Wine Marketing:

The Basics Paul Wagner, President, BALZAC

Instructor, Napa Valley College

Wine Marketing & Sales

GOAL OF MARKETING: OPENING THE DOOR

• Define Winery Position

• Understand Distribution

• Support Sales

The Basics:

• Developing Your Business Plan

• Sales Projections

• Estimating the Size of your Market

• Creating a Unique Selling Proposition

Developing Your Business Plan

• What will you make?

• Where will you sell it?

• Financial Analysis and Cash Flow

Sales Projections

• How Many Cases CAN you sell?

• Where will you sell them?

• How many customers do you need?

• How many contacts must you make?

Estimating the Size of your Market

• How many people are there?

• Where are they?

• How many of them drink wine?

• How many will be YOUR customers?

Creating a Unique Selling Proposition

• How are you special?

• Why should people care?

• How will that sell wine?

Some definitions:

• Marketing: preparing the ground for sales

• Sales: transforming inventory into cash

• Brand: a symbol in the customers’ mind

• Positioning: how you are different

How are Sales and Marketing Different?

• Sales is the transformation of inventory into cash.

• Marketing is the development and protection of the brand.

• These are not mutually supportive goals

What is a brand?

• A brand is the symbol that consumers associate with your company and products.

• It’s worth is a direct measure of your marketing success.

• If you have a company, you already have a brand.

So what is your position?

• If you have a brand, you have a position.

• Do you know what it is?

• How can you affect it?

• What do you want it to be?

That’s really big question:

•What do you want your brand to be?

So how do you answer it?

• Build on what you have

• Eliminate the negative

• Look down the road

SWOT DIAGRAM

• Strengths

 

• Weaknesses

 

• Opportunities

 

• Threats

SWOT

• Analyze competitive marketing programs

• Focus on high return programs

• Invest in long term strategies

Build your Brand

• Lead the category

• Own a word in the consumers’ minds

• Create value for the company

• All this will help sales

PULLING THROUGH THE PIPELINE

• How does marketing help?  • Who really gets people to buy a specific wine?

Role play it.

• What can it do that advertising can't?  • Can it build long term success,

relationships, results?

DON’T JUST TALK; LISTEN

“Propaganda ends where dialogue begins.”

Marshall McCluhan

WHAT THE TRADE WANTS

• Best buys

• High scores

• News

• Interesting photos

• More buyers, better sales

WHAT CONSUMERS WANT

• Authenticity

• Personality

• Best buys

• High scores

• Interesting photos

WHERE DO YOU APPLY THIS?

• Promotions

• Placement

• Pricing

• Product!

• This is your brand. This is your message to the world.

MARKETING 101 IN SUMMARY

• Know your message

• Identify your audience

• Deliver the message

• Evaluate results

DEFINE EXPECTATIONS

• Goals and budgets

• Hard results vs. Image enhancement

• Be accountable—for all our sakes