Archive for Wine Industry Buyers
It’s Trade Show Time… Are You Ready?
Posted by: | CommentsWriter Jim Brumm
Wine Industry Trade Show season is fast approaching. For exhibitors, trade shows are an opportunity to showcase new products, advances and innovations, and to connect with thousands of potential new clients (and reconnect with old ones). For attendees, it’s a chance to learn what’s new and exciting in the industry, attend seminars or workshops to hone your skills or learn new ones, and to rub elbows with others in the industry.
“Technology is really changing the way customers make buying decisions, that’s no secret and no one knows that better than us in this industry”, says George Christie, President of the Wine Industry Network, “but there’s no substitute for what happens when you put a supplier and a buyer in the same room. We attend every show and while they all offer something different, there is one common denominator….they all work like crazy to put prospective buyers in the room.”
For exhibitors and attendees alike, trade shows save Read More→
Wine Industry Network Launches WIN Media
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The Wine Industry Network (WIN), today announced that it would expand their current offering of marketing services to provide complete video marketing and production tailored to meeting the needs of wine industry suppliers, service providers, wineries and winery associations.
Since launching in 2009, WIN has earned a reputation for providing creative new direct marketing services to wine industry suppliers. “Over the past two years we have developed a wide range of marketing services for our members,” said WIN President/Founder George Christie. “Nearly every supplier we work with has expressed a desire for marketing videos to help promote their products. WIN Media is in direct response to these requests,” explained Christie.
The production team that is now WIN Media has produced more than 150 wine industry videos over the past four years and has garnered two prestigious Telly Awards. As video on the internet continues to grow at a tremendous rate, large and small businesses in every area of the wine industry are embracing this medium. It has proven to be one of the most effective ways to communicate a brand message, and more importantly, the personalities behind those brands.
“Providing video marketing & production is the natural evolution for the Wine Industry Network,” said Christie. “We are already in the business of creating first class marketing content for our clients and our video team is committed to producing top quality promotional videos as another way to execute on their strategic marketing goals.”
WIN’s extensive experience within the industry and ability to produce the highest quality videos at an affordable price offer an exceptional opportunity. WIN Media will offer a number of affordable video packages to industry suppliers, service professionals, wineries, industry trade associations, publications and other closely related businesses.
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New Year, New Start…I Assume
Posted by: | CommentsSo how are the new year’s resolutions going? I have already discarded a couple of mine but have high hopes for some of the others. In addition to making (and subsequently breaking) my resolutions for 2011, I have decided that one resolution that I am very much planning on sticking with is one that encourages me to challenge my assumptions.
We assume so much and create so many phantom rules by which we live, that we end up with a brain full of “facts” that actually are dubious opinions with no real evidence that they are indeed… facts. Turning opinions or assumptions into facts can be prevalent when you retail staff makes assumptions as to whether visitors to the tasting room are, or are not, going to purchase wine or join the wine club.
Many times visitors walk into a tasting room and the staff sizes them up, deciding that these particular visitors aren’t going to buy anything. Based on these assumptions they don’t talk to visitors in terms that will trigger a buying response or present them with reasons that will make these visitors want to join the wine club.
Create a different outcome when you’re selling wine or wine club memberships. Do it by simply changing your attitude or assumptions. Instead of assuming that your visitors are not going to join the wine club because they probably already belong to too many clubs already, imagine that the visitors to your tasting room that day are planning to join eight different wine clubs and so far they have only joined two.
Elizabeth Slater- Founder & Vice President of WIN
Our assumptions can just as easily be positive as negative. We really can make it happen. It’s not too late to add one more resolution, especially if you have already broken one, there should be plenty of room.
For a copy of my one-page handout: Challenge Your Assumptions email contact@wineindustrynetwork.com
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It’s Almost Trade Show Season
Posted by: | CommentsElizabeth Slater- Founder & Vice President of WIN
It’s almost trade show season. I say almost because even though it is only November and the first trade show doesn’t happen until January of next year, we all know how time flies… and no time flies faster than between now and the holidays! In addition to the large regional shows: Unified, the Midwest Wine & Grape Conference, and Wineries Unlimited, there are also many conferences happening in individual states.
