Archive for Wine Industry Suppliers
Advisor: Why Using a Recruiter Makes Sense
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Why Using a Recruiter Makes Sense
Your top financial officer just quit and left you with a gaping hole in the management team. Your winemaker just told you she’s moving to New Zealand at the end of the month. You had to let your sales manager go because he can’t get along with the rest of the staff.
What do you do now?
In the past, many winery owners just sat down, wrote up a want ad and put it in the newspaper or on Craig’s List hoping the right person would see it and respond. This typically resulted in dozens of phone calls getting in the way of normal business, and dozens of resumes flooding the fax machine. Somebody then had to stop whatever it is they normally do in order to sort through all the applicants and try to choose which ones to call back for an interview. Then somebody had to schedule and conduct the interviews, a process that could take weeks.
In the meantime, all the work that would normally be getting done is piling up because of the distractions of the hiring process, including the work of the unfilled position.
Today, instead of do-it-yourself hiring, many savvy winery owners are utilizing the expertise of Read More→
People: Steve Burns – Helping Guide the Wine Industry into a Future of Opportunities
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There are people in the Wine Industry that don’t own vineyards or make wine, yet their impact on our business is indisputable. They are the people behind our winery associations, our media and our trade and they’re making a difference. “People” was created to acknowledge their role and celebrate their successes.
Writer: Jim Brumm
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Steve Burns is a man who loves what he does for a living. What he does is promote wine and wine regions, perhaps better than anyone. As co-owner of O’Donnell Lane, LLC, in Sonoma, California, Burns has his hands just where he wants them—on the leading edge of the wine industry.
Steve Burns
Burns was born in Germany, the son of an army colonel, and lived all over the world as he grew up. Though his father had hopes of him following in his footsteps, Burns hoped to become a veterinarian. He joined 4-H as a boy and studied animal science at Cal Poly in San Louis Obispo. In college he “realized I wanted to get out and do more.” He switched his major and graduated with a BA in business management.
Laughing, he told me, “My first job was selling bull semen for the Angus Association!” Traveling around the Pacific Northwest, this was the genesis of a long career working with trade associations.
“I learned a lot of lessons doing that job,” he said, “both in working for myself and understanding membership-driven trade associations and how they work.” The Angus Association sent him to Sacramento, California, where through a friend’s contacts he was offered a job on the staff of California’s then governor George Deukmejian.
“I didn’t agree with him on many things, but I liked him,” said Burns. In his work with the governor he learned the ins and outs of politics, a subject he loves. He learned how to organize and how to present issues to people. He learned about bringing large groups of people to consensus, a skill that would serve him well in the future.
After working in politics, Burns was offered two jobs: one with the Prune Board, and one with the Wine Institute of California. He joked as he spoke of this crossroad in his career. “Hmm… I could go with the prunes, or I could go with wine… let me see…”
He took the job with the Wine Institute and never looked back. For eight years he served as their international marketing manager, learning the fine details of doing business overseas, and dealing with cross-cultural sales and marketing. His experience in working with associations helped greatly with his success there.
Later the Washington State Wine Commission recruited Burns to help them build Read More→
To Buy or Not to Buy: Factors Impacting Winery Supplier Choice
Posted by: | CommentsWriters: Dr. Janeen Olsen and Dr. Liz Thach, MW, SSU Wine Business Institute
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Is a new press, a wine label design change, or a purchase of fifty new French barrels in your future? If so, how do you and other winery executives determine which supplier to use in order to achieve the highest quality product or service at a cost-effective price?
Positive supplier relationships have always been important in the wine industry, but even more so during tough economic times. With increased global competition and pressure to reduce costs, wineries often scrutinize suppliers more closely to obtain better pricing. At the same time, long-standing relationships are also a primary consideration. So what factors really drive a winery’s decision in supplier selection?
Some of the answers can be found in the results of a new study completed by the Wine Business Institute at Sonoma State University. An online survey was sent to wineries across the US, and the 117 respondents shed some light on factors impacting winery supplier choice.
About the Responding Wineries
Respondents to the survey were primarily winery owners, winemakers, and purchasing managers. The average number of years in business for all wineries was around 15, with a larger percentage (60%) of wineries located in California. Size of winery based on case production included 74% at less than 10,000 cases, 15% between 10,000 and 50,000 cases and 11% producing more than 50,000 cases.
Methods Wineries Use to Find A Good Supplier?
Survey results show that wineries use a variety of methods to identify and research potential suppliers. Figure 1 illustrates that word of mouth is seen as very important or extremely important by (67%), followed by the Internet (44%), trade shows (26%), industry organizations (15%), print publications (9%), and finally social media (5%). The greatest change over previous years appear to be a greater emphasis on the Internet and soc ial media as research tools, and slightly less emphasis on print media and trade shows.
Figure 1: How Wineries Identify Suppliers
What Are the Most Important Factors in Selecting a Supplier?
While pricing is a driver for evaluating new suppliers, it isn’t seen as the only critical factor in the purchase decision. Indeed, as illustrated in Figure 2, high quality Read More→
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→
5 Things Every Video Marketer Should Know…Before Production Begins!
Posted by: | CommentsWe recently celebrated the completion of our 175th wine industry related promotional video and had several people ask 
us what the “secret” is to creating something that’s actually effective versus “just another marketing spend”.
Well, the secret is… 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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It’s Almost Trade Show Season
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Elizabeth 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!
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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Get Your Creativity Flowing!
Posted by: | Comments“Dont think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity…”- Ray Bradbury
Being creative in your business and differentiating your winery, vineyard, product or service from others, is not only important these days it’s vital.
Fortunately, the wine industry is full of creative people and YOU are one of them. The problem is finding the time to be creative, to see things slightly differently, to give ourselves time to dream. If, as Ray Bradbury said, “…Thinking is the enemy of creativity,” then in my opinion, dreaming is creativity’s best friend.
If we allow ourselves a little time to dream, time for concepts to wander around in our heads without confinement or restrictions, we can become more creative. And it’s not only about new ideas, sometimes slightly tweaking an existing product or concept creates a product, program or event that is uniquely different.
So with a tip of the glass from me to you, lets get creative! Here are a couple of ideas to get those creative juices flowing:
- Take 15 minutes of undisturbed time (sit it your car if you have to) to allow your mind to wander.
- Soar up to the 10,000 foot level and see the big picture. What is it that you might have missed because you are too close?
- Don’t stop at the first idea, keep going until you have three or four.
Elizabeth Slater- Founder & Vice President of WIN
You can find more information on getting your creativity flowing in the Wine Industry Network’s Resource Center.
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Online Network Unites Wine Industry Suppliers
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Thick, heavy directories were once a mainstay for B-to-B marketers trying to reach peers and prospects within their sector. They all had at least one such well-worn book on their desks.
The winery and vineyard business in the United States—going back well more than 100 years in many regions—is no exception. It’s a business organized around small, geographic pockets, which puts a heavy marketing burden on the suppliers who are trying to sell equipment and professional services to those firms.
The best way to reach such a diverse audience today, of course, isn’t with a tome that becomes outdated even before the ink dries but rather online.
The Wine Industry Network (WIN) is an online marketplace that launched last October to help foster a sense of community in the industry. “In the old print directories, there just wasn’t enough information to make an informed buying decision,” says George Christie, a long-time wine industry marketer who founded the site. “Now, they can have the whole market in front of them in one place.” … To read the entire article click here
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