Wine Related Marketing

The winery industry certainly has it's challenges, especially when the economy is in a recession, as wine is considered one of those non-necessity items that is usually reduced in when a household experiences a tighter budget.  As a result, wineries have to come up with more interesting ideas and be more creative when it comes to getting their message out to their market.  Read on to fet some ideas that wineries can use to market their wines.

Read more in this article titled "Wine Marketing Ideas"

I have a small vineyard called Cooper Mountain Country located in the Cooper Mountains. It is in the Willamette Valley AVA. Our most prized asset is my wonderful pinot noir variety that sells around $30 per bottle retail. Main competition includes wineries and vineyards such as Penner Ash, Ponzi, Panther Creek, and Brick House. Each of these makers also sells their pinot noir for about $30 per bottle retail.

I want to sell market wines to my own peer group but I have to play by some rules do to certain labeling laws in Oregon. The main rule I have to abide by is the naming of the grape variety. The wine has to be at least 95% of that grape in order to call it something such as the famous Oregon pinot noir.

My first strategy is creating a very floral and fruity wine for the female drinkers who won't drink very tannic and bitter wines. A way this may be achieved is to ad unfermented grape juice back into the wine if it is legal. That will soften the wine and create a more sugary, fruity taste. Then I would put the wine in that odd section at grocery stores. The odd section I am referring to is the small Oregon blackberry and raspberry wine section near the Boones. I've seen these bottles before and they are in the shape of a Bordeaux bottle. They look like that they would appeal to the young female clientele similar to malt beverages sold in the beer section. Females attending parties like to sip on these drinks.

The second idea I have is to promote my fine wine in music. About 6 years ago, a band known as Everclear was very popular worldwide. They originated Portland and in some of their songs they mention locations in Portland. An example is in one of their songs they mentioned the Portland West Hills. If I could have them mention my Oregon wine brand, it would become an instant success. My entire peer group who listens to that music would be enticed to buy my wine. I think convincing a band of that magnitude to mention my winery of vineyard in their lyrics would be a challenge.

Another idea I have is to sponsor a professional skateboarder from Portland. All He would have to do is wear apparel with my brand name on it. This is theoretically possible because there are several professional skateboarders from the Portland area. They hang out at the skate park beneath the Burnside Bridge. Once my peer group (mid 20's) sees this and find out it's a good wine they might be tempted to buy the wines. Also if the skateboarder goes to tournaments around the US, that could be beneficial on picking up more peer group customers.

A strategy that would promote my wine to any group above the age of 21 is to have a "Wine Steward's Pick" in retail stores. A way to do this is to meet up with the wine steward when he or she is not working. Then give them several bottles of your wine and try to bribe or convince them to create that "Wine Stewards Pick" label at the store. Nobody is doing anything illegal or against policy on this idea. The phrase "Wine Steward's Pick" is all based on opinion so he would be protected from losing his job. Also you can have him work undercover towards my peer group. Every time he notices a customer in their mid 20's deciding what kind of pinot noir to buy he can direct them to my wine for added sales.

One last strategy to entice my peer group is to hold a party or small concert at the winery or vineyard. There definitely would be security present to deter anyone from getting too intoxicated and destroying equipment or vines. Security would also prevent any underage attendants at these parties. There would be free samples of the wine and there would also be bottles and T-shirts for sale. The peer group (mid 20's) would then spread the information to their friends that they partied at the Cooper Mountain Country. I think that local sales would increase because they became familiar with the wine and the name. At restaurants they might ask the waiter if they serve my specific wine.

These are all my ideas on promoting my fictitious wine and brand name to my own peer group. I think the most successful and practical idea is the party or small concert idea. I wonder if any winery or vineyard has ever attempted this. Ultimately I think that it would be a risky idea if plenty of expensive equipment is lying around. But it would be possible.

Jesus loves the outdoors. You can usually find him getting ready to go swimming or hiking. You can check out his recent web site at http://doublesleepingbagsreview.com where he writes about double sleeping bags.

Here are some blog postings about winery marketing.

