This Ain’t Yo’ Mama’s Soup!
An absolutely hilarious riff on marketing to millennials, yo.
BAT Tagged for ProWein Promo
We’re proud to announce that Brand Action Team has been hired for trade marketing services for ProWein, International Trade Fair Wine and Spirits. I had the chance to attend last year’s show and was blown away by several things I saw there.
1) ProWein is focused on the business of the business. Unlike some other international shows, there’s no consumer component…on purpose. People attend for two reasons…to see what’s out there, and to make deals.
2. It’s huge and getting huge-r…40,000 visitors, 4,000 exhibitors and a waiting list for booths. This year they’re opening two new halls to accommodate demand.
3. “Wein” may be in the name, but spirits are in the heart, there’s an entire hall dedicated to spirits.
4. More Americans need to know about it and go. ProWein has definitively become the most important international wine and spirits trade show, but few Americans are aware of it, or have attended.
So if you’re a supplier, importer, wholesaler, retailer or on premise account with an interest in new products and wine and spirit trends happening around the world…you’ve got to be there.
ProWein will take place Mar. 24-26, 2013 in Düsseldorf, Germany.
American Wine Bloggers Conference this week in Portland
Constance and I will be attending the American Wine Bloggers Conference in Portland, OR this week. This year’s event was sold out early and word on the street is there’s a waiting list of upwards of 50 folks hoping for someone to drop out.
We’ve been following the evolution of the AWMB over the last few years. I think it’s safe to say wine blogging in the US hasn’t reached full maturity yet, but it’s certainly past puberty (although 1WineDude author Joe Roberts’ voice still breaks occasionally).
I’ve maintained that the key event marking that change was the day Tyler Colman (Dr. Vino) “outed” Jay Miller of the Wine Advocate. Since then wine blogging has begun to settle out into three cadres: a handful of major influencers, a larger group of stalwart and committed writers, and a new generation of budding aspirants.
Unfortunately no one has figured out how to make a living out of blogging per se. Even elder statesman Alder Yarrow of Vinography is quick to comment that he does it as a passionate avocation. But a whole lot of people have found ways to realize their newfound importance in ways other than cash money, be it travel to regions and countries courtesy of the generic promotion boards or recognition among the blogerati.
In the early days, free samples were the motivator for many, but most “names” quickly came to realize samples were a mixed blessing… too many samples, too much packaging, too many pushy PR people who all too often never read the writers they’re harassing.
Our approach has always been focused on the principle of WIIFM (What’s in it for me?), meaning providing quality content and access that’s of value to the very different audience each blogger has created. And while I admit I’m simply not able to read every post by every one of our friends anymore, we have found ways to keep our finger on the pulse of the conversation and stay engaged. This year, we’re pleased that Constance Chamberlain has been recruited to be one of judges for the wine blog awards, which is itself a sort of award.
So, what’s next? That’s one of the questions I’ll be asking my fellow attendees.
ProWein Staff Comes to San Francisco
Some folks from ProWein were in San Francisco last week to gain some insight into the perception of the show among the trade in the U.S. Eva Rowe of ProWein, Adam Levy of the New York International Wine Competition and I collaborated to bring together a cross section of the trade including retailers, somms, distributors, importers, ecomm and trade media for an informal lunch meeting with Hans Werner Reinhard, EVP of ProWein’s parent entity Messe Dusseldorf. That’s me, Eva Rowe and Hans Werner in the photo.
Prior to the lunch I had set up a meeting with Craig Wolf and Jo Moak of WSWA with the ProWein folks to explore mutual opportunities and discuss the U.S. Drinks Conference.
Some interesting observations came out of both those conversations. First among them being that ProWein has emerged as the leading global wine and spirits trade show, particularly as a result of its focus on the trade, unlike shows such as Vinexpo, Vinitaly and the London International Wine Fair, there is no consumer component of the show. I attended ProWein in Dusseldorf this spring and can attest to the scale (4,000 exhibitors, 40,000 attendees), scope (78% international attendees, more than 50 countries represented) and sheer size (something like 5 giant halls full of people) and ProWein’s focus on making business deals for import, export and sale of wine and spirits.
