Consultancy
Tony Laithwaite, founder-chairman of Direct Wines/Laithwaites,
the world’s largest direct-selling wine business
“So many people think wine is a lovely trade and are right. So many also think it’s dead simple and are wrong.
Ask Robert Joseph. Always ask RJ.
Nobody has a clearer overview of the arcane workings of the wine trade - a strange and unique business - and nobody challenges its odd ways more comprehensibly.”
I’m not a consultant winemaker, viticulturist, label designer, digital marketer or an expert on distribution, but I work with some of the best examples of all of these. My approach is holistic. It is based on the simple notion that success in the wine industry (as in others) is a three legged stool. However fine the style and quality of any product, it will never live up to its commercial potential without appropriate communication (naming, packaging, pricing, marketing) and distribution.
And to get these right, you need to know who you are doing it for.
However brilliant, their dishes, the finest chefs rely on restaurants with the right decor and location, and the occasional good review and Tripadvisor rating. Artists need galleries and critics.
My role is to focus on the balance between all three legs of the stool. Doing well in blind tastings is of little value to a wine if potential buyers are put off by the label.
There is no point in having great marketing or a great review if the people who see it can’t buy the product - or can only find it in places they never go, or aren’t interested in that style or price of wine.
On the other hand, being on lots of shelves is not enough: you need to give the appropriate people a reason to buy.
Just as important - but too often overlooked by wine professionals - is understanding who is most likely to buy a particular wine, and when and why they will most probably drink it.
People wanting to attend a rock concert may not appreciate the offer to hear a folk singer - however good their songs. And vice versa.
Three clients: a best-selling wine brand; a New World country; a top flight Bordeaux chateau.
Three very different briefs.
Three, apparently similar, but very different solutions.
Three examples of how I approach the wine market.
Personalised recipe books
McGuigan Wines, one of the most popular brands in the UK and Ireland, had a range of over 50 wines on sale in almost all the major retailers in both markets.
The challenge confronting the company lay in encouraging people to explore and discover new styles from this range, and repositioning the brand as one that offers wines to enjoy with more special meals.
Our solution was to give them confidence to try something unfamiliar - using a collection of recipes from John Torode, presenter of the hugely popular Masterchef TV series, together with wine recommendations created specially for them by a very clever software program developed for this project.
Potential users learned about the Recipe Collection via social media and via QR codes on point-of-sale material, media advertising and on hundreds of thousands of bottles. Historically, when used on back labels, these codes had the reputation of getting limited use, but with the incentive of a day of cooking with Torode and the free recipe collection, the response was astonishing. Over 20,000 people scanned the code, wth an additional 23,000 clicking on the URL
What they found was a web-app that included recipes, videos of Torode cooking…
…, and information about over 50 McGuigan wines, grouped by style.
There was also a questionnaire, covering tastes in food and drink. According to traditional rules, there were far too many questions. No one - according to those rules - would take the time to answer them. But astonishingly, over 30,000 people did.
Even more surprisingly, many went on to complete a third set of questions detailing likes and dislikes of more specific flavours such as coffee, chocolate and licorice.
The data contained within these forms was like gold dust.
After submitting their form, respondents were invited to give a friend the opportunity to have their own book. Many gratefully took us up on this offer, increasing the number of participants and people who would have the chance to learn more about the McGuigan wines.
Within a few minutes everyone who completed the form received an email containing a link to download the book…
…, complete with their name on the cover…
…and a collection of recipes reflecting their preferences. Those who did not eat red meat or shellfish had a book that omitted those dishes. The books for the people who love beef but never drink red wine included recommendations of McGuigan white and pink wine to go with it.
Even the photographs varied depending on the reader. Each dish was shot - by Cath Lowe - with three different wines, allowing us to truly personalise the advice
…And for each dish, there are a few words from Neil McGuigan to explain the ‘perfect’ match and a couple of alternatives for those who would prefer a different wine.
The campaign received huge responses in stores and in the trade and general media, and is still remembered as one of the most innovative initiatives by any wine company.
To see a copy of the Recipe Collection, click here
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Could we come up with something different, but similarly innovative to promote your wines?