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http://agentsofdisruption.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/points-of-focus-for-winery-direct-to-consumer-marketers/

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http://ebizz.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/wine-industry-social-marketing/

Small wineries don't have the resources that large wineries have, so when it comes to getting advice from a wine marketing blog and promoting their wines, they will need to think outside of the box.  In this post, the topic is about how small wineries can best market their wines to the general wine loving public.  In a round abotu way, the best way to get your brand is to sell your wine and let the consumer create your brand.

Here are some videos on wine marketing blogs:

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New concept in wine marketing

This unique concept is simple, but has many features. Put your wine ahead of the competition with this clever idea.

Here is an article titled:  'Branding, Shmanding - Small Wineries, Don't Waste Your Money':

Now, before the brand police start to scream - hear me out and read the entire article.

And...while this article is directed specifically to small wineries and wine makers in the United States, it can apply equally well to any small business on the planet. Really.

So, let me focus the problem for you.

Our economy is in the tank (duh!). People are losing their jobs right and left. Businesses all over the world are feeling the pinch with often a precipitous drop in sales - for many businesses like falling off a cliff.

If you are a small winery and are NOT selling out every vintage today, why the hell would you spend a dime on branding?

Simply put, don't waste your money on branding.

Instead, focus your marketing budget on SELLING wine! Period.

Better yet, focus all of your marketing spend on selling all of your wine direct to consumer.

Let me say that again: If you are a small winery or wine maker, focus all of your marketing money on direct response marketing initiatives (online, direct mail, email, tasting room, tasting events, wine club events, etc.) to sell all of your wine directly to the consumer where legal.

If you are Constellation, or a similarly large company, then you have enough money to fund branding programs and campaigns. Great.

Okay, even if you are medium sized company likely you can afford that.

But if you are a small winery, don't bother with it, certainly not now. Spend your money to sell wine. Your marketing budget is just too precious to spend on image.

For those of you sitting in the back of the class, hands raised, straining to ask THE question - yes, branding is important for small businesses, BUT ONLY as the thoughtful outcome of your other marketing, tasting room, sales and customer service processes you have.

So, what do I mean by branding?

Branding is the impression and feeling of how visitors, customers and vendors view your product and company based on their interactions with you.

Branding promotions I define as marketing efforts to affect that view specifically.

Branding is image advertising. If you have a bad image, branding can help change that - over time.

Bad brand? Fix the problem and the brand takes care of itself.

If you are a small wine business, you are better off fixing the problem that caused the bad image in the first place. Bad wine? Fix the wine. Bad tasting room reviews? Make the changes needed to fix that, change it around, re-decorate, fire and hire. Clunky Website? Make it lightening fast and easy to use. Not making enough sales? Get in front of more potential customers.

Can branding hurt you? You bet. But, spending money on branding promotions to fix your brand is absolute lunacy if you are a small winery. Spend your available marketing money to sell more wine...then when you have sold all of your wine, you can consider a branding initiative. But then you likely won't need to...

Steven Sands -
Wine Marketing Center
If this article was of interest, you can register to receive other articles and information including my free report on the Top 10 Direct To Consumer Wine Sales Tips. . Just visit http://winemarketingcenter.com

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That Facebook is important to our customers seems obvious, just how to use it seems less so. Here's a way you can use to assess wine Facebook pages.

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The famous Wine Marketing Plan…

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Wine Blog » Blog Archive » Ten Wine Marketing Take-Aways From Times²

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Publish Date: 08/25/2010

With sales that are sluggish in a slow economy, things that aren't necessities such as wine tend to be one of the first things that are dropped by consumers.  As a result, wineries all over the country are feeling a slump in sales.  During this time, wineries have been taking a beating in theri sales.  So is there a way to rise above the economy and increase wine sales depite the economic climate?    One leg of this solution is to put more money into the internet.  There are more people online who are searching for wine, so  if your winery isn't there, you could be missing out on alot.  Read on for more!

If you are a small winery, where should you be spending your money?

Spend your marketing and promotion money on the 3 Keys of Direct To Consumer Wine Sales Success.

1. Tasting Room -
2. Website -
3. Tasting Events -

Yes, there are a ton of other elements that are important, but these 3 are key.

Let me describe why.

Wine vintages change from year to year, bottles look the same and even most wine looks the same in the bottle. You can make a case for labels but people have to see them first.

