Back to School for Everyone

Today begins the first day of school and like so many other parents, I am relieved. As much as on the last day of school, when after 10+ months, tired of last minute school projects, school event chaperoning, and all the other demands of the school year, I have had enough. This morning there is peace in the home, and I can write, almost uninterrupted; there is the issue of the border collie that seems lost without his "playmates", so the occasional tennis ball and Frisbee show up on the office desk. Not nearly the distraction that three kids can provide ALL SUMMER LONG!

What has this to do with wine you say. Well, to a degree, the wine industry has to get back to school as well. Harvest is moving into full swing, bottling lines are running to make room for the new harvest, issues like screw-cap or cork; bag-in-a-box or bottle; new oak, used oak, neutral barrels or no oak. In sales, issues like depletion's, new placements, DA's SPA's, price adjusting for by-the-glass; A/R and the concern about the economy all take center stage. "OND", (Oct., Nov.,Dec.),is close at hand and notoriously the hottest point of consumption for the year, these questions begin to shape every wineries market position. If the marketing plan for the holidays is in place, then all one needs to do is wait for the orders to come streaming in, right? Not so fast Cochise, it's a bit more complicated than that.

DTC or direct to consumer issues have been the rage this year as every producer recognizes how important it is to "mine" their loyal consumer. More than any other consumer, the wine drinker will jump fences after a greener pasture, in this case wine, when the spirit or the 90 point score moves them. Variety for the wine consumer keeps this buyer moving around the ring more so than the brand loyal Spirit, Beer or Soda consumer; and with the struggling economy, price becomes the first consideration. If you are a small or medium size, family owned producer, your loyal consumer may be your economic salvation and DTC is your best medium for this "harvest". Now I won't discount the importance of a wholesale sales force. Brokers and Distributors serve that needed purpose of gaining points of distribution in key wine shops and Bistro's but the more voices you have in the field the louder you are and the more your consumer will be aware of your existence. DTC has proven to help this issue as long as the producer is active within the available mediums.

Twitter, Blogs, Digg, facebook and every form of social media is a key component. Newsletters, e-mail marketing, Craigs List and e-bay should be employed to move the brand awareness factor forward. Americans are consuming more wine these days and a significant percentage of this consumption belongs to the 21-28 year, young professional with disposable income and a cell phone with 3G capability. All too often, I have found that wineries have yet to jump in the pool of social marketing. It makes me wonder, "what the heck are you waiting for"? If the effort gets you one new consumer a day 365 days a year at an average purchase of $50 per consumer that's 2 bottles at $25 each; that's over $18K a year. A small beginning, but worth the price of an employee focused on e-sales and social marketing. In one fell swoop you just put a dent in unemployment, created a sales based position and improved the bottom line. These days the dollars are too few to ignore any avenue to move sales forward. Most of these DTC, social Marketing tools are free and easy to manipulate with the right mix. Coupons, new releases, price discounts, event announcements, brand logo's and company motto's can be "virtually" spread around the world with little effort and pretty good return. Indeed it is a new day for the small producer looking for guerrilla sales and marketing opportunities. These tools can level the playing field with the larger corporate winery and help get a place at the consumer table.