Country club members typically belong to two or three other clubs, often reciprocally across regions. The member who attends a Newport Beach club's dinner travels in summer to a Hamptons club. The member who plays at a Pasadena club spends winters at a Palm Springs club. The clubs do not directly compete; the membership overlaps.
The reciprocity bottle
Several of our country-club customers commission a small case of bottles, in the club's brand line, specifically for the member who travels. The bottle accompanies the member to the reciprocal club and is presented as a gift to the host club's beverage director or the host dining room. The bottle becomes a brand extension of the originating club, carried by the member into other clubs.
The math
Reciprocity bottles are typically ordered in addition to the standard house-wine program. Twelve bottles per year per club, distributed to members who travel and request them, costs a small fraction of the club's overall hospitality budget and produces brand visibility in clubs the originating club has never been into.
Practical notes
The reciprocity bottle should match the standard house wine in every way. Same brand line, same crest, same paper, same foil. The member is carrying the club's identity. Differentiating the reciprocity bottle from the house bottle would defeat its purpose. The bottle is the consistent brand carrier.