I find it odd that this piece focuses solely on the distribution of marketing and not on the content of the marketing or the product it's selling. I'm a "wine person" and was an early Naked supporter, except the product is consistently inconsistent and usually not very good. I don't like their subscription model. So perhaps they're losing market share for reasons other than how it's using digital channels.

Agree with the previous comment. The wines are not great. It is much like other subscription wine deals (WSJ, etc.). They seem like decent wines in the offering, but at least in CA, we can do much better for the price at our local store. Not about the media mix at all. Inferior product cannot be saved by marketing. The author should have tried the product before commenting...

Direct mail is not the problem for this company, it is the fact it's management was probably completely clueless about how to use direct mail. There are lots of US companies that use direct mail very effectively. It is not the medium that is at fault here, it's the management. And their egos are so large they can't own up to their failure, and instead try to blame it on an entire marketing medium, going so far as launching a publicity campaign, even. Pathetic. Truly Pathetic.

The US market also has a number of unique qualities making it in need of customization, when compared to other markets. As the previous comments suggested, Naked hasn't distinguished itself from alternative offers, and the perception of the product isn't clearly defined. The US market is one of few, globally, where customers visiting wineries regularly sign-up as subscribers to an annual delivery model. As such, with Naked wines acting as an intermediary, don't offer the same benefits that customers in the US are used to, when compared to other markets. Specifically, Naked wines need to target a different consumer group from who they've targeted in the UK and Australia.

I'm with the previous post from Kristy -- very inconsistent, to down right awful product. It's not the consumer, it's not customization of the offer, it's not about targeting the right consumer -- it's the product: really bad-tasting, cheaply made wine. Naked ought to be embarrassed -- the company simply thought they could pass off cheap, badly made wine. Now they'll have trouble selling anything.....