![\"Marketing](\"http:\/\/dev.bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/marketing-manifesto.png\")
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Here\u2019s a distilled version of things I\u2019ve learned to be true in marketing wines and spirits in the U.S. <\/p>\n 2. Don\u2019t market to empty shelves<\/strong><\/span> <\/p>\n 5. Target Audience:<\/strong><\/span> It\u2019s easy to be seduced by great ideas, but it\u2019s your job to recognize that great ideas are only great if they are on-strategy. We like to break things into three categories to really simplify decision-making:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 7. Have a POINT of Difference that MAKES a Difference<\/strong><\/span> We often ask prospective clients to define their POD that MAD and commonly get the same answer: \u201cWe make really great (your category here).\u201d In today\u2019s world, making great wine, spirits or beer is necessary, but not sufficient. What is it that makes your brand a unique solution to a consumer and trade buyer\u2019s problem? Think emotional benefits rather than trade benefits. <\/p>\n 10. Push vs. Pull<\/strong><\/span> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 12 tips for wine marketing success in the U.S. market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[65,69,89,111,158,169,179,187,194],"class_list":["post-1002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-import-wine","tag-importing-wine","tag-liquor","tag-national-association-of-beverage-importers","tag-u-s-wine-market","tag-vinepair","tag-wine","tag-wine-distribution","tag-wine-marketing","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/marketing-manifesto.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7k1BV-ga","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1002"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1633,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1002\/revisions\/1633"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bevologyinc.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n1. Distribution: It\u2019s not about placements it\u2019s about RE-placements<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n
\nBefore you start consumer promotions, make sure you\u2019ve developed sufficient distribution such that consumers can actually buy what you are promoting.
\nTips: 1)You must have a where-to-buy function on your Facebook page and website. That does double duty\u2026it not only allows your consumers to actually buy the product you\u2019re promoting, but it also is a powerful sales tool to let retailers know you\u2019re helping to drive traffic to their store\/bar\/restaurant. 2) Always target and work with at least one aggressive e-commerce retailer in every market\u2026 It will allow you to sell your products to consumers in states where you don\u2019t have a distributor on board.<\/strong><\/em>
\n3. Get it in, and then Get it OUT<\/strong> <\/span>
\nBuilding distribution is one thing, but it has little value if you haven\u2019t coupled that with consumer marketing and promotion to move the product through and generate reorders at retail. Tip: in today\u2019s hyper-competitive environment you need to prove your case commercially by yourself before you can convince others that it will sell through for them.
\n4. Help the importer and distributor do their jobs:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n
\nTip: Add a trade component to all consumer promotions so that the on and off premise accounts you have distribution in recognize you’re the one sending them customers and helping grow their revenue and margins.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nYou can\u2019t be all things to all people. Determine your target audience and focus on it precisely, comprehensively, consistently and relentlessly. Rinse and repeat.
\nTip: it\u2019s just as important to determine who\u2019s NOT your audience as well as who is.<\/strong><\/em>
\n6. Triage by \u201cMust,\u201d \u201cShould,\u201d and \u201cCould.\u201d<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n\n
\nTip: Make sure your strategies mesh with target audience behavior. You must use different tools to reach Millennials vs. Boomers.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nThis is the simplest, but perhaps also the most difficult thing you have to do. Pare down your brand positioning to its absolute essence to determine not just what differentiates you from competitors, but how to express that difference in ways that are meaningful and motivational.<\/p>\n
\nTip: “Pairing” no longer is limited to food and wine\/cocktails. The new paradigm is not about what it pairs with, it’s where, when and with whom you are pairing . What is the environment, virtual or real, and who is participating. With apps like VinePair, ViVino, Wine4.me, consumers are sharing their experience in real time. That goes beyond the food…way beyond.<\/strong><\/em>
\n8. This is a Marathon, not a 100-meter dash.<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe U.S. may be the most important wine\/beer\/spirit market in the world, but it\u2019s also the most difficult, competitive and complicated. Tip: Recognize and plan for it…and most importantly hire a guide you can trust.<\/strong><\/em>
\n9. Don’t pay for people to come to you, bring your wines to where they’re already gathered.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n
\nTip: Think of “gathering” in terms of synchronicity. These days, not everybody has to be in the same place at the same time to share the same experience.<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\nBuilding both into your marketing plan is mandatory. Push has no value without consumer purchase, pull has no value without distribution.
\nTip: Allocate resources to activate consumers to order\/call for your brand in a way that involves the retailer so they recognize what you’re doing for their specific account.<\/strong><\/em>
\n11. Ready, Fire, Aim<\/strong><\/span>
\nIt’s rare to get everything right the first time. So set specific, quantified objectives (the ready part); fire when ready, then refine aim based on performance against those measurable objectives.
\nTip: An objective without a measurement is just a goal.<\/strong><\/em>
\n12. Curb your enthusiasm and really focus<\/span><\/strong>
\nThis is really hard to do, but absolutely critical. Recognize it’s rare to get things right the first time…you can be ready and still be wrong. (Ciroc was originally positioned as “snap-frost vodka before P Diddy got involved.) So invest the time and resources on a limited geography to soft launch in a small number of markets (no more than 3). The U.S. is more balkanized than the Balkans…52 different markets.
\nTip: Prove your concept commercially and scalably and only then look to expand.<\/strong><\/p>\n