Secondly, an American presence was notably scarce. Sure, there were importers attending as well as some exporting American companies, but their number paled in comparison to the international contingent and was totally in contrast to the U.S.’s sheer size in terms of consumption. And significantly less than the number of Americans attending Vinexpo and Vinitaly
What’s going on? I think it has a lot to do about the U.S. being perceived as a “challenging” market. And particularly so in comparison to the potential and relative simplicity (not easy though) of entry and growth in the Chinese market. I heard again and again from exporters, media, generic wine trade associations and international marketing folks, that the U.S. market is too expensive, too constrained (in terms of importer and distributor receptivity to taking on new brands), too restricted and too complex in terms of regulations and the three-tier system. Given a supplier’s limited resources it makes more economic sense to focus on Asia rather than America.
That is NOT a good thing.
I think it’s safe to say the three-tier system is not going to fundamentally change anytime soon, recent events in Washington state notwithstanding. But one thing we can do is a better job in teaching prospective exporters about the realities of bringing their brands to America. Yes it may seem difficult, expensive and resource intensive, but it is being done successfully. Just look at brands such as ChocoVine, Sobieski and the whole Moscato and Prosecco categories.
There’s an old ad tagline in the NY market I’ve always liked from Sym’s clothiers… “An educated consumer is our best customer.” At BAT, we feel the same way. That’s why we developed the U.S. Drinks Conference in conjunction with MHW and Next Level. And it’s why we partnered with the WSWA to create the US Beverage Alcohol Forum. We’ve found it’s in the best interests of everyone in the system to make sure prospective suppliers understand and appreciate what’s worked and not worked in the past. That frees us all up to find creative ways to work within the system and bring new brands to market.
So mark your calendars to attend the U.S. Beverage Alcohol Forum at next year’s WSWA April 28- May 1, 2013 in Orlando, and stay tuned for plans developing for ProWein 2013 Mar. 24-26 in Dusseldorf.
Kudos to Constance
Wine PR manager Constance Chamberlain is currently featured on the home page of the WSET’s International Wine Center. 
She was awarded a $1,500 scholarship from the Les Dames d’Escoffier
You go girl!
Vinitaly, NABI Collaborate in Meeting with TTB on relaxed COLA regs.
Stevie Kim of Vinitaly and Bill Earle, Pres. of NABI (National Assn. of Beverage Importers), and the folks at the Italian Embassy in DC organized a special meeting with TTB and some prominent Italian winemakers to discuss US labeling regulatory changes.
TTB has made it significantly easier for suppliers in that they won’t be required to secure a new COLAs for changes such as color, shape, graphics, alcohol content etc.
(l to r) Cristina Mariani-May (Banfi), Mike Thompson (Wine Caucus), Stevie Kim (Vinitaly Tour), Bill Earle (NABI), Matteo Lunelli (Ferrari)
VinExpo’s Rendez-vous US Event “Postponed”
Drinks International’s Patrick Schmitt and Lucy Brittner broke the news today that VinExpo’s “Rendez-vous” has been “postponed” per the news release and “cancelled” per the DI story headline. It’s especially notable given the recent success of VineExpo Asia Pacific recently in Hong Kong, and the participation of Marvin Shanken as shareholder, according to the DI story.
Here’s how the event was billed, per their website:
Vinexpo has been helping the wine and spirits industry to develop its markets since 1981. Vinexpo nurtures direct contacts with the trade, enabling it to monitor players’ changing needs and to develop new tools for them. Having achieved global leadership with its Vinexpo exhibition in Bordeaux, France and the Vinexpo Asia-Pacific event designed for Asian markets, Vinexpo now proudly presents an innovative concept to establish direct contact with consumers, entitled Rendez-Vous by Vinexpo.