So I think anything that gets you, your message and your wine in front of people is a big deal. 

If you are fortunate to have a tasting room - some wineries don't - this is an incredible opportunity to get your special message across to visitors on why you are different, why your wines are different and what makes you special. Remember, you aren't just selling wine, you are selling sizzle. You are selling the experience and your tasting room has to capture, record and pass that along to your visitors. When they visit your tasting room they need to be welcomed, coddled, made to feel special and involved in participating in the wine country experience (where ever your wine country is). If you do this well, they will leave with wine and tell their friends. If you screw this up or are indifferent, arrogant, snobbish, they won't buy wine and will also tell their friends not to bother going to see you. 

Why do I assign this much importance to your Website? Simple, more and more people search and evaluate products online. From Baby Boomers through Gen Y buyers, you need to offer a smooth Web experience and flawless buying experience. You don't need fancy FLASH pictures, you need solid content that shows your personality and articulates what makes you different than the pack. If someone wants to buy online, it has to be easy and smooth. 

Every month or so, you need to buy a bottle of your own wine online just to see how the process works. Example, I went to a Website to buy a bottle of wine that was suggested to me. I selected the wine (okay), then I went to enter my credit card details and the site wouldn't accept my 2012 card expiration date. It wouldn't go higher than 2010. So, I didn't buy their wine. 

What isn't working on your site?

Tasting events are key to developing new customers, new visitors, getting your brand out and exposing more people to your wine. And it isn't just about pouring wine, remember, you are there with a ton of other wine makers, so what separates you from everyone else? 

This is all about creating an experience that is positive and memorable. Again, it is all about selling the sizzle with style and personality. Beyond the tasting itself, develop ways to capture your visitors contact information. Have a registration book, have a sweepstakes drawing for wine, hand out discount coupons when they register that give a discount if they visit your tasting room. 

Figure out ways for them to taste your wine, make it easy to buy from you and make it positively memorable so they will share with friends. These three keys are so important, that's why I call them the 3 Keys of Direct To Consumer Wine Sales.

Steven Sands -
Wine Marketing Center
If this article was of interest, you can register to receive other articles and information including my free report on the Top 10 Direct To Consumer Wine Sales Tips. . Just visit http://winemarketingcenter.com

Let's face it, when it comes to wine, branding is important, just like clothing, or cars.  Wine is really not a commodity because it is an experience, and that is what you are branding, the experience.  When you are a winery, you need to communicate the experience of your wines to your market.  This article talks about the importance of the brand and how it can be perceived by the consumer.  It's a good start on understanding how branding works in the eys of the consumer and what they will need to do to make a buying decision.

As the wine industry has experienced dramatic growth over just the past 10 years in the number of wine brands available to consumers this in turn has been both a blessing and a curse for wine shoppers. How wonderful it is that they now have an incredibly wide selection of wines to choose from! However how sometimes daunting it is that they now have an incredibly wide selection of wines to choose from. How many of you have either experienced first hand or observed someone else in the wine aisle at a store standing with a glazed stare on their face? They have a look on their face which seems to say, "I am at a complete loss to make a choice." Doesn't sound like much fun especially for an activity that they are generally excited about.

A very common tool that consumers will use in just this "display overload" situation is to reach for a bottle with a familiar brand name on it. They have either purchased the same brand in the past or perhaps visited the winery on a vacation experience. A brand name is probably one of the most common shopping guides used by wine consumers. It is also an item all wine labels are required to have by the federal agency that regulates all alcoholic beverages, the TTB. (Former BATF)

A brand name is in most cases the same name as the winery that bottled the wine. There are also many brand names that do not fall into that category. Many wineries have as part of their business plan essentially several brands that they sell wine under. These other brands different from their original winery name are called second labels. At times these second label names will be seen on the front label of a wine, while in other cases they appear on the back label of the wine in the required bottler's statement. This is the statement which reads always at least in part, "Bottled by XYZ Winery,..............".

The other now extremely common scenario as far as brand names are what are referred to in the industry as trade names. Trade names are also used on the front and back of a label in the area referred to above. Trade names are what are used by the very large population in the wine industry who are wholesalers. Also commonly referred to as custom crush clients. They are most commonly those getting their start in the industry by having their wines made by an established winery. The established winery is responsible to maintaining their wine activity records for them and part of that if they bottle the wine for them is officially adding their trade names onto their TTB permit.

