Wine Marketing

This blog is wine marketing for retail wine brands that want to penetrate the over suppplied wine market. The Do's and Don'ts of wine marketing and social media strategy will be covered.

NZ wine marketing and apps.

After reading Rick Bakas' review of wine apps and marketing it became apparent that so few wineries in New Zealand put reviews of their wines on sites such as Cork'd and Snooth, Why wouldn't you?

For a start, personally go on the site and review wines and also add your own, narcissistic for sure, but it's a great way to reach a new audience when linked to social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

With the advent of Snooth's new smart phone app it is now possible to take a photo of a bottle and locate the nearest store from which to buy it.

It also acts a a reference and wine library storing the history of the wine you have consumed, and if enough Kiwi's start using both Cork'd and Snooth they'll end up having a regional profile for NZ.

Below is the new look Snooth smart phone app.

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Searching for the nearest wine shop to your present location.
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Taking a photo of the wine you are drinking in a restaurant.

 

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Searching through the database.

 

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It has identified the winery

 

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It has identified the wine and you can now see other peoples reviews or add your own.

 

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Additional information.

 

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Wine Buying!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

How Do You Buy the Wines You Buy

Do you intend to drink more wine in 2010 than you did in 2009?
Yes
631 responses / 59%
No, I intend to drink less wine
28 responses / 3%
No, I intend to drink about the same amount of wine
371 responses / 35%
I am not sure
31 responses / 3%
Which of the following is most influential when it comes time to make a wine purchase?
Recommendations from friends
158 responses / 15%
Wine reviews or shelf-talkers from established wine critics
374 responses / 36%
Recommendations from trusted wine producers or wine shop owners
355 responses / 34%
Price or heavy discounts
113 responses / 11%
Recommendations from bloggers
21 responses / 2%
Label design
28 responses / 3%
Do you plan on spending more on wine (in total) in 2010 than you did in 2009?
No, I intend to spend about the same on wine.
421 responses / 40%
Yes I intend to spend more.
556 responses / 52%
No, I intend to spend less on wine.
85 responses / 8%
From where do you purchase the majority of your wines?
From national discount chains like Costco, Trader Joe’s
273 responses / 26%
From smaller boutique wine shops
503 responses / 48%
From online wine retailers like Wine Express, Winery Insider
85 responses / 8%
Through private brokers
24 responses / 2%
Directly from the winery or winery Web site
173 responses / 16%
Which of the following social media platforms do you use most frequently?
Twitter
37 responses / 4%
Facebook
531 responses / 58%
Blogs
86 responses / 9%
Other
259 responses / 28%
Which of the following social media platforms most affects your wine purchasing decisions?
Twitter
19 responses / 2%
Facebook
113 responses / 14%
Blogs
167 responses / 20%
Other
524 responses / 64%
What’s the average price you currently spend on a bottle of wine?
Under $10
84 responses / 8%
$10-$20
587 responses / 55%
$20-30
278 responses / 26%
$30+
122 responses / 11%
Which of the following are you least likely to splurge on?
A $50+ bottle of wine
399 responses / 38%
A meal at a high-end restaurant
149 responses / 14%
A walk-around wine tasting or wine seminar
256 responses / 24%
Other
253 responses / 24%
Which of the following are you most likely to splurge on?
A $50+ bottle of wine
248 responses / 23%
A meal at a high-end restaurant
536 responses / 51%
A walk-around wine tasting or wine seminar
244 responses / 23%
Other
32 responses / 3%

All results from Wine Enthusiast! 

New World Wine Idea of Terroir!

Every second wine bottles back label reads something like this "*insert name and grape varietal here* is a contemporary expression of terroir from *insert region*".
The expression/term 'Terroir' a French word, for which there is no direct translation, is about every facet that directly influences the grape throughout its growing season. These factors include temperature, soil profile, native yeasts, amount of rain and sunshine, country where grown etc. you get the point. It still baffles me to read these wine labels that profess to have terroir driven wines when a) they irrigate the vines b) they inoculate juice with cultured yeast.
Throughout the whole of New Zealand there are few vineyards that do not irrigate their vines. Irrigation dilutes the terroir characters that are drawn from the soil in any given season. 
The inoculation of grape juice guarantees completion of the fermentation process but negates all of the terroir characters that the wine marketers use so evocatively on the back label. Don't be fooled by what they say on the back label unless it says 'Native/wild/indigenous yeast'!

