If you are having trouble viewing this email, please click here

Newsletter May 2010

INNOVATIVE MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR THE AUSTRALIAN WINE INDUSTRY

The Importance of the Cellar Door Visitor

With the increasing competitiveness of the wine industry, it is becoming imperative that winemakers leverage their cellar door visitation in order to convert consumers for life. A customer that buys a bottle at the cellar door and continues to purchase the brand for the next 10 years is more valuable than the customer that walks out with a case, never to buy the brand again.

Follow are some tips for making your cellar door work harder for you.

Train your staff:    Staff that understand hospitality, the art of selling, the brand and show empathy to the customer will be far more successful in converting the customer for life.

Develop objectives:   Given the higher margins of direct sales, your staff should have a measurable objective of signing up customers to the mailing list and the wine club.  Depending upon the number of visitors, you may look at converting 2 customers a week to the wine club. That will potentially be another 100 cases sold per year at full margin.

Offer authenticity:   Visitors react well to authentic cellar doors, so ensure that your staff know the history and the stories of the winery and the brand. Don't disregard barrel tastings or blending trials as mundane jobs in the winery. These are activities that customers would love to experience and ones that will remain in their mind long after the visit.

Interpretation versus education:   Hall and Mitchell 2008, in "Wine Marketing" describe this well, "interpretation is an educative process that allows for much more of a dialogue between host and guest that is much more of a process of discovery...". For instance, explaining the real life stories of the brand's winemaking offers a richer experience than just explaining winemaking procedures.

Communicate the brands proposition:   The Cellar Door is the only place that you have full control of what the customer experiences when they taste your wine. Use this to give the brand a sense of place.

Be active in regional marketing:   By being involved in the regional groups, there's more chance that any wine media or trade who have been invited to the region will come to your cellar door. These are powerful public relations opportunities.

Your cellar door is your best asset when it comes to building your brand's proposition, sense of place, making sales and building your public relations.

Cheers, David & the Define Wine team.

Packaging - the silent salesman

I recently spoke to Rowena Curlewis at The Collective (one of Australia's most dynamic design companies) about packaging in the wine industry. Rowena, who has great experience with wine packaging, offered me the following quick insights.

What are the current trends in wine packaging?
1. Arctic blue glass for white wines (still!)
2. More adventurous and confident names and designs
3. More emphasis on real brands and real regions rather than made up brands

What are the three most important elements of good design?
1. Memorability
2. Clear connection between brand name and packaging design
3. Singular, bold and uncluttered graphics

What are the three most common mistakes that you see in wine packaging?
1. Over-emphasis on the varietal, often over the brand
2. Limited information for the consumer on packaging
3. Taking up precious space on the back label with food matching recommendations

Has the increase in relationship and conversational marketing changed the way wine packaging needs to be addressed.
We haven’t really seen any changes in client’s briefs to address this, however we always try to create singular and memorable designs that have impact wherever they may sit be it on screen or in store.

Thanks Rowena. Further information on The Collective can be found on their website - www.thecollective.com.au