As I mentioned above a brand name is a very popular guide used by consumers when shopping for wine. The only way they can know for sure whether or not it is the "original" brand name or a trade name used by the winery would be by doing further research on the brand name on the front label to see if it is an actual physical entity.

Interested to know more about brand name and trade name requirements for all wine labels?
Please go to: http://insidestoryofawinelabel.com

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I like this article because even though it is on the shorter side, it discusses some very important points when it comes to marketing your winery, or any business for that matter, in tough economic times.  For wine growers especially, don't slash your prices, as wine is very much an 'image' product.  If you train your market to think you are cheap, then when the economy swings back, you will have already trained yor market to thing your wine is "cheap".  Anyway, this is a good article so read on for more on using some powerful marketing strategies for your winery.

We are all well aware of what it is logical to assume. The struggling economy has taken quite the toll on the wine industry. Start-ups and well established wineries both are feeling the heat. However, people are still purchasing wine by the gallons! So where is the problem?

It comes down to cost of quantity. Historically wine was judged by its complex tastes and aromas aged to perfection over the years. Naturally this would increase the price of the wine. But today wine has become more of a symbolic drink than a strive for perfect drink. What will people pay for a symbol to mark a special occasion? Well now it seems less than $10.00. Which is the common price of the vast majority of wine now sold to the 18 to 35 age market. (Taking into account data from countries outside the US.)

This generation still has their drive for wine. But they are very content on buying two bottles of $5.99 wine than a $15.00+ bottle of decent or unique types. So what can a struggling winery do to compete? Standard business practice would say to lower your prices to sub $10.00 range. However in the long term that will only negatively affect your business. People are bound to buy more expensive wine when the economy picks up and if your bottle was the "Meh, I bought that when I was poor" bottle, do not think they will grab that bottle when they have money again. It will remind them of worse times. It is much easier to lower the price than it is to raise it.

The best practice to take advantage of is to give more for the same price your wine is currently selling for. Try offering a "Two for One" special, adding a wine cork remover with your companies name on it, or a unique looking wine glass with each bottle sold. If you sell through a website try offering free shipping or a box of chocolates from your local chocolate store with the purchase. Anything you can do to keep your price similar to how they were but offer enticements that convince a to be customer that it is a good deal!

Slashing your prices is never a good idea. So think creatively and make your bottle more worthwhile and keep the price as high as you can afford to through these rough times.

If you want more advice or ideas on wine marketing in these tough times feel free to contact us.

For more information on wine marketing contact http://www.wellsmarketinggroup.com a Philadelphia based marketing company specializing in wine and liquors.

The wine industry has grown over the last few years, yet changes in technology and laws have allowed consumers greater access to more wines than ever before.  The relaxing of the Interstate trade laws have allowed out of state wineries to sell to customers in other states.  Many of these wineries have realized that they now need a stronger web presence.  This article discusses some of the statistics and some of the new trends now with what is going on in the wine niche in the online world.  Read on to find out what they are and to see where you may be able to participate as well.

Wine grapes are the #1 fruit crop on the planet and the #1 finished agricultural product of the U.S., with California exporting 95% of U.S. vinos.

In 2006, the conjunction of Internet marketing and changes to Interstate trade laws gave birth to Wine 2.0. Millions of associated online groups, blogs, and online TV shows were created and records were smashed:

-The fastest selling vin in history resulted from a virtual firestorm after the Two-Buck-Chuck moniker was applied to the Charles Shaw label in an online chat room.

-Though we are the world's fourth largest producer nation the U.S. became the #1 wine drinking population.

-And by 2008, direct to consumer sales via tasting rooms and Internet sales grew to a whopping $3 Billion.

Prominent online promoters continue to emerge and propel the industry:

-Gary Vaynerchuk hosts Wine Library TV. He has 400,000 Twitter followers and a new book 'Crush It' for which he received a 7-figure advance.

-Julie Brosterman's love affair with the grape began 25-years ago in the illustrious Window Of the World's school. She is CEO of the Wine Valet on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and founder of the online lifestyle and travel blog: Women Wine and Women Wine Radio. Julie recently Twittered all the way to Spain on the hunt for exciting new Rojas.