Social Media: A Missed Marketing Opportunity For New Zealand Wineries

Jayson Bryant
My Website · My Articles
Posted: April 30th, 2010
Are New Zealand wineries missing out on a great marketing opportunity that other countries have garnered?
Although Social Media (SM) is a widely talked about subject within the New Zealand media, very few wineries are using this medium to convey their message to those who want to listen. There are 600+ wineries in New Zealand and yet less than 30 wineries are using Twitter, even fewer using it on a regular basis. Most wineries that are using Twitter have made less than 200 Tweets. More wineries are utilizing Facebook but still less than 10% have a regularly updated Facebook page.
Are these wineries missing out on advertising their brand to where their customers are? Or are they correct in not wasting their time? There are many stories of wineries world wide using SM that have increased their sales but more importantly their profile on a world platform.
For those wineries that are not using SM they are likely not to hear what is being said about them and even less likely to know what isn’t being said about them. Wine is inherently a social lubricant and well matched to Twitter where the conversation is immediate and in real time. New Zealand has always been very technically advanced yet remains in the Social Media dark ages. There is a real reluctance for wineries to get involved and start a conversation about their wine/brand. Many wineries suggested it was not worth their time or money to get involved and wanted to know what the Return On Investment (ROI), whereas I prefer to call it ‘Return On Involvement’.
Your return will grow over a period of time; nothing is immediate. Most of the wineries thought that Twitter and Facebook were for kids, but that simply is not the case. Even if it were, they are the next generation of wine consumers.
New Zealand is isolated geographically but the Internet has brought us closer to the rest of the world. Social media has made it very easy for wineries to display their wares and get people, globally, talking about them. Most wineries still believe that it’s not for them and the actual number of New Zealanders using SM is relatively small – so why bother? There are millions of people using it overseas where their wine drinkers are. With so few New Zealand wineries using Social Media, it is allowing those that are a great advantage. These wineries are one step ahead of the game and have already recognized what rewards Social Media plays to their business plan. It’s not only those wineries that are using Social Media but those people who tell others, that do not use it, about the wine/winery.

Telling the New Zealand Wine Story.

It amazes me to still see machine harvesters, stainless steel tanks, and other winery machinery being displayed in photos of harvest. In these hard financial times it is better to tell the story of New Zealand wine without shattering what people believe to be a romantic job. 

Get rid of all of the pictures of machine harvesters and stainless steel tanks and put the romance and boutique back into NZ wine. 
Show pictures of oak barrels, hand harvesting, and people smiling and the hand made approach to wine.

I know there is a need to show the reality but hand harvesting, oak barrels are reality, we just no need to show everything else, the sexy side of wine. This image would then help promote New Zealand wine and hopefully sell more of it.

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E-commerce, Technology, and the Porn industry!

First up let me explain myself, I do not condone the industry at all!

It has occurred to me recently that the industry to watch, for the latest trends and developments of e-commerce and technology is the porn industry. The industry itself was the first to really set up paywalls, with online subscriptions, the first to make video available online to a large audience, and the first industry to make video blogs.

I know that no one wants to be seen watching porn but as an industry it is ahead of the game. The porn industry has had to get over so many legal hurdles, find solution to make vast sums of cash online and has really been led the way.

If you have any interest in e-commerce then I suggest that you watch this industry very closely, just not the content!

Challenge for the Wine Industry.

There will be a huge online battle within 2 years within the wine industry. This battle will be fought over sales and the two sides will be traditional retail stores and wineries. 

The landscape has changed and both sides will have to reach a happy medium but it will not be without casualties. Currently wineries offer cellar door sales but increasingly they are offering online sales directly competing with their traditional retail outlets. The reasons are obvious for wineries but they must maneuver carefully.

Through social media channels it is very clear and transparent what is happening. No one resents anyone in the industry making money providing no one gets hurt. The big worry for retail in this depressed climate is that if sales are going directly from the winery through social media channels what is the point of the retail establishment stocking their wine.

Fortunately wine retail is healthy right now and customers enjoy the fact that they can order a mixed case. Should this climate change where retail were more hit by the recession it would get very messy and I am not sure of the cost of such a battle.

Both sides need to think strategically about their positioning and market place. I don't know the answer nor claim to be able to see the future but this is on the horizon as more business is carried out online.

Air New Zealand Wine Awards!

I am not sure whether this happens or not but if not then it should.

Air New Zealand are the major sponsor for the biggest wine show, here, in New Zealand. I would like them to get some benefit from the show by NZ wines taking the top wines from the show, under the Air NZ banner alongside NZ wine, and showing them off publicly around our major markets and some developing markets.

Not only would Air NZ benefit but also NZ wine and the country would look cohesive in its direction of wine tourism and production. Air New Zealand are excellent sponsors and deserve value and to be valued.