by Cheryl Wolhar - MyVineSpace on February 18, 2009
Web 2.0 is a technology trend for information sharing and social networking that is an emerging innovation within the wine industry.
Many winery’s have started blogging but others are not sure where to begin. MyVineSpace recommends starting a simple branded community where you can manage your blog and online discussions, but most importantly you can build a social community where you can interact directly with your customers and wine club members.
Creating an online Social Networking Community allows you to attract and interact with your customers in a fashion that was not possible before.
Community Benefits for the Winery:
* Build an active, vibrant online community
* Cultivate and strengthen lifetime customer relationships
* Create a channel of trust through word of mouth interactions
* Build brand loyalty by communicating WITH customers instead of AT them
* Publish and manage effective winery blogs and forum discussions
* Augment your marketing efforts with targeted campaigns to your community
Community Benefits for your Consumers :
* Learn and enjoy wine within a like-minded community
* Interact directly with winery staff and wine making teams
* Customize your personal space and socialize with your friends
* Receive insider information on special offers, events and breaking news
* Participate in exciting on-line events such as video-casts and on-line wine tasting
A branded community is so much more than a blog… It’s video, photos, blogging and social networking all rolled up in one wonderful community for your customers to enjoy.
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by Cheryl Wolhar - MyVineSpace on February 2, 2009
Jo Diaz’s blog “Some truths behind the wine Industry and Social Media” is generating some interesting discussion.
I was most interested in the gap she describes between the winery decision makers (owners and principles) and the social media technologists (us). Jo does a great job explaining her view of the current mindset of some in the wine industry in regards to social media and discusses the huge distance she sees between the two.
Based on the discussions I have had recently with some small wineries I would have to agree. If they are not comfortable with technology they seem to be extremely reluctant to take this on. They feel that they don’t have the time or the experience necessary to do it correctly and that they do not have the money to staff for it during this economic down turn. The truth is that they can’t afford not to. I firmly believe that those wineries that make an effort now to utilize some aspect of social media will be way ahead of those that don’t when the economic turn around comes along. They will also, most likely, experience less of a downturn.
Jo says, “I’ve got grape growers who own their own businesses, [...]
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by Cheryl Wolhar on November 19, 2008
I was recently invited to join a wine making co-op that buys grapes each year and makes and bottles their own Cabernet and Pinot Noir. I was able to buy in on the 2008 vintage which was harvested, crushed and barreled earlier in the year. Because I am now part of the co-op, I was invited to join them for their bottling party where the wine from 2006 was bottled. I am excited to join this group to learn more about wine making and of course, my favorite thing, wine drinking!
The day started at 9:30 am with a relatively short drive from my house to the vineyard. While the drive was short, more than half was on a twisty, dirt road with lots of potholes and loose gravel.
At one point I missed a turn so I had to turn around on a very narrow road. I accidentally backed up hard into a low rock fence that I couldn’t see and I was sure had put a huge hole in my bumper. Then on the dirt road I bottomed out a few times and had visions of holes in the bottom of my car too!
The dirt road was so long I [...]
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by Cheryl Wolhar - MyVineSpace on November 14, 2008
I read this post today where Paul Boutin says that blogs are dead and I agree, sort of…
<pIf you are considering starting a new blog now, the wrong thing to do would be to create one of those static boring blogs that everyone else has.
<pHe mentions sites like Flickr, Facebook and Twitter as better options. I say, YES use Flickr, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter by all means, but use them to drive people to the new community that you build on a Web 2.0 platform around your brand.
<pHere are two example of wineries <a href=”http://www.eaglesnestwinery.ning.com”>”Eagles Nest Winery”</a> and <a href=”http://winespace.donatifamilyvineyard.com”>Donati Family Vineyard”</a> that have taken up this community concept, truly internalized it and really made it their own. You can see each “natural voice” shines through.
<pHere are two example of wineries “Eagles Nest Winery” and “Donati Family Vineyard” that have taken up this community concept, truly internalized it and really made it their own. You can see that each “natural voice” shines through.
<pSome of the benefits are:
Build an active, vibrant online community
Cultivate and strengthen lifetime customer relationships
Create a channel of trust through word of mouth interactions
Expand your online digital brand
Build brand loyalty by communicating WITH customers instead of AT them
Publish [...]
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by Cheryl Wolhar - MyVineSpace on November 14, 2008
I was struck by this post by Tim Elliott regarding the challenge wineries have in marketing their terrior story and making it unique. It really made me stop and think again about the best way to build a brand. He points to Stormhoek, who is best known for their success using social media. Instead of marketing terrior they are marketing the guiding principles of what their brand stands for:
* Love
* Being Passionate
* Dreaming Big
* Being Spontaneous
* Celebrating
* Changing The World
How about that “change the world or go home” as one of the guiding principles of your brand? That’s a powerful message and I agree with Tim that this type of aspirational positioning will really connect with consumers today. I’m totally getting it!
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