Introduction to a country
Where McGuigan wines were familiar to millions of British wine drinkers, in 2013, few people were aware that Brazil even produced wine.
Working with Judy Kendrick and Ana Sofia de Oliveira of JK Marketing on a broad campaign called ‘Wake Up the Brazilian in You’, our solution was to target wine drinkers who had some kind of other affinity with Brazil. Primarily, this included football fans, interested in the 2014 World Cup which was to be held there. There were also people who loved Brazilian music or had discovered its cuisine or were interested in its flora and fauna.
Using a range of social media, we ran a competition to win a trip to watch the World Cup. Initially, this was planned for the UK, but was extended to include the US.
Every entrant received a free ebook that covered Brazilian history, food, dance - as well as the wine regions and producers. For each producer, there was a link to their website and stockists (which meant producing different versions of the ebook for the US and UK).
The campaign helped to attract interest among importers and retailers in both countries many of whom who were persuaded to list Brazilian wines for the first time. In the UK, this included listings at leading chains, Waitrose and M&S.
It also contributed to almost doubling the value of Brazilian wine exports in 2013 to $13.5m from $6.85m the previous year.
The ebook helped JK Marketing‘s Wake Up the Brazilian in You win the IWC Campaign of the Year award.
To see the Wake Up the Brazilian in You ebook click here
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Would you like to discuss innovative ways of promoting a region or country?
A new way of looking at Bordeaux
The family-owned Château Malartic Lagravière is one of the leading Grands Crus Classé estates in the Pessac Léognan region of Bordeaux. It is also a great place to visit, but of course this was not possible during the pandemic lockdown of 2020, which also prevented the Bonnie family from travelling overseas to host tastings of their wines.
While the Bonnies were looking for a way to connect with people who already know their wine and region, they also wanted to do something Bordeaux has not always done very well: introduce their Pessac Léognans to a new, younger audience.
Identifying these potential Malartic Lagravière fans in the US and UK was the task of brilliant digital marketer Polly Hammond of 5Forests who discovered that in both countries, there was a large number of highly successful women who enjoy wine and buy bottles in the Malartic Lagravière price range but rarely explore Bordeaux.
So, working with the family, we created a book called The Four Seasons of Malartic featuring stories about the Bonnies, the chateau and the region, life in the vineyards and winery across the year, and a collection of 24 seasonal recipes. Where other fine wine producers have worked with Michelin-starred chefs on food and wine matches involving dishes that few but the most accomplished amateur cook would dream of preparing, the ones in The Four Seasons are all from the family repertoire and reflect the meals they enjoy themselves.
So, while there are classic Bordeaux dishes like omelette with cepes, there is also a meatloaf whose recipe has passed down through the generations - and Jean-Jacques Bonnie’s technique for making perfect French (or more properly, Belgian) fries.
To communicate this story, once again, we ran a competition on social media, with top prizes of a signed copy of the book, a ship’s decanter and Jancis Robinson wine glasses. Every other entrant - a number approaching 10,000 - received a ebook version of The Four Seasons,
The printed book will be sold at the chateau, in bookshops and online, where the ebook will also be available. Both will also be used as gifts for media, distributors and members of Malartic’s new wine club.
The first editions of both are in French and English, but other languages may follow.
The recipes - brilliantly photographed by Cath Lowe - will feature on Instagram during the relevant seasons, as well as video clips showing Severine, Veronique and Jean-Jacques Bonnie cooking some of the dishes.
A number of Bordeaux estates have come up with terrific marketing initiatives in recent years, but we truly believe that none has done anything quite like this, and we loved working with the Bonnies to make it happen
Just as we loved seeing the book featuring and being well reviewed by top food writers, who will hopefully also be introducing Malartic to potential new customers, and/or nudging the memories of those who know the name but may never have tried or bought it.
The book is featured in le Figaro, one of France’s leading newspapers, and in one of its promotional videos
For a sample of the Four Seasons ebook, click here
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Maybe - after identifying who would most appreciate it - we could create a top quality print and/or ebook for your super-premium wine…