
You can visit the Web site for more details: Happy Camper
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