I was recently contacted by a nice fellow by the name of David Cray.  He seems nice, anyway, from our brief email discussions (it’s probably because he’s Canadian – they all seem to be nice, don’t they?).

Anyway, David is an Associate Professor at the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and along with colleagues Louise Heslop and Alex Ramirez, is studying (in his words): “how [wine] blogs operate and what differentiates between a successful blog and one that is less so.”

Well, I’m interested in that big-time, so I took the survey they’re using to help capture some of that data, and nice-guy-Canadian David asked me to pass along the survey to you out there in blog-o-land, in the hopes that you’ll take 15 minutes out of your busy day to help their cause.  To encourage participation, David also told me that there’s a prize involved:

“The name of anyone who completes the survey will go into a draw, with the winner receiving a $500 gift certificate at the wine store of their choice; those who complete the survey before November 15 will go into an additional draw for a $200 gift certificate.  The questionnaire is at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SZ76K86. “

I’m guessing the combination of academic curiosity and prize winnings will get a few people moving (though David didn’t confirm if we’re talking U.S or Canadian dollars here…), so here’s hoping that you can help David and his friends.  David will be reporting on the findings on his blog so we can check out the results (more details – in David’s words – after the jump).

Personally, I’d be fascinated to see differentiators for wine blog success undergo the scientific treatment – how about you?…

Read the rest of this stuff »

I was recently contacted by Rachel Lewis, who is currently working on a marketing master thesis centering on consumer preferences in the US wine market.  And YOU can help!

According to Rachel:

“I am currently doing my marketing master thesis for the Aarhus School of Business located in Aarhus, Denmark. I am originally from Minnesota which is part of the reason I wanted to focus on the US market.

I have always had an interest in wine and an urge to learn more so I thought this would be an excellent opportunity. My thesis is focusing more on the consumer aspect of the wine market. Essentially, the reasons why people are buying the wine they buy.

Wine drinkers (your blog readers) should want to fill the survey out because it is essentially a way for them to tell these wine makers their purchasing behaviors and wine preferences. For people who strongly purchase based on the origin and grape of the wine, marketers will be able to define this segment and market specifically to it.  It is a way of matching the products to the right consumers.  So consumers (wine drinkers) are aware of the products (and buy the products) that align with their preferences.”

Rachel expects to have the results of the data available in about a month, which I plan to share here if possible.  So, if you can spare a few minutes, fill out the survey and have your say about how wine should be marketed to you so you can get closer to the type of wines you really want.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MDG9SBF

Cheers!

The rage is relentless
We need a movement with a quickness
You are the witness of change
And to counteract
We gotta take the power back

Sometimes I wonder if the Internet should have a theme song.  I’d nominate Rage Against The Machine’s Take The Power Back, given the possibilities of democratization that the connected economy presents to us nearly every day.

That’s an overly-dramatic introduction to a couple of on-line surveys… but what the hell, why be afraid to revel in our time, right?

Anyway… frequent 1WineDude readers will know my good buddy (and uber wine-geek) Jason Whiteside, who is currently finishing up the challenging WSET Diploma program (the stepping-stone into Master of Wine qualification).  Jason is taking on a bit of wine consumer research as part of his WSET work, and he needs your help!

Below you will find links to two (very, very quick) surveys that Jason is running to collect consumer’s views on two hot topics in the wine world.  The first, rising alcohol levels, is a topic that generates just about as much passion as any other being discussed around wine today. The second is a more specific exploration into what wine consumers think about Sauvignon Blanc (which surprisingly also brings out strong opinions among true wine geeks).

I’ll defer to Jason to introduce the surveys:

“These surveys represent a small amount of consumer research, which is being done for the WSET Diploma (the Diploma is divided into six learning Units, and one of them is on “The Business of Wine”). Both surveys are about ten questions each, and should take less than three minutes to complete. Consumer preference doesn’t garner the attention that Wine Critic preference does, but surveys like this can help swing the power back to the people. Thank you very much for your time in filling out the surveys. Your answers will remain confidential; even I will not be able to see who answered what.”

The results will be published in a future 1WineDude article, so do us a favor and take 5 minutes to tell us your thoughts!

Have your say about Alcohol Levels and Wine:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=phsAHStgKrfzRRTWFmGFoQ_3d_3d

Tell us what you think about White Wine and Sauvignon Blanc:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=95Sodl9Wgd0d2i9iTu2gXw_3d_3d

Cheers!

A recent article by Catherine Rampell of the New York Times really caught my attention. In it, Catherine explores the recent wine buying trend in “trading down” – buying less expensive wines rather than splurging on the really pricey stuff (read the full article).

One of the interesting things she found is that wine retailers are almost making up for the reduction in premium wine purchases with an increased sales volume for the cheaper stuff.

But that’s not what I wanted to discuss here.

What I found most interesting is how some people are drinking the decreased volume of really good stuff that they are buying. From the article:

“The people who have been splurging have been doing it surreptitiously,” said Jesse Salazar, the wine director at Union Square Wines in Manhattan. “There’s the secret pour and the pour for the guests at large,” he said. “I was at a Christmas party recently where there was a substantial amount of wine being purchased. But there was a party case, and then there was the host case back in the kitchen. The host was drinking Bordeaux; the guests were drinking Chianti.”

The Surreptitious Pour.

I love it!

What I’m curious about is if YOU would do this – would you hide the really good stuff at a party for you and a select few friends?

Because, I sure know that I’d be tempted to do that…

Cheers!
(images: chowdernation.com – modified)