Cake Wines work | glencassidy

Project: Cake Wines
Role: Co-founder

I co-founded Cake Wines in 2011, a new generation wine company positioned around food, wine and culture, and a brand that many say ushered in a new era in Australian wine. After national and international acclaim, listed in the Australian Financial Review’s Fastest 100 Growing Companies (2017), employing / contracting upwards of 50 staff at any one time, in 2018, Cake Wines was acquired by one of Australia’s most renowned independent wine distributors, Joval Family Wines and I successfully exited in 2020. Whilst running a startup requires skills across almost all areas of business, I led all strategy, creative, cultural, and experiential components of the brand over its 8 year journey. Below are some examples of work that I led.

Concept: A campaign to raise awareness on reducing food waste using locally sourced produce from community gardens. Matched with some of the best chefs in the country alongside and our wines, resulting in 5 sold out events across 10 weeks, capacity of 50 - 120, generating over $60k in revenue, plus 25 new on premise accounts as a result of this idea.	Glen introducing the concept behind community feast, the food and wine, and the chefs we've chosen to deliver an important message for the future of food + drink in the city.	Working alongside Ze' Design to produce a unique set of still life imagery as part of the campaign content plan.
Community Feast, 1 of 5 sold events held in community gardens around the city with a focus on local produce and reducing waste. This one featured Mike McNearny, well known for Kitchen by Mike eatery's and his honest approach to cooking.	Together, we shaped the winemaking direction of Cake Wines, a brand that would go on to be one of the most talked about new wines companies of the decade.	Concept: With a growing need to support live music venues, we saw an opportunity to drive on-premise growth by incentivising people to head to gigs earlier on in the night to see the support acts. Resulted in over 100 new venues, $100k in sales, and helped position Cake Wines as champions of live music. Click to see full campaign video and further results.
The first winery Cellar Door in Australia, a showcase of the Cake Wines brand via weekly curated experiences intersecting wine + culture. From wine tastings, the School of Wine, to some of the most revered acts in the world, to our yearly Vivid program, alongside a host of unique food + wine + thought leading events. The Cake Wines Cellar Door quickly became a cultural institution. I lead the venue in a GM, a pillar of the business that generated over $4 million in revenue for the across 4 years	Opening night of the Cake Wines Cellar Door, Sydney's first winery Cellar Door, and regarded as one of the most unique venues in the world, a beautiful intersection of wine and culture and a hugely successful venture for the brand and business ongoing. I assumed the GM position at the venue, driving creative, cultural, and culinary direction as well as overseeing the operational components of the business.	Concept / Creative direction: I was ultimately responsible for our Vivid program, regarded as one of the most revered in the world, combining music, food, wine in ways never seen before in the city. Attracting funding from Destination NSW each year, this drove over $400k in revenue for the business.
Music was a key part of Cake Wines brand DNA, I led all curatorial and creative decisions related to this.	A sold out event as part of Vivid 2019 at the Cake Wines Cellar Door, a showcase of progressive, ground breaking artists from around the world across 4 weeks.
Concept: Global annual campaign in search of the next artist to appear on our label art attracting over 1500 entries each year reaching over 1 million people online.
		Creating unique brand experiences were key to Cake Wines success, I conceptualised and management over 500 events working with teams at times of over 30 people.
Cake Wines - Archibottle Prize top 30 finalist exhibition featuring some of Australia's most prominent artists.	Cake Wines - Archibottle Prize top 30 finalist exhibition featuring some of Australia's most prominent artists.	Cake Wines - Archibottle Prize top 30 finalist exhibition featuring some of Australia's most prominent artists.
I'm passionate about building great teams of people, from diverse backgrounds, who thrive in highly creative environments. From small startup teams generating high output, to a large 70 person company across numerous business pillars.	Concept and curation - Created 4 weeks of curated activity securing festival contract resulting in over $200k worth of sales for the portfolio. Click the link to see video.	Concept: Moon Safari - A sensory journey across food, wine, music, and lights. 5 sell out events at Vivid Sydney and Fringe festival Adelaide.
Concept: The Edge of Chaos - A Winemakers conundrum. A panel discussion with some of the countries most important emerging winemakers.	As the brand continued to scale, so did our need for effective production management. From financing, to packaging, warehouse and logistics, I have played a key role across all business verticals.	New vintage - Ongoing creative direction across all elements including campaign, packaging, digital, events.
Cellar Door - Brand Reposition - After 2 years of operation I relaunched the venue with a clear positioning. Food. Wine. Sound, upgrading the kitchen and menu, a greater focus on our wines, and placing emphasis our soudnsystem which at the time was one of the best in the city. This resulted in capacity bookings / crowds ongoing.	I lead the creative direction and communications across all touch points of the brand, including packaging, a key part of telling our brand story.
Notes - A new wine romance. A quarterly publication educating people on the new wine world. I wrote and produced this alongside our inhouse design team.	I lead the concept, curation, creative direction, and event management for this large scale activation resulting in over $100k in revenue for the business.	Cake Wines presents - Lovebombs
Concept: Wine De Jour, a showcase of emerging Australian winemaking. 2 x sold out events held at the Cake Wines Cellar Door.