-A new arrival, WineDineTV.com is hosted by a classy European mother and her very American daughter, Judit and Corina Schweller. They have an Ebook coming out this year that features recipes and pairings, and, Judit, new to Twitter already has 10,000 followers.

An irony about this ancient industry going online is that it's taken us back to winemaking's roots when producer and consumer met each other in the marketplace and created relationships.

Wine is about family, community, food, love, connection, festivity and joy. All of that, plus the sea, sunshine, beauty and music will come together July 16-18 at the quintessential fest. Over 2,500 wine lovers, 100-top California winemakers, others involved in the industry and folks who just want to party--will meet alongside the glittery sea at The California Wine Festival in Santa Barbara.

Join us for fun and learning more about the wonderful world of wine. Order your tickets today. See you there! http://californiawinefestival.com/

© 2008-2012-Suzanne de Cornelia. All worldwide rights apply. This article may be reprinted on websites as long as the entire article, including website link and resource box are included and unchanged. Suzanne is a freelance writer and Web 2.0 expert. Her novel "French Heart" will be released in Summer 2009. Friend Suzanne on FaceBook, follow her on Twitter @SuzanneDeC. Go to her site right now for an entire blogroll of terrific free information and valuable links: http://www.suzannedecornelia.com/

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The wine industry in the US is a growing industry as the general public is becoming less intimidated by wine. Thanks to the Australian wine industry and their unique marketing methods, brands like Yellowtail have brought more exposure to wine to the average American. More affordable, yet good quality and great tasting wines are making their way to the market, and are finding their way to the dinner tables of more Americans each year. So what can US wineries do to expand their reach especially in these economic times?

1) Focus on more exposure in your local market.

Many wineries are completely unknown to their local market. Many of them are tucked away on a side street or in a corner of some shopping mall and very inconspicuous. Many great finds can be discovered at these wineries. The problem isn’t in the wine itself, but in the marketing. One thing that wineries can do is to participate in their growers association (there is at least one in almost every state), and encourage more varied marketing methods, such as online marketing. A lot of local exposure can be done effectively online. Creating strategic partnerships with popular local online sites that are in your target market is a great start in getting local exposure, local link popularity and more.

2) Increase your online advertising efforts

The way to expand your reach is to focus on your offline efforts more regionally and nationally as well as locally. If you are in an area that gets a lot of out of town visitors, then you will certainly see some rewards in this endeavor. When traveling wine lovers know about your winery, they can be sure to put it on their itinerary the next time they are in town. Publishing your award winning wines, tasting hours and other activities your winery hosts should be a standard practice in your online marketing efforts. It is also wise to publish what events your wines will be served at so your can begin to build a loyal following and more importantly create advocates for your wines.

Other ways in which a winery can improve their online exposure is to blog consistently about their wines, and do regular press releases about special events your winery is hosting and new wines that your winery is producing. Press releases get widespread exposure as well as getting more traffic to your website and has search engine benefits as well.

3) Make your website sticky

Sticky means to have something on your website that people will want to come back to over and over again, and/or others will want to link to. What will cause people to come back to your web site consistently are things such as an event calendar, weekly contests where contestants get a free bottle of wine, or a gift card or a recipe of the day with a wine to go with it. Your visitors will find these things of interest and of value and will increase your traffic, and exposure to your web site.
The wine industry is no different than any other out there when it comes to needing to get their product in front of their target market. Many methods of doing that are the same as any other industry; it just takes some creativity and a well-planned strategy

Wine Marketing & Sales: Success Strategies for a Saturated Market

I really like this article because it talks about how small wineries should focus on doing their marketing. I agree with the approach this article takes... focus on selling your wines over branding. When your wine sells, people know about it. When they know about it, you can begin building a brand. With the reach of the internet today, it only makes sense to begin to utilize the Internet as a large part of wine selling. Read on for more specifics on focusing on selling wine vs. focusing on branding.

Now, before the brand police start to scream - hear me out and read the entire article.

And...while this article is directed specifically to small wineries and wine makers in the United States, it can apply equally well to any small business on the planet. Really.

