#35: Hampton Water Co-Founder Jesse Bongiovi | Turning “Pink Juice” into a Lifestyle Brand

About this episode

Jesse Bongiovi’s Hampton Water rosé is as much a lifestyle brand as it is a Wine Spectator darling. Bongiovi started the company with his Notre Dame college roommate, Ali Thomas, and the brand took off through spot-on social marketing that included Happy Half Hour livestreams during lockdown. There’s another co-founder at Hampton Water, Bongiovi’s famous father, Jon Bon Jovi, whose love of the “pink juice” during their Hamptons summers inspired the brand. A famous parent can help, but Bongiovi, who walked onto the Notre Dame football team, is determinedly building a bartender-referral network, innovating rosé cocktails and creating a year-round lifestyle positioning for Hampton Water.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Success is not owned, it is leased and the rent is due every day

• After the launch year, you can’t ride the PR train so much

• Why marketers should figure out how to destigmatize traditional categories for new consumers

• No one thinks they're 60 , everyone thinks they are 25

Brought to you by Mekanism.