As Louis Pasteur said, “Chance favors the prepared mind”… clever fellow was Louis. It’s not too early to start preparing for the upcoming conference/trade shows. Trust me, there is plenty of prep work to do no matter which side of the booth you’re on.
For wineries, take a look at the conference schedule and pick out the sessions that will give you the information you need the most. After you have honed in on the sessions, take a look at the exhibitor list and prioritize the “have to visit” booths and the “want to visit” booths. Plan enough time to walk the whole show. You never know what’s out there that will make your job easier or your business more successful. And of course, be sure and stop by the WIN booth to visit our team, we will be at all three shows.
If you’re going to be at the Midwest Conference or Wineries Unlimited, definitely don’t miss the full day Tasting Room Profitability/Wine Club Summit and kick your direct-to-consumer sales and service into high gear. Admittedly I am biased about these sessions as I am going to be participating, but I am confident that they are going to be great!
Finally, don’t forget to save some time for networking. Not only is it beneficial, it’s lots of fun too! Talk to people from different countries and from different parts of the county. A new perspective might trigger a new idea for your business.
The best thing about the conferences and trade shows…there is always something to learn and sometimes it’s in the place you least expect it. See you there!
Tell Me A Story…
Posted by: | CommentsElizabeth Slater- Founder & Vice President of WIN
My friend John says often, “We are known to the world by the stories that we tell… I love telling stories and I love hearing stories. In my work I talk to lots of winery folks and hear lots of winery stories. Here is one of my favorites:
“We are a family owned winery, only using the finest grapes to make handcrafted, award winning wines.”
The reason I love this story so much; because it’s used by most of the wineries in North America to describe their winery. Many times the word small is inserted as the fourth word in the sentence. Do I think it’s a story that will differentiate a winery from most other wineries in North America? Not for a second!
While these are good things to tell visitors, customers, the press, distributors, wine shops, your dentist and the lady at the dry cleaners, it is not a sentence that will make you stand out from the crowd and bring people rushing to your door.
Is your story about terroir, quality, soil, micro-climate, grape clones or French oak? All good things, but will these things differentiate you from hundreds or thousands of other wineries? Once again, a resounding NO!
Keep this information as part of your story, the part you tell after you tell your real story, which could just as well be about the history of the land – A meteorite fell just two yards from your winery in 6000BCE (or BC) and is still stuck in the ground – or the fact that your dog can howl the tune to Red Red Wine by Neil Diamond (if the dog thing is true, make sure your post a video of the dog doing that on your website).
Okay, so one of those two is a little silly (you decide which one). My point is that your story can be about anything that will interest people and keep them delving further into your website and subsequently visiting your winery.
What is your story? Tell me your story through this blog or through WIN’s Facebook page and I will, in a future blog, post my favorites from the ones we receive, point out why these are good stories and how you can structure your stories to help promote your winery and wines to potential customers.
Can’t wait to curl up with a glass of wine and start reading!
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Great Wines From Coast to Coast
Posted by: | CommentsOver the past four months I have had the opportunity to see the wine industry from one side of the country to the other. I have traveled from North Carolina and the Finger Lakes of New York, to Illinois and the wineries of Nebraska and British Columbia, Canada. Everywhere I have been I have tasted excellent wines, have met wonderful people, made new friends and have had a chance to renew ties with old friends. Even the airline travel (bouncing into Denver) and the 95º with 89% humidity weather in the Finger Lakes did not dampen my enthusiasm for the areas and their wines.
I am most happy to report that everywhere I have recently visited consumers were out wine tasting and buying wine. Winery open houses and special events attracted larger numbers of people than expected – Mac’s Creek Winery in Nebraska expected about 250 people for a release party and 750 people showed up! At Heron Hill Winery in the Finger Lakes, a young woman from California was buying wine to be shipped back home. I stopped at Tinhorn Creek in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and tasted a delicious Cabernet Franc. I also dropped in to a couple of BC VQA stores and was impressed by the selection of wines and expertise of the staff. In the Yadkin Valley of North Carolina I had a red blend from Hanover Park that was yummy. In Illinois I enjoyed the consistently delicious wines of Lynfred Winery and thanks to General Manager/Winemaker Andrés Basso discovered my affinity for Brazilian style steakhouses.