So, let me focus the problem for you.

Our economy is in the tank (duh!). People are losing their jobs right and left. Businesses all over the world are feeling the pinch with often a precipitous drop in sales - for many businesses like falling off a cliff.

If you are a small winery and are NOT selling out every vintage today, why the hell would you spend a dime on branding?

Simply put, don't waste your money on branding.

Instead, focus your marketing budget on SELLING wine! Period.

Better yet, focus all of your marketing spend on selling all of your wine direct to consumer.

Let me say that again: If you are a small winery or wine maker, focus all of your marketing money on direct response marketing initiatives (online, direct mail, email, tasting room, tasting events, wine club events, etc.) to sell all of your wine directly to the consumer where legal.

If you are Constellation, or a similarly large company, then you have enough money to fund branding programs and campaigns. Great.

Okay, even if you are medium sized company likely you can afford that.

But if you are a small winery, don't bother with it, certainly not now. Spend your money to sell wine. Your marketing budget is just too precious to spend on image.

For those of you sitting in the back of the class, hands raised, straining to ask THE question - yes, branding is important for small businesses, BUT ONLY as the thoughtful outcome of your other marketing, tasting room, sales and customer service processes you have.

So, what do I mean by branding?

Branding is the impression and feeling of how visitors, customers and vendors view your product and company based on their interactions with you.

Branding promotions I define as marketing efforts to affect that view specifically.

Branding is image advertising. If you have a bad image, branding can help change that - over time.

Bad brand? Fix the problem and the brand takes care of itself.

If you are a small wine business, you are better off fixing the problem that caused the bad image in the first place. Bad wine? Fix the wine. Bad tasting room reviews? Make the changes needed to fix that, change it around, re-decorate, fire and hire. Clunky Website? Make it lightening fast and easy to use. Not making enough sales? Get in front of more potential customers.

Can branding hurt you? You bet. But, spending money on branding promotions to fix your brand is absolute lunacy if you are a small winery. Spend your available marketing money to sell more wine...then when you have sold all of your wine, you can consider a branding initiative. But then you likely won't need to...

Steven Sands -
Wine Marketing Center
If this article was of interest, you can register to receive other articles and information including my free report on the Top 10 Direct To Consumer Wine Sales Tips. . Just visit http://winemarketingcenter.com

This article gives some ideas on how to get your winery and wine brand out to the public. In these times, it is more important than ever to get your message and name out there. This article is about some of the things that you as a winery owner can do to create more exposure and business to sell your wines.

There are quite a number of high-quality vineyards and wineries in the United States and around the world. Wineries often make use of various marketing campaigns to promote and sell their wine including wine tasting tours, event sponsorships, and product launchings. Promoting a vineyard in its beginning stages can be challenging due to limited marketing resources and exposure. One affordable but effective strategy is the use of printed marketing materials. Below are examples of printed materials that can be used to market a winery business.

Postcards - Postcards can serve as picture-perfect marketing materials for a winery business. Postcards can be used to sell not only wine products but the recreational experience of wine tasting as they are treated as holiday destinations. Business owners can print postcards using images of their vineyard in different seasons, with a harvest of grapes, or with an interior shot of the winery. Full color, wholesale printing of postcards can be ordered through convenient online printing services. These online printers offer customized postcard printing at discounted prices.

Brochures - Brochures are printed materials that provide information through inviting text and images. Brochures can include photo images and text descriptions of the winery's facilities, its history, the vine's origins, and a concise description of its finest wines. Brochures today can also be printed with customized designs, sizes, finishes, and paper stocks through convenient online printing services. Business owners can upload their own designs or use an online design tool before printing them on the website. Offset printers are used for printing wholesale orders of brochures.

Posters - Posters serve as affordable, high-impact materials to promote a winery business. Posters can feature an artistic combination of text and beautiful imagery such as a savvy tagline with picturesque vineyards. Business owners can also print posters showing the winery's unique facilities, it's collection of wines, or images of the vine at various stages of growth. Poster prints can also be conveniently printed though online poster printing companies. Poster prints can be ordered in bulk with 25 percent discount.

