Longevity Wines: Fermenting Inclusion for Black Wine Entrepreneurs

Longevity Wines was a family-owned urban winery and certified minority-owned business based in the Livermore Valley wine region of Northern California. Founders Phil and Debra Long opened Longevity Wines in 2008 when their winemaking hobby outgrew their garage. By that time, they had spent years visiting tasting rooms and had identified a need to increase inclusivity in the wine community. The wine industry had a history of exclusion in terms of race, gender, and class; how could Phil Long make the wine community more inclusive and his wine brand more accessible to BIPOC consumers?

This case can be used in marketing courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, both in-person and in an online format. It can be taught in a core marketing class and in specialty courses that cover diversity and inclusive marketing communications, integrated marketing communications, and digital and social media marketing. It can also be used for executive audiences to challenge leaders’ perceptions of creating inclusive environments. After completing this case and answering the assignment questions, students will be able to:<br><br\><ul><li>Explain how the intersection of race, gender, and class leads to perceptions of exclusion among customers and what financial implications this has for businesses.</li><li>Discuss the implications of the three-tiered distribution system for winemakers’ marketing efforts and how racism may implicitly or explicitly affect distribution and, therefore, consumer access. </li><li>Select the marketing practices that are welcoming of BIPOC consumers within online and in-person wine spaces and poised to foster inclusion.</li></ul>

• black entrepreneur
• implicit bias
• DEI
• digital marketing
• wine industry
• branding
• strategy management