Hello Again

{ May 19, 2009 @ 6:19 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Hello wine lovers of the world. I have been gone from my blog for some time now. I have been busy with school and attempting to start my own company. I am going to be working on the site soon. The site is going to be for those people that want to save money either for tasting or buying wine. I wanted to get some ideas of what you the people want to see. I am only 23 years old and a college student. My income is not that much and always am looking for new ways to have fun in the wine industry. Gary Vaynerchuk preaches that by trying a new wine a day you will enhance your tasting palette. No doubt that what he says is true to some extent, but how can we taste a new wine every day. 

Forgive me if I am sarcastic in any moment of the blog, but wine is not cheap. I want to make the website easy to use accessible for people that don’t have the internet per se and want to have fun. The idea is to save on that drastic tasting room charge. I don’t know about you, but paying $15.00 or %10.00 and barely getting anything is not fun, nor will it entice people to go taste. I want to save you money, so that instead of a large tasting fee, you can buy that wine that you like. It should be a bottle of wine that you remember the winery, not a tasting. 

As I create the site I want some feedback from wine consumers such as yourself to leave. There has be some things out there that you can’t stand and must want. I would love to hear back from you because this site is for you, the consumer, the wine lover.

Tasting Room Tactics

{ April 23, 2009 @ 6:32 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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In a time of financial trouble is there a certain way to get consumer’s in to tasting rooms? As wineries discover more and more social media sites like facebook and twitter the competition among wineries grow. So what tasting room should I go to? Is it the one that has the most friends on twitter or the better facebook? As I write the answers to these questions keep in mind that this is just my opinion and may not actually be true.

The first step in getting people to your tasting room is what you offer, either by great wines or maybe a cheap tasting fee. I recently went wine tasting on saturday and was turned off by a very steep tasting room fee, not to mention the terrible service. I still however may go back because the grounds were unbelievable. To continue with the topic, if the winery does not offer the consumer anything why would I go there. I probably wouldn’t.

As wineries dive head first into the 21 first century and use the social medias as mentioned earlier what are they doing that makes them unique. One of the things that I noticed is that wineries and retailers are not taking advantage of the traffic that is being sent to their page. Radio stations on the other hand are utilizing the medium. What radio stations offer is periodic gifts or awards to a certain consumer if they go there at this time and are the X number there. Wineries are getting lost in the savage media world by expressing opportunities for the consumer. So is the idea of twitter and facebook a good idea for the wineries? It is only if they are used in the correct manner. 

As of right now the United Stated is in a tough economic time, and as more and more people lose homes, jobs and money in general they will have less money to spend on wine. Wineries need to stray away from that tasting charge because it makes the consumer go a different way. As I said earlier I went wine tasting on saturday. I went to 3 different wineries and had the opportunity of not paying a tasting fee at 2 of them, which lead to me purchasing wine and both wineries. The sad part about this is the main goal’s of wineries, and that goal is to move, sell wine. The main point is that in a time of financial crisis, tasting room fees are getting in the way of the ultimate goals for wineries. And by maximizing efforts through social media, wineries have the opportunity to enhance those goals.

Personal Branding Part II

{ April 1, 2009 @ 4:52 am } · { Uncategorized }
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As mentioned earlier I was going to talk about personal branding. What is personal branding? Personal Branding is the way you market yourself to the rest of the world. For instance, I like baseball and I like to wear New Balance. What does that make me? It makes me what ever you think it makes me. 

In an article I recently read, “Personal Branding”  there are three parts to personal branding, the first is your “External Brand”. External branding is determined by what you where,eat,buy and what what others think of you. Like I said earlier I wear New Balance shoes. I think that makes me cool. The second part is your “Internal brand”, what you think of yourself. Some people try very hard to sell themselves yet don’t believe in that same product at a personal level. The third part of personal branding is “Brand Interaction”. How does your internal and external brand fit with each other. The relationship of external and internal branding is very important, but the correlation between the two doesn’t have to match. 

As I write this blog I am personal branding myself. I can’t tell if I am doing a great job or if I am breaking through to those who may read this at the same time, but everything we do is our brand. So before you go to the grocery store remember that what you buy is what everyone else thinks is you. 

Ina another article I recently read the idea was formed around, “Me Inc”. I love that saying, Me Inc. Anyway this is how business is being done. The article that I read was called, “The Brand Called You“. 

The main idea is how can we manage our own brand. If we want people to think of us in a certain way, do we only buy certain thing? What if we buy certain things when we are young and gradually change over time. Can we change our brand?

