- Client: Josh Cellars (Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits)
- Industry: Wine & Spirits
- Challenge: Transition to brand-led growth with full organizational commitment
- Solution: Unified Marketing Measurement with cross-functional alignment
- Results: 167% ROI improvement and 50%+ increase in media-driven case volume
Josh Cellars partnered with Ipsos MMA to develop a measurement foundation that enabled the premium wine brand to transition from distribution-led growth to brand-driven demand. Using our Unified Marketing Measurement approach, we provided long-term impact forecasts that built organizational confidence across all functions—from the CFO and President to sales teams and media agencies—enabling coordinated planning and faster execution than competitors.
Business Challenge
Evolving Beyond Distribution Growth
As the highest-selling wine in the premium segment, Josh Cellars had executed distribution expansion exceptionally well, reaching most target stores faster than many brands achieve. With distribution largely optimized and aggressive growth targets still in place, the brand faced a natural evolution: maintaining momentum through serious investment in brand building via media.
The challenge wasn't just about shifting marketing dollars. Wine production requires planning years in advance. Supply chain needed to know when demand would materialize. Finance needed to understand cash flow timing. Sales needed to commit volume to distributors. Media agencies needed to plan upfront buys. Every function needed to work from the same projections, or the strategy would fracture before it could succeed.
Alignment Across Functions
Different functions naturally view marketing investment through different lenses. Sales teams focus on immediate activation. Media teams consider long-term brand building. Finance evaluates returns across timeframes. Each perspective has merit, which can make alignment difficult.
Josh Cellars needed marketing measurement that would prove accurate enough that stakeholders across the organization—who might otherwise fight over budget allocation based on competing narratives—could align around shared expectations and commit millions in spending to a multi-year brand-building strategy.
Our Approach
Comprehensive Unified Measurement
Ipsos MMA developed comprehensive Unified Measurement Models that considered the full breadth of Josh Cellars' marketing investment across both above-the-line media and below-the-line promotional activity, leveraging Marketing Mix Modeling and Agile Attribution. The models provided insights into when incremental cases would materialize over time, with impact windows extending from three to 36 months.
This long-term view addressed the specific planning needs of each function. The models delivered response curves showing returns by channel and distribution curves showing when incremental cases would materialize, enabling the organization to align supply chain planning, financial forecasting, sales commitments, and media buying around the same data.
Strategic Implementation Framework
Under Chief Brand Officer Dan Kleinman's leadership, Josh Cellars used measurement to drive real decisions rather than letting it become another data point in ongoing internal debates. Annual strategy sessions brought together the CMO, President, CFO, media agency, sales, and trade marketing teams to work through scenarios. Professional disagreement was expected, but everyone left aligned on where dollars would move.
Operational Integration
As forecasts delivered by Ipsos MMA's Activate platform consistently hit their marks, Josh Cellars integrated measurement more deeply into media planning. Ipsos MMA provides weekly optimized media schedules that the media agency uses as their buying framework. The relationship combines strategic planning with Agile Attribution optimization for campaign-level adjustments, embedding measurement into ongoing execution rather than limiting it to periodic reviews.
Results
Quantifiable Growth Results
The comprehensive measurement approach and disciplined cross-functional implementation delivered substantial business impact:
- ROI Growth: Above-the-line profit ROI improved 167%—a 15% compounded annual growth rate
- Volume Growth: Media-driven incremental case volume increased more than 50% over three years
- Investment Scale: Marketing spend scaled substantially while improving profitability
- Sustained Momentum: Even after COVID-driven surges in off-premise wine sales, Josh Cellars continued growing rather than declining back to baseline
Organizational Transformation
Consistently accurate forecasts enabled the speed and coordination that became competitive advantage. The measurement framework allowed Josh Cellars to:
- Align all functions around shared long-term projections
- Make faster budget allocation decisions with organizational consensus
- Coordinate supply chain, finance, sales, and media planning seamlessly
- Execute brand-building strategies with confidence across the enterprise
Client Perspective
Dan Kleinman Chief Brand Officer, Josh Cellars
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