It will be interesting to see what the after-buzz is with more detail on the decision to “postpone”. The reason cited in the DI story quoting a release from the company was:
“After a lot of effort and taking everything carefully into consideration, the decision has been taken to postpone the event. At this time, 52 tasting areas out of the 150 scheduled have been reserved by Vinexpo customers, often together with their American importers. Even if the range represented features a diversified set of top quality, international products, it still remains a long way off the minimum number of exhibits that was originally decided.”
Robert Beynat, chief executive of Vinexpo felt the limited offering would fail to attract the visitors they wanted.
He said: “We don’t want our exhibitors, who invest in this new project to risk having mixed success.
“However the unparalleled quality of the master classes based on world class wines that have been proposed and the immediate enthusiasm shown by some exhibitors convince us that this event is well positioned. This decision to postpone is responsible with regard to our customers and our partners.”
The Value of In-Store Tastings
We just wrapped up an in-store tasting program for one of our clients and I had to remind myself once again that in-store tastings are probably the most effective tool we have to make a direct impact on moving more boxes while building the brand. (This is in contrast to couponing and discounting which can also have a significant volume impact, but at the risk of undermining, rather than building a brand.
An effective, well-managed tasting program can deliver a lot of benefits, but the one most difficult to measure one is perhaps the most powerful…the WIIFM effect. (What’s In It For Me).
The most successful retail promo programs are those that help the retailer increase their volume and margins. When the supplier/importer/distributor helps grow the retailer’s business, they’re working in collaboration with the retailer for mutual gain, not just using them as a soon-to-be-forgotten checkout register. But as they say on TV “But Wait! That’s not All”. Here’s a list of some of the other lessons of a successful tasting program we relearned:
“Remind” the trade that the brand moves.
Even if it might not be the sexiest new product in the store, a brand that is a proven volume generator is part of the foundation on which the retailers’ business is based. As is often the case, the attention of management and line folks at the distributor and importer level is often diverted to other priorities. Tastings keep your brand top of mind by making your brands’ sales velocity and customer satisfaction strengths more visible.
New Distribution
The same is true in terms of new distribution; tastings can be a great tool for sales to use to increase distribution for proven brands, not just new brands.
Increase Volume
Moving boxes is the name of the game. In this program we increased average sales per store 16X the day of the event, and we’re just in the process of measuring the residual volume lift.
Repeating Events Tell a Stronger Story
Scheduling a series of events in a given store can dramatically increase the run rate in between events. The retailer will be more receptive to stocking inventory and reordering based on sales in their own store. It’s also a great way for local sales to demonstrate support for your best accounts. Implicit message… “we’re here to help you.”
Scaling Perception into Reality
A good goal is to achieve a 30% conversion rate…30% of the people tasting, purchased product. And depending on the price point, that conversion rate can often be in multiple bottles purchased.
In fact, we executed this particular promotion in what we considered second tier markets, and the conversion rates there reached almost 60%. Clearly, showing a little love can pay off in spades. The same point is true in terms of bottles purchased/event. Where we had corporate chain support we nearly doubled the average number of bottles sold per event.
Bottom line, there’s a lot of great new promotion ideas out there, but in the wine and spirits business, blocking and tackling is critical to focus attention on your brands at retail.
Old Vine Carignan Tasting at Puro Chile
We had a wonderful opportunity last weekend to taste the largest number of old vine Carignans ever assembled in the US.
The tasting was held at Wines of Chile’s offices at Puro Chile in New York City and was the stimulated by a convo had with Alder Yarrow of Vinography who came up with the idea. Joining us was Greg Dal Piaz, editor of Snooth; Fred Dexheimer MS, and the event was hosted by Lori Tieszen, Exec. Dir. of Wines of Chile USA.
Some interesting facts (and don’t hold me accountable for the details) about Carignan in Chile:
- Many are grown on their own original rootstocks, not grafted, so it’s a rare opportunity to taste “true” wine. Granted, the botanists will tell you that the rootstock doesn’t affect the flavor, but the age and depth the roots go to, do. And many of these vines are 70 or 80 years old.
