Tia Butts Email & Phone Number

United States

Overseeing public relations efforts for our Napa Valley luxury wine portfolio including Beringer Vineyards, Beaulieu Vineyard, Etude, Frank Family Vineyards, Hewitt, and Stags' Leap Winery.

Napa, California

Founded a boutique public relations agency offering integrated and strategic marketing and public relations planning and execution including brand strategy, media relations, messaging, media training, copywriting and new product launches. Clients included Bacigalupi Vineyards, Melka Estates, The Carlton Winemakers Studio, Napa Valley Vintners, Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards, WindVane Wines, the Soave Consortium, Hanzell Vineyards, Williams Selyem Winery, Sonoma County Vintners, Purlieu Wines and Benchmark Wine Group.

Worldwide

Produced and hosted live, interactive, exclusive events with today’s most exciting tastemakers from food and beverage to film and technology.

Napa, Ca

Responsible for developing and executing strategic brand marketing, social media & communications plans including budgeting, media training and press and trade activity for as many as five clients, many with multiple brands. Provide PR or marketing support on other agency clients. Oversee a team to ensure successful execution of campaigns and client services.

Client lead at the agency for Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, Constellation Wines U.S., St Supery, Skalli Family Wines Americas, Portfolio Winery, Freestone Vineyards, CIVL (Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Langeudoc), Raymond Vineyards. Assist with marketing, PR and social media efforts on behalf of the Loire Valley Wine Bureau and Zonin U.S.A.

Responsible for publicity for Robert Mondavi Winery, Franciscan and Mount Veeder Winery. Also responsible for press activity of the Robert Mondavi family, specifically founder Robert Mondavi and his wife Margrit Biever Mondavi. Acted as a spokesperson and contact on company business and wine brand issues. Part of an Icon Estate Wines transition team to ensure a smooth transition of Robert Mondavi Winery under the new ownership.Key accomplishments:•Developed messaging for Robert Mondavi Winery and trained all winery spokespersons during the transition under Icon Estate wines to ensure smooth communications to media about the Robert Mondavi Winery brand.•Worked with the Consul General of France in San Francisco and his staff to arrange for the presentation of the Legion of Honor Award to Robert Mondavi, one of France’s highest honors, including all publicity and event execution.

Responsible for press activity of the world’s most visible wine brands and, previously, the company’s founding wine family, including Robert Mondavi, Michael Mondavi, and Timothy Mondavi. Acted as a spokesperson and contact on company business and wine brand issues. In the final two years, served as lead PR strategist and contact for Woodbridge, Robert Mondavi Private Selection, Papio and New Brands at Robert Mondavi.Key accomplishments:•Negotiated and secured a contract with Ted Allen, food and wine television expert and star of Bravo’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, as a spokesperson for Robert Mondavi Private Selection. •Successfully launched Woodbridge Select Vineyard Series wines and Woodbridge 187 ml. minis.•Directed media campaign for Margrit Biever Mondavi and Robert Mondavi Winery Executive Chef Annie Roberts’ cookbook, Annie & Margrit, released in May 2003.•Developed and executed a U.S. media trip to the company’s joint venture wineries in Chile.

Assisted Vice President of Public Relations in creating hundreds of millions of targeted consumer impressions annually through publicity for the company and its wines. Managed company public relations services including, a successful national new release wine sampling program, photo library, media database, and public relations tracking and reporting system. Key Accomplishment:• Helped to launch the company’s Golden Vine Winery, a multi-faceted wine retail and dining experience at the new Disney’s California Adventure™ in 2001, by creating a winery press kit and managing media activities with Disney staff for family members and company representatives.

City of Clovis Community Seat Belt Campaign Director Worked as a private contractor for the non-profit organization Safer New Mexico Now and coordinated with city police to promote safety belt use and awareness through the creation of a new seatbelt campaign. Duties included developing a community slogan, coordinating press conferences, organizing community events, and creating press releases, displays, contests, and promotional materials.•Raised safety belt use rates in Clovis 9% and contributed to the rise in overall rates in New Mexico, making it the number one state in safety belt usage in the country.

Created award-winning radio newscasts weekly. Brainstormed ideas, conducted interviews, wrote and edited news stories, performed live newscasts and special reports, supervised one reporter, wrote promotional ads and met with company C.E.O. for quarterly reports.•Personally negotiated an interview with then U.S. Vice President Dan Quayle and then a follow up interview with the opposing candidate, United States Vice President Al Gore, which garnered acclaim from the Associated Press and NM Broadcasters Association.•Researched and compiled data from county records that uncovered millions of dollars in lost county money and resulted in a criminal investigation. These stories garnered acclaim from the Associated Press and NMBA.