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Stay On Message (Talking Wine And PR At Boozehoundz)3 min read

Posted on July 12, 2017 by 1WineDude

in commentary

Earlier this week, I was quoted by author, veteran wine competition judge, and personal friend Michael Cervin on his big, Boozehoundz. In that article, Michael included my now-exceedingly-repetitive advice on wine PR, along with much more helpful words from others far more versed in the wine PR field, regarding the value of public relations in helping wine brands to get their message out to their perspective customers/fans/consumers/etc.

Michael’s article has immensely insightful information on the how and why of communicating wine brands messages; what that article doesn’t discuss is how few wine brands have actually crafted a viable message in the first place, and therefore aren’t even in a position to use the helpful information therein.

I have become more acutely aware of this issue during 2016 and 2017, specifically and most vicerally during my travels to regional wine events and subsequent tours of those wine areas. It’s astounding how few of those regions have crafted anything close to resembling a message tailored to the markets that they wish to penetrate. In most cases, they don’t seem to have actually identified the specific markets to which they’d deliver a message if they even had one.

In more than one instance this year, I’ve attended regional panel discussions targeted to the press in which representatives from across the silos of those wine regions – farming, production, oversight, marketing – not only do not have a message about their region to pass on to the press, but use the platform to either engage in internecine arguments, or to ask people like me “what do YOU think our message should be?…”

My answer: “I think that your message should’ve been worked out before I got here, and that since I’ve only been in your region for a day or two, I’ve got no f*cking idea what your message should be. And if I did, that’s what I call ‘consulting,’ and I need to get paid for that.”

Incredibly – almost impossibly so – is that most of this insanity has transpired in wine regions that literally have centuries of viticultural history under their belts.

In my experience, one of the most significant issues plaguing the wine biz is that wine brands – be they specific labels, regions, etc. – lack defined goals for how they are going to handle what has become the most competitive marketplace in the many centuries worth of history of wine as a commercial product. That lack of specificity in turn leads to ambiguous ideas of where they sit in terms of their target markets (visibility, penetration, perception, whatever). Lacking an idea of what to measure, they end up not being able to improve, with scattershot marketing approaches sucking up their valuable PR budget dollars. They then have no real or concise message to give to the press, consumers, or customers.

To grow in today’s ultra-competitive fine wine market (there are about 8,000 wine brands in the USA alone, folks), brands and regions must a) have a very clear and very genuine idea about what makes them unique, and b) be able to summarize that idea in a message that takes five seconds or so to articulate.

Is true, as Michael quotes in his article, that the wine brands with the most friends is likely to win. It’s also true that it is a hell of a lot easier to make those friends when they can actually understand what you’re saying, and are easily reminded about why they want to be friends with you in the first place.

Cheers!

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10 thoughts on “Stay On Message (Talking Wine And PR At Boozehoundz)3 min read”

  1. jimcaudill says:
    July 12, 2017 at 12:23 pm

    I like the sound of Dude Consulting…you’re already more insightful than many of the folks out there, and you’ve certainly put in the time. This would make for a great presentation at Unified, watch out or the organizers will be calling….

    1. 1WineDude says:
      July 12, 2017 at 5:20 pm

      Thanks, Jim, I appreciate the kind words!

      Cheers!

  2. Michael Cervin says:
    July 12, 2017 at 10:08 pm

    Thanks for mentioning my piece, Joe. You and I see the same faults in many wine brands, any brand for that matter, that there is a lack of a clear, concise message, and/or a message that the brand is not totally in love with. Confidence wine friends, confidence and a focused message wine more friends.

    1. 1WineDude says:
      July 13, 2017 at 2:04 am

      Thanks, Mike. And thanks for including me!

  3. Paul Cullen says:
    July 13, 2017 at 10:33 am

    Of course I agree with what you say! It’s unbleleiveable the winery/winemaker doesn’t have a clear message to go with their beautiful wines. I see it all the time especially with Italian wines which I’m pretty familiar with. I feel pretty about my message when I had my wine. I sold a lot of wine because of the music wine connection. I was underfunded and didn’t have a business plan. Which won’t happen again.

    1. 1WineDude says:
      July 13, 2017 at 4:51 pm

      Thanks, Paul. As you point out, message isn’t everything. But if you don’t have one, it’s going to make your marketing that much more difficult even if you have most of the other stuff lined up correctly.

  4. Steve Raye says:
    July 13, 2017 at 12:48 pm

    I would add that wineries and regions get educated on the U.S. Three Tier system. Then, you’ll be more likely to articulate a point of difference that makes a difference.

    1. 1WineDude says:
      July 13, 2017 at 4:53 pm

      Steve – that’s absolutely sound advice. I see that as an essential part of the how; many brands don’t even have the what. ;-)

  5. Bob Henry says:
    August 4, 2017 at 12:11 am

    Two quotes come to mind.

    “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”

    And the infamous:

    “Ready. Fire. Aim.”

    1. 1WineDude says:
      August 4, 2017 at 7:22 am

      Ha ha ha, exactly!

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