- It’s relatively unique to have non-grafted vines in most wine producing areas around the world, but it’s made possible because Phylloxera is essentially absent from Chile, the country being so remote and bounded by four natural barriers of the Atacama Desert, Pacific Ocean, Andes Mountains and Patagonia.
- Most of the wines are produced in the Maule region, and dry farmed (no irrigation) and bush grown, meaning they’re not trellised. So it’s pretty old style viticulture, and the wines show it…rustic, bold tannins and even the younger wines evincing characteristics of the strong sun and dry air of the area.
- Carignan used to be one of the blending grapes of Bordeaux, but like Carmenere, almost forgotten after the phylloxera devastation. It’s found a home in Languedoc-Roussillon region in France where it has the dubious reputation of producing bountiful but not very distinctive juice. Like many old world transplants in South America, however, it develops unique and bold personality and character never seen in its traditional home country.
Some of the wines we tasted were produced by a group called VIGNO which is trying to establish rural Maule in the mind of the world wine cognscenti. There rules require:
- Use a minimum of 65% Carignan in a red wine, with the balance being made up of old-vine varieties from the Maule secano zone
- All Carignan vines must be old, ie 30-years-old or more – or be plants grafted over rootstocks of the País (Mission/Criolla) variety themselves 30-years-old or more – located within Maule’s secano.
- All vines must be dry-farmed (ie unirrigated)
- The wines must be aged for at least two years before being released for sale (the manner of this maturation is not specified)
I was particularly pleased to taste some of the wines produced by the Garage Wine Co., a project of Derek Mossman Knapp, a transplanted Canadian I met at lunch on a visit to Chile two years ago. Derek’s a former ad guy turned passionate winemaker, and I was pleased to see that an ad guy really can produce something of substance and value. Thanks Derek…it gives me something to shoot for.
Jancis Robinson had written a nice piece on VIGNO in her Purple Pages.
World’s Leading Wines Event
I attended the World’s Leading Wines trade tasting and dinner in NY this week representing Rotes Haus wines of Austria. As many of you know through first hand experience, one of the key challenges many, if not most, off shore wineries and spirit producers face is finding an importer in the U.S.
Unlike in Europe where trade shows such as ProWein, VinExpo, Vinitaly and the London Wine Fair cater to that business need, there’s really nothing of scale in the U.S. that does.
We found two programs that are attempting to close that gap, one called World’s Leading Wines and the other is World Wine Meetings which held a solo event in Chicago in April. I attended World’s Leading Wines event in NY last week as both a speaker and a winery representative.
Some background on WLW: It’s run by an entrepreneurial trade show company in the UK called Commerce Interact run by Paul Catchpole and ably assisted by Chris Atkins. WLW held a road show with events in NY, Chicago and San Francisco in the U.S. and Asian events planned for later this year in Singapore, Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai
Approx. 20 people representing 38 wineries presented to 37 importers and 44 trade (on/off-sale) at the New York event held June 18 at the Plaza Athenee hotel. WLW asked me to give a presentation on options to import wine in the U.S. for the exhibiting wineries. You can check it out on Slide Share
I also participated representing Rotes Haus, a wonderful winery run by our friend Paul Kiefer in Austria. Rotes Haus and its sister brand Mayer am Pfarrplatz are small production, estate grown wines produced in Vienna. As some of you may know, Vienna is one of the few, if only capital cities in Europe with commercial production of wine within the city limits. Rotes Haus produces some exquisite Gruner Veltliners and is looking for an importer to represent the brand in the US.
My takeaway from the show was that there’s clearly a definitive need for something like this in the U.S., and WLW is a good first step. Well organized and efficiently run it attracted an interesting but limited mix of importers, on and off premise retailers and key trade folks. However my attendance did reinforce my thinking that there is an opportunity to improve on the structure. A walk around tasting is a convenient way to sample the wares of a variety of producers, but whether it’s a small scale event like WLW or a massive one like ProWein, it’s still sort of random. They rely on the diligence of the attendee to know in advance of who’s exhibiting and then to match that with their specific need.
I’m thinking there’s got to be a better way.