Tags: wine marketing - winery marketing

This is a really detailed article about how important branding is to your wine label. It is a good follow up article to the previous article about how wineries are using animals to distinguish their brands.
as I always say, people don't buy a product, they buy an experience.

Branding is the process of creating distinctive and durable
perceptions in the minds of consumers. A brand is a persistent,
unique business identity intertwined with associations of
personality, quality, origin, liking and more. Here's why the
effort to brand your company or yourself pays off.

1. Memorability. A brand serves as a convenient container for a
reputation and good will. It's hard for customers to go back to
"that whatsitsname store" or to refer business to "the plumber
from the Yellow Pages." In addition to an effective company
name, it helps when people have material reminders reinforcing
the identity of companies they will want to do repeat business
with: refrigerator magnets, tote bags, datebooks, coasters, key
rings, first aid kits, etc.

Memorability can come from using and sticking with an unusual
color combination (FedEx's purple and orange), distinctive
behavior (the gas station whose attendants literally run to
clean your windshield), or with an individual, even a style of
clothing (Author Tom Wolfe's white suits). Develop your own
identifiers and nail them to your company name in the minds of
your public.

2. Loyalty. When people have a positive experience with a
memorable brand, they're more likely to buy that product or
service again than competing brands. People who closely bond
with a brand identity are not only more likely to repurchase
what they bought, but also to buy related items of the same
brand, to recommend the brand to others and to resist the lure
of a competitor's price cut. The brand identity helps to create
and to anchor such loyalty.

Consider the legions of car owners who travel up to 2,000 miles
at their own expense to attend a Saturn celebration at the
company's plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. That's loyalty. And
supposedly, more people have the motorcycle brand
"Harley-Davidson" tattooed on their body than any other brand
name. That's out-of-this-world loyalty.

3. Familiarity. Branding has a big effect on non-customers too.
Psychologists have shown that familiarity induces liking.
Consequently, people who have never done business with you but
have encountered your company identity sufficient times may
become willing to recommend you even when they have no personal
knowledge of your products or services. Seeing your ads on local
buses, having your pen on their desk, reading about you in the
Hometown News, they spread the word for you when a friend or
colleague asks if they know a ____ and that's what you do.

4. Premium image, premium price. Branding can lift what you sell
out of the realm of a commodity, so that instead of dealing with
price-shoppers you have buyers eager to pay more for your goods
than for those of competitors. Think of some people's
willingness to buy the currently "in" brand of bottled water,
versus toting along an unlabeled bottle of the same stuff filled
from the office water cooler.

The distinctive value inherent in a brand can even lead people
to dismiss evidence they would normally use to make buying
decisions. I once saw one middle-aged Cambridge, Massachusetts,
intellectual argue to several colleagues that Dunkin' Donuts'
coffee tastes better than Starbucks'. So contradictory was this
claim to the two companies' reputations for this demographic
group that the colleagues refused to put the matter to a taste
test.

5. Extensions. With a well-established brand, you can spread the
respect you've earned to a related new product, service or
location and more easily win acceptance of the newcomer. For
instance, when a winery with a good reputation starts up
regional winery tours, then adds foreign ones, each business
introduction benefits from the positive perceptions already in
place.

6. Greater company equity. Making your company into a brand
usually means that you can get more money for the company when
you decide to sell it. A Coca-Cola executive once said that if
all the company's facilities and inventory vanished all around
the world, he could walk into any bank and take out a loan based
only on the right to the Coca-Cola name and formula.

7. Lower marketing expenses. Although you must invest money to
create a brand, once it's created you can maintain it without
having to tell the whole story about the brand every time you
market it. For instance, a jingle people in your area have heard
a zillion times continues to promote the company when it's
played without any words.

8. For consumers, less risk. When someone feels under pressure
to make a wise decision, he or she tends to choose the
brand-name supplier over the no-name one. As the saying goes,
"You'll never be fired for buying IBM." By building a brand, you
fatten your bottom line.

About the author:
Marcia Yudkin is the author of 6 Steps to Free Publicity and ten
other books hailed for outstanding creativity. Find out more
about her new discount naming company, Named At Last, which
brainstorms new company names, new product names, tag lines and
more for cost-conscious organizations, at
http://www.NamedAtLast.com .

Tags: winery marketing - branding - wines