Ep. 2536 Brand Building for Beverage and Wine Companies with Courtney O’Brien | Masterclass US Wine Market

Welcome to Episode 2536 of the Italian Wine Podcast. In this episode, Barbara Fitzgerald interviews Courtney O'Brien, beverage brand strategy expert and founder of The Outlier Initiative, to explore how modern beverage and wine brands can sharpen their marketing strategy. Courtney shares practical insights on brand storytelling, consumer behavior, and how companies can position themselves clearly in a crowded market.

Key Takeaways:

• The wine industry focuses too much on product storytelling and not enough on building a clear, compelling brand identity.
• Younger consumers view wine as part of a broader lifestyle ecosystem rather than a standalone luxury item.
• Future growth depends on simple, disciplined brand positioning that brings clarity instead of complexity.

More about the guest: 

Courtney O’Brien is a strategic brand leader behind some of the most successful beverage brands in the world. She built Apothic into a $100M+ wine powerhouse, led the U.S. launch and repositioning of Coke Zero into a $1B+ megabrand, and spearheaded Evian’s marketing strategy in one of the most competitive beverage categories.

As founder of The Outlier Initiative, she helps ambitious beverage brands break through the noise, claim their space, and engineer demand - using the same proven strategies that built billion-dollar brands, without the Fortune 500 budget.

Connect:  

Website: https://theoutlierinitiative.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtney-obrien/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theoutlierinitiative/ 

More about the host:

With a career of nearly two decades in the wine industry, Barbara specializes in D2C marketing and business development. She's led roles from entry level to senior management, combining her extensive experience with data analysis, critical thinking and storytelling while driving revenue growth and brand recognition for California wineries. As a part of the 4th generation of an Italian-American family among the California wine industry pioneers, Barbara has spent her life around wine growing, production, marketing, distribution and hospitality. A Syracuse University graduate, she returned to California to gain diverse industry perspectives from a range of wineries.

As an Italian Wine Ambassador, she brings her expertise to the Italian wine market, known for its authenticity and consumer demand. Barbara now runs Apri La Creative Consulting, coaching wineries in Italy and the US to strategically develop their D2C channels in line with their brand values. Together with her husband, Barbara also owns and operates a boutique wine production company, and a small import company specializing in Italian wines to the US.

Connect:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/barbarajeanfitz/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-fitzgerald-iwa/

Website: https://www.aprilacreative.com/ 

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