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Project: Cake Wines Role: Co-founder

Glen introducing the concept behind community feast, the food and wine, and the chefs we've chosen to deliver an important message for the future of food + drink in the city.

Working alongside Ze' Design to produce a unique set of still life imagery as part of the campaign content plan.

Community Feast, 1 of 5 sold events held in community gardens around the city with a focus on local produce and reducing waste. This one featured Mike McNearny, well known for Kitchen by Mike eatery's and his honest approach to cooking.

Together, we shaped the winemaking direction of Cake Wines, a brand that would go on to be one of the most talked about new wines companies of the decade.

Music was a key part of Cake Wines brand DNA, I led all curatorial and creative decisions related to this.

A sold out event as part of Vivid 2019 at the Cake Wines Cellar Door, a showcase of progressive, ground breaking artists from around the world across 4 weeks.

Concept: Global annual campaign in search of the next artist to appear on our label art attracting over 1500 entries each year reaching over 1 million people online.

Creating unique brand experiences were key to Cake Wines success, I conceptualised and management over 500 events working with teams at times of over 30 people.

Cake Wines - Archibottle Prize top 30 finalist exhibition featuring some of Australia's most prominent artists.

Cake Wines - Archibottle Prize top 30 finalist exhibition featuring some of Australia's most prominent artists.

Cake Wines - Archibottle Prize top 30 finalist exhibition featuring some of Australia's most prominent artists.

I'm passionate about building great teams of people, from diverse backgrounds, who thrive in highly creative environments. From small startup teams generating high output, to a large 70 person company across numerous business pillars.

Concept and curation - Created 4 weeks of curated activity securing festival contract resulting in over $200k worth of sales for the portfolio. Click the link to see video.

Concept: Moon Safari - A sensory journey across food, wine, music, and lights. 5 sell out events at Vivid Sydney and Fringe festival Adelaide.

Concept: The Edge of Chaos - A Winemakers conundrum. A panel discussion with some of the countries most important emerging winemakers.

As the brand continued to scale, so did our need for effective production management. From financing, to packaging, warehouse and logistics, I have played a key role across all business verticals.

New vintage - Ongoing creative direction across all elements including campaign, packaging, digital, events.

I lead the creative direction and communications across all touch points of the brand, including packaging, a key part of telling our brand story.

Notes - A new wine romance. A quarterly publication educating people on the new wine world. I wrote and produced this alongside our inhouse design team.

I lead the concept, curation, creative direction, and event management for this large scale activation resulting in over $100k in revenue for the business.

Cake Wines presents - Lovebombs

Concept: Wine De Jour, a showcase of emerging Australian winemaking. 2 x sold out events held at the Cake Wines Cellar Door.

Project: Cake Wines
Role: Co-founder