The question at hand- who is my research on my the wine industry relevant to? Funnily enough, when speaking to the communications gurus at Fosters, I was asked if I had rocks in my head?! Not the best positive reinforcement. A very large area to tackle I’m told.
The problem is that wine marketing/PR has been pretty straight forward in the past- e.g go wine and dine a reviewer and let the rest take care of itself. However, now that every second wine drinker thinks their opinion and knowledge of the industry is good enough to start reviewing wines, there is a saturation of review pieces. Some are obviously more credible than others, but the movement is creating a challenge to PR practitioners. An area that I’m beginning to find very interesting.
So, perhaps my abstract is being tweaked as I write. I’ll get it right- sooner rather than later one hopes. In investigating this area of wine PR, I’m hoping major distributors such as Fosters would find such information relevant to their operations. It would also assist smaller wineries in identifying better ways in which to utilise public relations to increase awareness of their product, beyond a good review from a no-name reviewer.
hey you whinging about wine…here are my thoughts post our catchup.
yes you do have rocks in your head…although me think those rocks may actually grind something of out that will be very helpful to this rather conservative wine industry.
More than 1400 wineries…upto 5000 different bottles of wine in a large liquor store for someone to pick from. 12-13 what we call “A” grade wine media…what makes them A grade…reputation, longevity, good wine palate, large circulating pubclication…all or some….or none! Then we have hundreds of freelance/semi full time wine writers who demand samples off all the compnaies…they probably just have good dinner parties with all the stock…at least with screw cap now being used we do not have to send them two bottles of each wine.
Yes wine PR still fairly simple…get the wine to them [either send it to them or get them to an event where hopefully the romance and passion of the winemkaer will get them across the line to write somehting about it] and then hope for the best. But who reads them and do these reviews influence what the AVERAGE wine buyer actually buys…
More so…who is talking to the youth…these lovely young [cashed up with no thoughts of interest rare hikes, kids or SAVING] or are out and about and generally drinking anything but wine. All wine companies want to get younger people into wine earlier…20 – 25 year olds the real key…but our PR methods are one dimedisonal and we doubt talking to these people.
so the challenge…
get a brief understanding on why young people do not drink as much wine per head as older…price..image…taste…convenience..fear…???
look at the way the wine indsutry attempts to get their product out there…product placement…consumer shows…cellar door events…and of course wine/general media reviews.
Do the above resonate with the younger drinker?
What/who is influencing the young about what they shoud say/do/wear/eat/drink/vote/…and what role do these mediums play in the education/promotion of wine???
How do we get these two rather opposite bodies to meet…older male dominated wine industry/ wine media….young unisex, eager to be cool and up with the times.
The wine industry needs help with this…help!
enough for now…12.19…time for a glass of something….and please remember…the average person spends about $10 a bottle on wine and is gnerally looking for a safe option…how do we in the wine PR industry get this message to them.
over and out…hope the Easter bunny is good to you.
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Comment by george — March 20, 2008 @ 1:51 am