Category Archives: Marketing

Putting Click Bait, 100 Points and Wine Critics to Good Use

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PR copyI can’t give a good rendering of the history of public relations in the wine industry. All I know is that for the past 30 years at least, there have been people and agencies largely dedicated to providing public and media relations services specifically for the wine industry. The fact that there were and are people and agencies dedicated to the task of telling wineries’ stories to the media and others doesn’t make wine different from other industries where PR is concerned. However, there is a body of knowledge which guides all publicists, regardless of industry, as well as there being a body of knowledge that guides wine publicists specifically. The intersection of these two bodies is what Julie Ann and I had in mind to explore here at SWIG.

Whether or not our posts and articles gain attention among that relatively small audience at which we are aiming will depend on a variety of things. Are we offering the kind of unique, interesting and actionable information you will want to here at SWIG? Will we discuss ratings and the 100 Point rating scale frequently enough? Will we investigate things like wine critics, Natural Wine, wine bloggers, counterfeiters, Robert Parker, gender issues, Top-10 lists, Napa Valley’s more pretentious oddities or other examples of rich, hearty click-bait?

At the very least, we can assure you that SWIG will be the place to go if you are interested in the those ideas, practices, tricks and knowledge base that are unique to wine public and media relations. We’ll take advantage of those unique “teaching moments” that seem to arrive in abundance from within and from outside the wine industry, particularly in the realm of appropriate and successful communications. If all goes well, we’ll be providing useful, well-read information that goes well beyond, “The Top Ten Napa Valley Wine Critics who read Robert Parker, but don’t read Wine Bloggers who write at length about gender Issues in the Wine Industry and how they impact the perception of natural wine.”

So with that explanation, I want to start off by offering for your contemplation The Number One Golden Truth of Wine Public and Media Relations: IF YOU ARE GOING TO COMMUNICATE TO THE PUBLIC, THE MEDIA, TO CUSTOMERS OR ANYONE ELSE YOU MUST ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH.

There’s more to the practice of wine PR and media relations than that. But this is where it begins.

 

10 Ways to Use A Good Wine Review

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95pointsIt’s not the easiest thing, nor the least expensive thing, to have our wine reviewed positively by an authoritative wine critic or wine-related publication. So when it happens, it’s important for the producer and vendors of the wine to take full advantage of occasion; to extend the life and utility of the positive review.

But first, ignore anyone who tells you that the reviews published by wine critics are a useless, waning in marketing value, ignored by any particular generation of wine drinkers or meaningless. The difference between the impact of a rating and review of a wine by someone touting it on Twitter and a critic touting it in, say, Wine & Spirits Magazine is exponential: one is exposing your wine to probably 1000 people at most, some of whom may like wine and some of whom may have no interest in the tweeter’s opinion, while the other is exposing your wine to a highly engaged audience of tens of thousands of wine lovers who have already indicated they trust the opinion of the magazine by actually paying money to read it. Continue Reading →

Click Bait or What Winemakers Won’t Tell You

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CLICK BAIT

There’s ‘click bait’ and then there’s serious journalism. There’s been a fair amount of wine country water cooler discussion of an article on The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch which appeared August 3, titled 10 Things Winemakers Won’t Tell You. Take a read: it’s instructive and may even get your heart racing: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/10-things-winemakers-wont-tell-you-2014-07-31

As of August 12, it’s attracted 110 comments online. Let’s deconstruct it wearing publicist goggles:

1)      The writer has selected controversial aspects and elements

2)      The writer has enriched each of the 10 “Things” with supporting statistics and quotes

3)      It’s easy to be negative and stay negative—that’s always more interesting than ‘platitudes’ about how wine might enhance meals or moments with family and friends.

Good news isn’t news—that might be another way to digest this article. You’re being taken advantage of! It isn’t what it seems. You’re paying too much. Wine is bad for you. Wine has terrible and unhealthy components….right?

In reality, although this seems to be an article about wine, it may really be a discussion about  marketing, with its numerous implications of how the public is easily fooled about wine. Wouldn’t we all love to sit down with this writer and taste the wines we’ve made and tell her their stories—notwithstanding the isinglass or Mega Purple….?!

Anybody home?

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ANYBODY HOME?

One of the biggest problems in our hyper-uber-over-connected world today is….getting connected. Making it easy and even ‘idiot’-proof for a journalist to find the publicist. How important is that, right? When a writer is on a deadline and urgently needs that last question answered or to find a photo to use: that’s what publicists live for—-being there when the writer needs you!

I surveyed a large number of winery websites and was truly surprised at how hard many wineries make it. There’s the ubiquitous one-email box option on a Contact page. It’s rare to find a winery where functions are differentiated and it’s crystal-clear how to find

  • Winery Tours & Tastings
  • PR & Marketing
  • National Sales/Trade
  • Wine Club
  • Special Events
  • Donations

What an easy fix. What a no-brainer way to insure that the channels are all open and flow smoothly. What a way to make sure that your door is always open to the media. Is your winery’s ‘door’ open?

 

32 years in: today vs. yesterday

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I recently surveyed a number of wine publicists on the topic of “then” vs. “now” for a column in Wine Business Monthly.

 

After 32 years as a publicist, it recently has seemed to me that the practice of PR has never been more difficult. By that I mean quantifiable results are not only very hard won but the ‘quantifiable’ isn’t always so ‘quantifiable.’ A high score comes along—but is the writer ‘meaningful’ enough, the client will ask. We all are hoping for a ‘silver bullet,’ Continue Reading →