I don’t know the answer to that, but since I was young I had expectations for my self, “my brand”. I knew if anyone was going to want to buy “my brand” I had to make it look good. I don’t drink(only wine), I rarely party and by that, I watch people throw their brands away by getting trashed. I can tell you that since I have started this blog I have changed a minor bit, but is a minor percentage a spit in the wind. Will changing your brand make your brand better? Well as I grow and better understand the world of marketing and business my brand grows a little everyday. I guess the question to ask yourself after reading this is, what can I do to make “my brand” better? Because the people you surround yourself with everyday are a brand and that brand reflects on you, what type of people are good to be around? Those types of people who promote themselves or people who don’t care about brands. There are plenty of people who ignore their “External Brand” but focus all their energy on their, “Internal Brand”. So which one are you?

The take away for this post was to get a better understanding of what personal branding is and what it ultimately leads to. I would have to say watch wine internet fun #5 and see what kinds of brands the 2 contestants were selling? What were they like, did they undersell or oversell who they really are. It is very interesting and hope to see comments this time, thank you Dmhoro and Pinotblogger for the comments. This time I did make links.

Is Social Networking the future for wineries?

{ March 29, 2009 @ 5:24 am } · { Uncategorized }
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In a recent article in the North Bay Business Journal, “Wineries plug into internet social networking” describes the urgency that is felt by wineries to use the internet. Is social the networking the future for wineries? The answer to that question can be interpreted by the North Bay Business Journal in one way, “yes”. But is that really the answer wine marketers are looking for? In this article I will discuss what social networking means to the wine business and why it should be taken more seriously. I will also discuss why social networking is not the only thing wineries should be implementing. And the last part I am going to talk is going to be in part 2 of this blog and it will contain ideas of branding and personal branding.

As consumer’s become more technologically advanced so do to the wineries and the companies that cater to these consumers. In a market which now sees 46% of new growth coming from millennial consumers aged 21-35 this is the time to embrace social media and social networks. Why do I say social media and social networks? The reason that social networking and media are so important is mainly comprised of how many young people participate in them. If you went to a junior college or even a state university, how many people would participate in social networking? The number is mind boggling, nearly 70% of millennial consumers participate in some form of social networking. So if millennial consumers are always online how can we target them?

To answer the first question, social networking is the future for marketing at the winery level. Wineries have to embrace this growth in younger consumers and in order to do that, wineries must be on the consumers level. And to be on the millennial level that means being on networks such as facebook and twitter. Here is a quote from the North Bay Business Journal, “Bill Tancer, general manager of the global research group at Hitwise, told about 350 wine industry professionals that they should take notice of social-networking sites”. This excerpt adds to the notion of understanding the customer and finding a way to target them in a way that gets their attention.

Continuing the answer, this is not all wineries should try to do. It is obvious that the “millennial” market segment is growing, but there are several more segments of customers to remember. As wineries go after and make attempts at grabbing the younger market they cannot forget about the older segments either. Wineries are confronted with many difficult tasks and this is one of them. So my advice to wineries are keep doing what you are doing but embracing the internet at the same time.

Some wineries do not feel that social networking is important, but it is the very heart that drives young consumers. Wineries must realize that if social networking is not important, neither is the giant market that associated with it. Social networking is a click away and so is letting all your few hundred friends know where the best wine is. That is the magic of social networking, only a click away.

As stated above, social networking is not the only practice wineries should be looking into. Wineries need to tap into this segment of the market, but maintain the current market segment that they already market to. I always give the example of Gary Vaynerchuk. He is the host of wine library t.v. and appeals to many segments capitalizing on old and young generations. It is not only that which makes him great, it is his sophistication and the way he brands himself. He markets to one segment, the internet segment of wine consumption that includes old and young. But the way he brands himself and wine library is the secret to the social networking conundrum. If you are a winery, you cannot simply go on facebook, or twitter and watch yourself emerge into a top player. The entire structure of social networking lies on your brand. In the case of Gary Vaynerchuk he is his own brand, and wineries are their own brand. So who ever has brand loyalty will have a much easier time pulling in the millennial consumer. 

The Secret to Barrel Tasting

{ March 15, 2009 @ 10:01 pm } · { Uncategorized }
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Unlike your normal cabaret wine tasting, barrel tasting is more intense, from your connoisuers to your garden variety wine drinkers. It is a event that many people partake in. An event that is renown in the wine rich environment of California. So what is the trick to making customers happy and making money. There are several tricks, and today I will share my secrets with you.

