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.

Multiple Cross-Channel Winery Marketing Revolves around Email

Promote your winery via email marketing and cross-promote across social networks to bring subscribers into your community.

Publish Date: 06/01/2011

Marketing Wine in Order to Make Premium Wine Brands Profitable ...

An Overview of the Process of Marketing Wine with the end game being Greater Profits.

Points of focus for winery direct to consumer marketers … .

I recently engaged in a phone conversation with a senior level wine business marketing executive about a certain winery's direct-to-consumer marketing efforts, centering around CRM/POS integration and consumer real time ...

Publish Date: 05/30/2011 21:08

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

Wine Industry & Social Marketing « eBizz by Chris Salazar

Social Marketing and Wine mix so well that I can make my own award winning blend! As wine consumption increases, people become more social and ah ha! Social Marketing fumes are ignited and can be used to attract new ...

Publish Date: 04/29/2011 19:08

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