In between the wine tasting I did manage to get some work done, promoting the Wine Industry Network and speaking at wineries and conferences about marketing, sales and increasing wine club sign-ups. All in all this spring and summer have been ones to remember.
It has definitely been heartening to go into wineries all over the country and see people in the tasting rooms (or wine shops as they are known in BC), tasting wine, buying wine, picking up their wine club shipments and more importantly enjoying themselves!
Elizabeth Slater- Founder & Vice President of WIN
Keep up the good work!
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Social Media and Wine…Do They Blend?
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Do you need to get your winery, brand, or business involved in Social Media just because everyone else is?
The better questions to ask are: How do I find out what is being said about us online and how can we use this new channel to build relationships that are going to strengthen our brand?
People are using the internet (and social media) in a very different way than they were even a few years ago. We still research and review online like we did when the internet was new– but now we have large niche networks and communities that provide platforms for discussions about our likes and dislikes, interests, ideas, reviews, and everything in between. These large segregated groups allow us to have “real time” interactions with hundreds (if not thousands) of our “friends and followers” and the outcome from these perceived “word of mouth” conversations can have positive or negative effects on your brand.
If you are not at least following your brand online via tools such as google alerts, social mention or blog pulse you may not be aware that people are already talking about you on a regular basis. The conversations that they’re having about your brand may be good or bad – but not knowing is NOT smart!
You may already have a large thriving online community of interested drinkers, aficionados and influencers who love (or hate) your brand. For those that love it – give them more to love! Engage with them, share your story, and continue to build those relationships. For those that hate it – find out why (even without talking to them or engaging with them by using the tools mentioned above) and then use that knowledge to make the necessary improvements.
But just be sure you are aware of what is being said about you even if you are not actively engaging.
A great passage that confirms this is from the post titled: Old World Winemakers Shun Social Media Grapevine
“Wine is a social beverage and with the social media, I want to be part of the conversation rather than being talked about,” said Cloudy Bay’s Ian Morden, a 41 year old winemaker who has worked in Australia and New Zealand who read bloggers.
His colleague, Nicolas Audebert, 34, a winemaker for Cheval des Andes, is amazed by how extensive social media is and appalled by how intrusive it can be. “My whole life is online, even before I was online,” Audebert said.
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Tradition, please meet Technology…I think you’re going to get along famously!
Posted by: | CommentsI was sitting on a plane recently surrounded by people either banging away on their laptop or “thumbing” through their phone and it got me thinking about the wine industry’s relationship with technology. People have suggested that the wine industry is so steeped in tradition and so far behind “technological times”, that online marketing for suppliers will never work. They suggest that the industry is too “word of mouth” dependent, and that winemakers really do drive around with an 800 page dog-eared print directory in their pickup rather than research what they need online.
Is that really possible…would we chose to make life harder in the name of tradition?
I started to think about this and it occurred to me that the wine industry is all about making things easier…with two caveats. First, it leads to better quality wine and second, it helps sell the wine we produce.
Just a few examples to hammer home my point:
In the vineyard we’ve designed gentler mechanical harvesters. On the crush pad, pneumatic basket presses are better than the originals, and in the cellar, double sorting machines provide even cleaner grapes. We have products like Acrolon’s TankNet that allow you to monitor and manage tank temperatures from anywhere in the world and management systems, like WMS, that allow access to production activities anywhere you can get on the internet. Our tasting rooms have POS systems, like VinNOW, that can track customer behavior and buying habits at a level inconceivable 10 years ago. In the marketplace, we can monitor activities at the account level to see where our competitors wines are being sold and where our wines need to be. Online marketing providers, like the Wine Industry Network, is now connecting buyers and suppliers in a virtual marketplace never before seen, and are growing at a rate that exceed even the most optimistic projections!
With all that said….I hope we never lose the traditions that make the wine industry so special. Who doesn’t love walking the vineyards and seeing them change from one season to the next, the smell of fermenting grapes during harvest, experimenting with different blends in the lab and the excitement surrounding a new release. Best of all….celebrating the fruits of our labor in a way that other, more “technologically advanced” industries only dream about!
George Christie - Founder & President of WIN
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