The first secret that if very important is who comes to the winery. In every barrel tasting event there are old consumers and young consumers. So who’s more important? The answer to that is both. In a barrel event try to avoid party buses because they are for young wine drinkers, the ones who are so tipsy by the end they don’t know what happened or where they went. Those type of consumers are great for tasting rooms, but not barrel tasting events. Events of social magnitude are to large for the young consumers to focus on buying wine, they focus on everything else. The older consumers are the hidden gem in all of this. By bypassing the party going youngsters you can focus more time and effort of the more serious consumers. So how do you do this? You do this by implementing a strategy of having no limos and no party buses. The reason is that mainly younger consumers use those means of transportation so that more energy can be used for partying and drinking, rather than for thought and purchasing.

So after the first secret there is no young wine consumers in the winery to push and clog up lines that have real consumers waiting in the wings. That is the second secret. By not having those young consumers in the tasting room you will have more time to interact with people who know wine and appreciate wine. This is how a winery can affectively can make money. You may be questioning the long term impact of the young wine consumer and be wondering if they will at all realize that they missed your winery or not. The bottom line at the tail end of this idea is that if the young party going wine drinkers were at all serious, they will be back. All serious wine lovers do take the time to appreciate every winery it just depends on what situation, the barrel situation or a time yet to be determined. Most young wine consumers that do buy wine however do on their own time. They have the time to go buy wine without the pressure of trying to keep up with their friends or any other distraction that might be out there.

The third and final secret is to minimize your serving size. Most wineries attempt to serve to many wine at barrel events, leading to overwhelmed consumers who don’t know what they tried when it comes to purchasing time. I recommend that a winery serve around five wines and keep the others off the list. Some wineries will attempt to serve wine that only can be purchased through their wine club. Why would any winery do that? I just got talking about distractions and everything a customer takes in during the event. Also i have wine reminder, your not the only winery they have been to. So keeping a minimum on the amount of wines is a key idea. That way the consumers knows which one they tried or didn’t. Another reason this is nice is it keeps you from wasting wine, not a fun idea. If you were to open 7 or 8 different wines at several stations than you are wasting several amounts of wine each day. Save the wines, use five and only five if you really want to move your inventory.

In conclusion I hope that in the future theses ideas will help you organize you tasting room in a easy manor and allow you to focus your goals on the consumers that matter most. I would also like to encourage comments, so if you have any for me that would be great. If anyone is interested, i recommend a winery by the name Amista.

Wine Competitions, Friends or Foe?

