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Newsletter January 2010

INNOVATIVE MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN WINE INDUSTRY

Looking to the future

Welcome to 2010. Another year and another looming vintage. With the wine industry (or should I say Wine Community) still suffering from a grand oversupply, it doesn't look like things will improve in the near future. 

I believe that it will be another ten years before supply and demand are anywhere near equal.  Subsequently, winemakers will need to be smarter about the wines they make and how they market them.

What else will the next decade bring...

An increase in innovation.

An article in December 2009 Australian Wine Business by Larry Lockshin, research in the US has shown that an article about Australia being 'an innovative wine producing country' helped sell more wine than an article based around 'Australian wine regions.'  Whilst regionality is important, innovation is also an area that needs to be addressed.

An increase in wine blogging. 

If Gary Vaynerchuk is any guide, we should all be out blogging and networking about our passions.  With wine writers losing column space, there will be an increase in blogging. Some will make money from it, while others will just want to share their passion.  Experts will still be respected and called for, however wine PR will be more and more judged by the length of the thread that is generated.

New social media networks will evolve. 

If Twitter and Facebook are any indication, smart marketers will be all over any new social media networking in order to build their brand awareness and generate sales.  We already have a range of platforms from which to launch a brand, but as they say, "if you can imagine the future, you're not thinking far enough ahead."  Traditional marketing that shouts out at consumers will decline and interaction will become the norm.  How is your IT positioned to make the most of this?

Further fragmentation of the Industry. 

History will repeat itself and the larger companies will continue to break up. Medium sized players will purchase brands and ressurect them (think of Xanadu) without the debt that brought them down in the first place. Smaller players will grow (many will got broke), upcoming regions will gain popularity and new regions will emerge (making it all the more confusing for our international markets).

Evolution of Website and the way we use information

Websites will become more than a shop or a brochure. Winemakers will need a couple of differently formatted sites so that customers can access them through different modes - from their iphone, TV or even through instore point of sale material - think of a 'talking' shelf talker or header card, or i-labels!

One thing that is for certain is that the world is getting smaller and life moves faster.  Get involved with your marketing.  Sure you'll make mistakes, but you'll learn a lot, and have some wins along the way.

Marketing

How many winemakers subscribe to a range of wine and viniculture magazines and publications? One, two, maybe three? More?

How many marketing magazines do you subscribe to?

Are you marketing driven or production drive?

Email success

A recent article in Marketing magazine (click here for full article) detailed that unique open rates of email campaigns has dropped from 21% in 2006 to 15% by the end of 2008.

I'm not sure of the result within the Australian wine industry, however my clients still gain 40% to 50% unique open rates for their email marketing campaigns. There are a number of things that drive this, including:

Having a qualified database - It's no use getting names on your database from tastings if the customer is not keen.  Make sure you build your database, but do it carefully. Don't add names for the sake of building numbers.

Have interesting content - Obvious really.

Be regular, without sending too many - Every couple of months works well in keeping your customers up to date, without bombarding them. Send extra emails for Christmas, or if you have something special to say, like you've won the 'Jimmy Watson'.

Offer interesting wines and value deals - Remember you are competing in a market characterised by the over supply. Offer value, without too deep a discount and value add where possible.

Contact us on 02 6361 9898 or team@definewine.com.au if you wish to discuss how we can develop an email campaign for your winery.