Is there evidence consumers are seeking more information from wine critics? Are wine critics adding more reviews to their publications?

Sending samples is really outsourcing your storytelling or dialogue to someone else.

Here is wonderful example of what can happen when you outsource your story to others.

http://www.mondaymorningmemo.com/?ShowMe=ThisMemo&MemoID=1641

I’ve been championing this very same thing for months. This is a great discussion and there are some very good points made.

To my mind, speaking as a PR professional, it comes down to execution as much as creativity. If you have a great idea and/or creative way of differentiating your wine brand from others, you’ve made the first step. Putting together a PR plan is often the next. But, executing on that plan and COMMUNICATING those ideas is where wineries often fall down.

To achieve the greatest success in your PR endeavors, you must do your research regarding your target audience, whether wine writer, blogger, trade, consumer, etc. Find out as much info as you can and when possible, establish a connection or relationship. This is where wine PR often gets lazy–when people don’t do their homework and craft one-size-fits-all messaging and marketing. Make it mean something to your contact.

Yes, it takes time and exceptional organizational ability. If someone can’t handle that, maybe they need to look for something else that they would be better suited to.

Another great blog! The points you’ve highlighted from Ms. Carter’s article are words to live by in times like these. If you hunker down and just ‘try to survive’ rather than ‘go on the attack’, you’re setting your company up for a rough road ahead.

Downturns in the economy, or in your business segment, truly do provide opportunities to improve what you do and how you do it. It is at times such as these that companies of all shapes and sizes should do ‘internal audits’ (yep, gotta throw around the accounting terms every now and then!) and determine what is essential for your business in the here and now . . . and what you can and should do differently.

I am proud to work for a winery – Fess Parker Winery and Epiphany Cellars – that think along these lines. Instead of decreasing our sales and marketing efforts in these tough times, we are increasing them . . . and actually gaining market share in certain categories!

And for my own label, tercero, I am truly trying to ‘think outside the box’ to come up with creative ways to increase awareness for my brand . . . whether it be in pouring at more events, taking part in ‘non-traditional’ events that may not usually feature wine, or attacking the viral marketing arena . . .

Keep up the great blogs!

Cheers!

Does the consumer feel any reaction when they look at the wines they see? Do they think, “Ah, that brand is good with food.”, “That one is good for relaxing with friends.”, “That brand is good to bring as a gift.”, “That brand means big, thick, alcoholic wines”, “That brand means light, subtle wines”, “That brand is what Cab is all about”. I believe few do.

I think this is a core reason why the “general” consumer picks wine by…
A) I’ve had this before and I like it. I buy it by the case. I don’t try anything else – I might not like it.
B) The label is really cool.
C) It has a 90+ point rating from somebody on the shelf talker.

As a winery, if you can break into (A), great – but if you don’t have the firepower to put a pallet on the endcap of large retailers, it’s a hard battle to untrench the incumbent. Having (B) doesn’t stop every other winery from having it also. And (C) is hit and miss – vintage to vintage.

Ultimately, to build long term brand stability – keeping the (A)s, impervious to the allure of other winery’s (B)s, and resistant to this month’s (C)s that your winery didn’t get, the entire winery and wine line needs to stand for something unique in the mind of consumers. And the winery needs to communicate that something unique in all aspects of its marketing.

At 5000+ licensed wineries in the US, being a “premium wine vinted by fourth generation winemakers from old vine vineyards” is non-distinct and unsustainable.