Curating wine, creating demand

##Was the wine an afterthought or did it help shape the experience?

AD-VIN is collaborating on a wine & art event in December and as part of the research am conducting to better deliver this event, I have been attending a lot of wine parties, museum and galleries. I have observed that at an art exhibition, a curator considers the audience, the setting, the sequence and the conversation the work might provoke. This was clearly illustrated at the Picasso Through the Eyes of Paul Smith exhibition at the Tokyo National Art Center. We were transported through a journey where real life, everyday objects, prints and textures converged around special life moments and occasions. There was a path to follow and a clear method behind the somewhat artistic madness. This got me wondering why at most gallery openings, brand events and corporate dinners, wine is often chosen last based on budget and headcount, rather than on the experience the event aims to deliver. Shouldn't the choice deserves more thought? Which wine opens the evening? What changes when people move from viewing to dining or dancing? Does the selection say anything about the host, the place or the people in the room? And if someone loves a glass, can they find that wine again? Curation gives wine a role within an experience. A curated wine selection can extend the event values beyond the event itself.

##Simple ideas to Growth Plans

Over the past five months, this AD-VIN weekly intelligence dispatch deliberately shared a range of ideas and advice on cultural occasions, consumer behaviour, wine and music, international markets, digital discovery and the route from attention to purchase. AD-VIN works across business growth strategy and route to market, through positioning, marketing and advertising strategy, to media planning and buying. I have spent nearly three decades working across brands, agencies and media, and I know the wine trade from the inside. The point of bringing those disciplines together is simple: a brilliant occasion means little if the right audience never hears about it; an excellent advertisement means little if the product is hard to find or the proposition gives people no reason to choose it. So, this week I wanted to put advertising in the spotlight and share four campaigns that caught my attention and sparked some thoughts.

##WINE & ADVERTISING SPOTLIGHT

##One: who is claiming wine’s territory?

The Glenlivet Provence Edition is a Scotch whisky finished in French wine casks, including casks from Château Sainte Marguerite. Its packaging and story draw on the colours, flavours and atmosphere of Provence. Whisky has no hesitation borrowing wine’s places, production associations and cultural romance to give its own consumers something new to discover. Wine marketers might ask where the reciprocal invitation is. Which whisky drinker could a wine brand credibly welcome into its world?

Link: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/the-provence-edition

##Two: House Party

Tia Maria’s House Party travelled across three UK festivals with themed rooms, DJs, interaction and a recognisable serve: the Espresso Martini. It became a place people could enter, rather than a logo beside a stage. Readers of my wine and house music piece will recognise the point: the DJ curates a journey and the audience helps create it. The article on wine and classical music discussion of Ministry of Sound’s orchestral format explored a related idea: a familiar cultural attachment can find new life when the format changes. A wine brand could build a compelling house party too. What would guests drink, do and remember there?

Link: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/tia-maria-house-party

##Three: participate in GenZ’s culture

JC Le Roux's Make a Thing of It campaign moves sparkling wine away from the wedding-and-graduation calendar towards smaller personal wins. This is a clear example of an attempt to create more occasions, using moments a younger audience may recognise in their own lives. The key take away is to reconsider what merits opening the bottle based on your target segment’s lifestyle. What daily moments matter most to your target consumer?

Link: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/corks

##Four: Welcome to the Creek

Jacob’s Creek’s Welcome to the Creek campaign invites people into a vibrant, sociable world and extends that idea across advertising, design and retail. In the UK, the brand has also introduced bottles that lead with taste profiles rather than grape varieties. Give people a feeling and a reason to join in, then make the wine easier to choose. Reply “CREEK” if you would like my full Jacob’s Creek advertising case study: what works, what I would challenge and what other wine brands can learn from it and how to apply these learnings adapted to their scale.

Link: https://www.adsoftheworld.com/campaigns/welcome-to-the-creek

##Handling the marketing and advertising budget objection

Some of these campaigns had significant teams, production and media behind them. While large budgets can buy scale, the strategic thinking is available to brands regardless of how much they can spend on production. Start with a brief that names the audience clear, the occasion that aligns with your wine (ref last week), the behaviour you want to change, the message that could change it and where someone can buy the wine. Then choose an execution you can afford to test and measure. A focused partnership with a venue, a useful piece of content and targeted local media may serve one market better than a lavish film seen by the wrong people.

Trade partners have an essential role, but they cannot manufacture consumer demand on the producer’s behalf indefinitely. Nor should a producer fund a campaign without knowing whether the wine is available where it is advertised. This means both sides need to agree on the target market, the commercial opportunity, the route to purchase and what each will contribute. I have had countless conversations these past weeks with importers and distributors in Japan asking me to pitch AD-VIN's marketing and advertising services to the producers they work with because they cannot build consumer demand for every brand in their portfolio on their own. At a trade event last week one importer told me they now only work with producers who can prove they have a marketing plan for the Japanese market.

As mentioned last week, Q4 offers a practical place to begin. People are already deciding what to bring, serve and gift. Pick one occasion, one audience and one product; build a campaign around that decision; and measure whether it creates enquiries, trial or sales. A smaller budget is a reason to be more precise, not an excuse for being invisible.

An exclusive invitation from AD-VIN

I have room for two Q4 Wine Sales Sprints this week. If there is a wine or bundle in your portfolio that should be selling better, bring me the product and the market. In a 45-minute briefing, we will identify the buying occasion worth pursuing. Within two business days, you will have a focused campaign plan and three action points (email, newsletter, social media post etc) your team can implement. The sprint fee is US$700. Q4 buying decisions are being made. Reply “SPRINT” with the SKU you have in mind, and let’s find the reason someone will choose it.

Until next week,