{ March 10, 2009 @ 5:22 am } · { vineyard management, vineyards, wine, wine business, wine industry, wine tasting }
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  • In this article I will discuss the foundation and benefits of wine competitions and how they can provide your winery with the exposure you may be looking for. I will share examples of many wine competitions, such as the NWWC and many others. Why is this so important for a winery to partake in a wine event? With the current state of the economy does it make more sense for wineries to enter such events.
  • The main reason that wine competitions are so helpful is the exposure that the winery or wineries get. Sometimes a varietal or vintage can get so popular an entire vintage or varietal can sell out. Wow, what an idea. I know if I were a winery I would want to get in on the ground floor. Most wine competitions are fairly inexpensive to enter. And the rewards always out weight the expense. 
  • This brings me to my next idea. If the repercussions can be so beneficial why don’t more wineries do them? Well, the answer is popular wineries have established themselves and don’t need to. On the other hand, small wineries that have just started production and are early in their life may want the attention if they were to win. In some instances it’s not about winning, it’s about who the winery beats in a wine competition. Let’s say I’m a small winery that happened to beat Kendall Jackson. All of a sudden my wine, for a moment, is in high comparison to the greats. So many wineries are worried about marketing their wine properly and getting the word out through their tasting room or viral marketing campaigns. There is no better way to market a wine than a wine competition. 
  • Know lets talk about what competitions are out there. The first one is the National Women’s Wine Competition. The NWWC is a wine competition made for and judged by women. In order to be in the category, the wine has to be made by a women wine maker. This is a great idea and allows for women to get more involved in the industry. There is also an open wine competition were everything goes. This is becoming a very popular and exciting competition. This is an up and coming competition that will be around for many years. I would look into getting into this next year. One reason that this is a great competition is that the competition is a serious one. This is not an excuse for friends to gather and drink different wines, it’s a real competition that is very worth while, just ask me, I worked at it. 
  • Another competition that is put on by the same company that puts on the NWWC is the International Green Wine Competition. This competition is for organic and biodynamic wines. This is a great competition due to where the United States lies with the environment, and who knows, are we to see more green wines in the future? I have a feeling that the wine competition could be the next big step in the wine industry, watch out Gary Vaynerchuk. The International Green Wine Competition takes place later this year, so enter if you meet the qualifications and you will not regret it. Last years turnout was small but looks to grow in 2009. 
  • There is also another competition, the International Amateur Wine Competition. This wine competition is open to all amateur wine makers that are 21 years or older. This is another great wine competition. Wine competitions are in essence the backbone of wine startup. This competition is different than the NWWC in that it allows the winners to receive cash prizes or gift cards. This competition along with many others is the same, you enter the competition and send your wine to them. A interesting feat for any competition. You can find more information about the previous mentioned competitions through the links.
  • So can wine competitions be foes? The answer to this is yes. Wine competitions can and in fact are foes in some instances. To my recollection the competitions listed above are not. One of the reasons that competitions can be foes is that they get turned around from the competition aspect into a social gathering, this loses all focus and point. Wine competitions are beneficial if they are done right, and the two above exemplify that. Another reason competitions can be foes is through structure, structure are the categories the different wines are placed in. This is a very important piece of information. The last and final possible foe that can take place is that the competition is very expensive. Some competitions are relatively fair, but some can be over priced. 
  • If I wanted to join a wine competition, which one should I pick? If I was going to join a wine competition there really isn’t anyone better or worse than the other. If I was looking to enter a competition I would enter many, not just one. By entering more than one, you can offset the failure or potential failure of a biased competition or a competition that had no structure. When I go take a tour in wine tasting rooms or go there just to go, medals always stand out. Wine consumers pay attention to medals or anything that makes a wine or winery stand out. So being in to many will not hurt a winery.
  • Lets turn back the clock for a moment, It was in fact the Paris wine tasting of 1976 that put California wine on the map. As wine business professionals we can’t forget that competitions are part of the reason that wine is where it is, and competitions should not be ignored. Hollywood didn’t forget this and it was evident in their rendition of “Bottle Shock.” A great movie and a movie that all wine lovers should check out.
  • In the end I believe a wine competition is very beneficial and highly recommended. After all, more and more effort put forth by a winery will impress the consumers and future consumers to come. As the majority of wine consumers become younger there will be less brand loyalty and more pickiness among consumers. As I am concerned, wine competitions will be needed to differentiate a wine or winery. Being the only merlot or varietal that has a particular growing style or characteristic will no longer be looked upon as unique. I have a fever and the prescription is more wine competitions.

Corporation VS Family Owned Wineries

{ March 10, 2009 @ 4:45 am } · { vineyard management, vineyards, wine, wine business, wine industry, wine tasting }
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         lately the wine industry has been dominated by corporations, such as Gallo, Kendall Jackson and Constellation. Has the emergence of corporations hurt the wine industry? The answer to that is yes and no. I say yes because consumers are not getting what they should. Corporations often have headquarters located off premise and usually in a different state. In todays wine industry a winery owned by a corporation doesn’t give the consumer the warm feeling he or she gets when entering a winery. Corporations don’t make history, they buy history. Wineries like Foppiano and K Vitners in Washington State have history and tradition. As you can see the modern day corporation buys it’s customers through brands they purchase. Corporations feed on brand loyal consumers by buying those various brands. But what happens to those new customer?                  

Well if you are a new customer entering the wine market you may find corporation owned wineries to be a big turn off. In my experience they don’t offer the same relationship as a small family owned winery. So how can corporations get consumers on their side? One of the things that corporations has to do is to remember those core competencies that it once had as a small family owned winery. Consumers need to feel welcomed and part of something even bigger than them, but not such as a corporation. Ipod owners feel connected to each other, not because of apple, because of a larger social connection.           

  The good things that corporations bring are technology and technological advancements. One of the things that handicaps family owned wineries are the ability to integrate a new technology due to high technological costs. The point that is to be made is that not all aspects are bad. Also corporations are responsible for bringing more consumers to the table.                 
So far I have talked a little about both types of wineries. But who holds the advantage. Corporations are more advanced, have larger case production and sell much more wine. Small wineries are financially strong, due to the fact that they own and paid for the property. Corporations are more or less paying gradually over time because of large expenditures. Small wineries also hold brand loyal consumers because there are very little choices to stray away from a low yielding winery, compared to a high yielding one. 

So the question I have for you is this. What is the better operation, a family owned winery or a corporation and why? And will corporations have a better chance of survival in recessions such as the current one?