Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/74662
Marketing Matters DIXIE LEE HUEY Managing Direct Consumer Sales Highlights Wishful thinking, status quo and avoidance do not sell wine. Thank- fully, proactive measures do, especially when implemented on a con- sistent basis, measured and improved for maximum efficacy. How proactive are your marketing and sales efforts? Are you T taking the right actions at the right times? Is your strategy working? If you're happy with your direct-to-consumer (DtC) activity, could you be selling more or, dare I say it, charging more? Assuming you've tackled the hardest part—producing wines that over-deliver on value for the price, packaging, quality and overall experience—the next step is to gain an understanding of where you stand relative to best practices for DtC marketing in the industry. (Note that this article is written with small- to medi- um-sized wineries in mind.) There are many ways to employ marketing-driven sales strate- gies for DtC sales. To recognize the majority of the areas used and provide a visual checklist, I've created a wine marketing wheel (see chart on page 140). Not all of them are appropriate or neces- sary for every business; what is most important is being compel- ling and consistent in your messaging and in the areas you do employ. This is highlighted by the fact that brand/USPs (unique here have been some particularly hot challenge topics in the industry during the past few years—distributor consolidation, price pressure, brand proliferation and, of course, the economy. These trends and the down part of the economic cycle are real, and in an acute way they necessitate a focus on marketing-driven sales strategies. • Take a quiz to evaluate your winery's marketing efforts and bet- ter understand your strengths and challenges. • Formulate a marketing action plan to increase your winery's direct sales. • Learn what other wineries are doing to increase return on mar- keting investment. selling propositions) are in the middle of the circle, as this is your foundation and one of the best ways to differentiate from the ev- er-increasing competition. The quiz: a learning exercise Why bother with a quiz? As a former marketing instructor and lifelong student, I believe quizzes both help us gain understanding of how we measure up relative to our peers and highlight areas where we should focus our improvement efforts. Each of the areas outlined in the wheel has a corresponding sec- tion below with three statements describing marketing practices. The scores 1, 2 and 3 signify beginner, average and pro, respectively. For each section you'll select the one that best suits your winery's current position and, in doing so, learn where improvements can be made (i.e., if you rate your winery a "2" in media relations you'll immediately see what the 3s are doing at the next level). If one of the areas doesn't apply to you, then feel free to skip it. When you're finished, there will be a section for rating your winery's efforts. Brand USPs 1. We don't have a story. (Mark this if yours is "making wine with passion in a vineyard" or some version of this statement.) 2. We have a story but it's not written down, it's in my head. Or, we have a story, but we're not telling it consistently across the marketing areas. 3. We know what differentiates our wine brand, and this is clearly and consistently communicated in our marketing materi- als. We seek to delight our customers and know which target seg- ments are matches for our wines. QSEE US AT UNIFIED, BOOTH #1701 138 Wines & Vines JAnUARY 2011 Advertising 1. Our ads simply state tasting room and website information, perhaps showing a bottle of wine. They're run infrequently, or only when a rep calls begging for a placement.