Winemakers and Vineyard Managers are the artists and magicians in our industry. Yes, they call on science a great deal too. And their alchemy yields a precious libation revered and exulted in rituals both daily and sacred; from the family meal to religious rites.
We honor their time in the vineyard, the cellar and the lab and always want more of them. Their unique perspective, experience and connection to the vine practically makes them our only and best channel into the mysteries of our wine experiences. Coming together and sharing is already a precious gift of presence; add wine to the experience and there is an immediate physical in-the-moment awareness that heightens the sharing. Simply and truly connecting.
Social networking is that experience, increasing your opportunity for connecting in meaningful and substantial ways. There are many examples in business online, but look to no other proof than that of Barak Obama’s campaign. While engaging Americans with all the traditional campaign tools, “It super-charged those traditional methods with the best online strategy ever employed in a national campaign…” (see TechPresident). The online experience is the channel primed for growth, value, contribution and community in the wine industry. A direct interface both massive and intimate for communicating story, images, video, events, and the science and artistry of making wine to the people all over the world who love wine.
It comes down to relationships. Marketing and Social Networking have the tenants of relationships, community, connecting, engaging (and user generated content), thanks to Web 2.0 that make it successful. By now, many SMO folks are tired to those terms, but they hold true. The technology allows people to connect on platforms and groups like LinkedIn, the Open Wine Consortium and facebook. And the in-person connection that these social groups afford may be accelerated and made meaningful in a world where corporate giants are depersonalizing more of our consuming experiences. Finding restaurants, bookstores, wine shops and grocery stores where you meet the owner, know the manager and connect with the sales person are all but gone. And it was those connections cultivated over time that made the experience rewarding, serving not just our purchasing needs, but our extended human interaction needs across our community.
Enter social networking. Across vast populations all pressed for demands on their time, money and energy, we can find ways to connect with like-minded individuals and groups. We may also share information, stories, reviews, experiences, events and eventually, in person, a bottle of wine. Wineries (their winemakers, vineyard managers, owners) have an opportunity to connect with the online wine world, including consumers, wine bloggers and a variety of Web 2.0 wine companies, all of whom are crazy-passionate about wine and wine people. Wineries have the opportunity to contribute to the community, add value and participate in the most effective means of growing business: giving more, delivering more, leading more, where becoming an industry leader means building a model in our industry for business relationships across the world of wine consumers. And connecting even for a few precious minutes a day or each week with the artists/scientists of the vine, the winemakers and vineyard managers would be an amazing gift of a relationship that wineries may share.
It is an exciting time in the wine world.
I couldn’t agree more. Social Media is definitely a mutually enriching experience for participants. I don’t think many PR people get yet that it’s the “social” in social media that is key. It’s not just about leveraging another platform for your marketing message–if that’s all you are in it for you’re wasting your effort because your message will be drowned out. Traditional branding doesn’t work in mediums like Twitter. SM is about the people behind the brands and requires an investment of yourself. That is what will make people remember you and remember your brand. When that starts happening the buzz around your brand starts growing too!
Yes, YES!!! That’s for another post! I was starting at the beginning. I completely agree. Just from my own perspective of enjoying twitter of someone’s blog, I want the story, humor, intelligence, connection…then I’ll connect to the buy, or subscription or whatever when I’m ready. Yes to everything you say. It is a paradigm shift for marketers to think of participating (old think: selling) within a community! Thanks for your thoughts! More like this here: http://winedivergirl.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/inclusive-vs-exclusive/
I find it so amazing to watch the evolution of certain categories online – wine now being one of them. Social media is everything that you described and more. Yet it is not a one size fits all solution and not all brands or categories will elicit the ‘desire to connect’ response from consumers. You are so right that the human connection has been removed from most consumer-merchant-manufacturer experiences. The brand today stands more for an icon and one way message than it does the essence of a product or the folks behind it. Social media has become a multiple disciplinary channel that benefits each brand/category in unique ways – whether it be customer feedback, PR, advertising, product development, fostering word of mouth. It all comes down to the brand essence, and consumers’ passion for the category. I am enjoying the passion that wineries, wine 2.0 companies as you call them, and wine consumers, have for wine. It’s an enjoyable ride to watch, and I can imagine even more enjoyable to be part of.
I can tell you 1st hand that marketing to a social network without being social is sure to fail. It may not be practical to be on every social network in your niche (being wine here) but the ones you do want to use to glean prospective customers from you need to give and not just take from the community.
We have had several people pitch their product and that is all they were there to do. While I do not moderate these pitches, as I believe in free speech and letting people/companies flourish or fail by what they typed, I also do not moderate the backlash that sometimes follows from the membership. We are a community where the membership decides what is good and what is not. They are not afraid to voice their opinion to an entity that just wants to sell something.
Contribute to the community, be social, make friends and you will see people coming to you, asking you about what it is you have to offer.
[...] Wineries in Social Media [...]
I’m probably in the minority of my generation (the so-called “Millennials”) in my disdain for social media. In part, it may be because I’m allegedly something of a luddite in general (if a movement were afoot to ditch computers altogether and go back to rotary phones, typewriters and carbon copies, I’d be all for it). Specific to social media, though, is my concern that people’s interpersonal relationships are being diminished, rather than enhanced, by the ability to migrate communications onto their computers.
That’s why our social network, youngwinos.com, is designed in such a way to strongly promote actual (face-to-face) interactions via our system of local chapters. Besides being able to chat and upload photos as on other networks, our twenty-something users are also asked to join the group of the local Young Winos chapter in their community, which allows them to receive updates on their chapter’s weekly tastings and other wine events. If no local chapter exists, they’re encouraged to start one, and given the tools to do so. And so far, the message has been well-received — four new local chapters formed within the last sixty days alone. Four more groups of young people gathering in their various corners of the country to experience wine together, their face-to-face interactions facilitated by a benevolent, unobtrusive social network.
I think it behooves all purveyors of 2.0 sites to consider whether their networks are really striving to facilitate meaningful relationships or just virtual ones. Tweeting and texting are fun, but they’ll never replicate the experience of actually sharing a bottle of wine with another human being.
Yes, yes, yes, Mr. Jessie Porter!
But I completely agree with you. Yes, the greatest, bestest value social networking has to offer is getting people together in person. And you expertly, graciously USE the internet and technology to do exactly that. Well done. Will check out http://www.youngwinos.com myself, even if I’m too old!
You are a walking contradiction and proof positive as well as a contradiction! I’d LOVE to meet you
A great post! I couldn’t agree more with the points raised – although maybe you could tone down the winemaker worship
As a small winery (30,000 cases/year) tucked away in South Australia’s Clare Valley selling wine to a dozen countries worldwide we love any method enabling us to connect with our consumers. Connecting with them in a more direct and engaging way is what separates us from the big guys whose brands are too big to have a dialogue with their drinkers. As Taster B said it’s all about the people behind the brands.
I’d love to do this face to face Jesse as it is still the most effective way to communicate, however a. my travel budget won’t stretch that far and b. my wife would divorce me! An example of how this can lead to face-to-face meetings was a recent tasting with Rick Bakas in one of our Adelaide Hills vineyards – it all started with a dialogue on Twitter – Rick in Boulder, Colorado and me in Clare, South Australia.
The other benefit is cost – we can communicate and interact with our drinkers, bloggers, influencers, importers etc. worldwide via Facebook, Flickr, Twitter etc. relatively cheaply – the infrastructure to do do is in place just leaving the investment of our time.
Cheers
Matt
[...] that I’ve joined the sales team. We’ve talked about them thus far ad nauseum here, on twitter and in person as we’ve laid the ground work for what this new thing, online [...]