Alko had a popular magazine, Etiketti, with a circulation of 500,000, available in the stores and also mailed to homes, which could be described as a core target group. We proposed starting a loyalty-building membership wine club with this core target group. The group was invited to join the Wine Club, costing only 19 Euros yearly. Membership advantages included monthly membership mailing, included letter, price lists, new product info, invitations to wine events, a gift 3 times a year and wine course & trip brochures. The membership also provided a closed Internet service plus a monthly email letter.

We started with a couple of thousand members but set the goal at 10,000, which has now been exceeded by 20%. This is an excellent result considering that we haven't been able to advertise in mass media and the only way to recruit members has been by word-of-mouth, Etiketti magazine and wine events in Finland. Members are very content – in the last survey sent to all members, 91% were ready to recommend the Wine Club to their friends. As Alko cannot advertise freely, the Club also provided a way to build Alko's brand.