How to build your wine brand?

By Adrienn Toth

To build a successful wine brand, you need to have a strategy because the key is not to use one social media platform over another or putting a cartoon-like label on your bottle over a traditional one with a picture of a chateau. The key is to identify the goal you want to achieve and build a strategy to get there. Only when you can clearly see both your goal and your strategy will you be able to choose the most valuable assets. 

How to Build Your Wine Brand gives you all the help you need to build the foundation of your brand. It is essential if you are about to start a new wine business, but it is never too late if you are already running one but have doubts about your marketing efforts. We will also guide you through many new trends in business communication that are particularly useful in the wine trade. Let us accompany you along the way!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Sep 17, 2023

Book preview

Introduction

What do you think about how people decide which bottle of wine to buy? Do you think based on its smell, taste, and structure? All of them are indeed important, but most wine consumers are not connoisseurs; they do not taste their way blindly through hundreds of wines to find their favorites.

Yes, the quality of the product must be high. And besides its smell and taste, it should have a package that protects the wine and guarantees standards from item to item.

But in most cases, it is not on these elements the decision is made. Neither on the extract nor tannin content of the wine, it is not on the barrel in which the wine has been matured, it is not on the closure, or even not on the design of the label. It is on the connection between the product and the customer.

The connection can build up on a certain attitude the wine represents. It can display the feeling of luxury or a funny and cheerful character. By buying wine, the customers also get the value or nature of the brand means to them.

If there is no connection, it is just a matter of luck or price reduction for a customer to choose our wine. And in this case, we are much more vulnerable in business situations like price negotiations or when entering a new market. So let’s start our road to building the connection between the consumers and us.

The book has four chapters, each consisting of 4-6 sections. Each of them explores a different topic, and at the end of each section, we provide you with the practical tools to help you turn your winery into a success story.

This is how the modules are structured:

Chapter 1 – In the first chapter, we dive deep into our topic. Right at the beginning, we will introduce you to four new trends that can strengthen your communication. Meanwhile, you’ll also realize that many of them are particularly well suited to the unique needs of wineries. So in this chapter, you will learn about the importance of focusing on customers, storytelling, two-way communication, the „Why?" concept, and the role of emotions in customer decisions.

Chapter 2 – You’ll learn about a system that enables you to map out your customers and discover their characteristics and needs. You’ll identify your most important segments, create their personas and explore their characters. This chapter will guide you in preparing questionnaires and in-depth interviews.

Chapter 3 – This chapter helps you to identify your most important stories. These will enable you to strengthen your ties with your customers and partners. You’ll work out how to present your wines to your professional partners and also to your customers. You’ll apply the power of storytelling on social media platforms. We’ll give you tips on how to express and present your brand values.

Chapter 4 – Based on the skills and knowledge you have acquired during the course, you’ll create your brand book. You will find out about the concept of internal brand and its elements: you’ll identify your purpose, vision, mission, and values. You’ll also position yourself among your competitors and revise your key segments and personas. Finally, you’ll summarize your primary messages, main characteristics and identify your tone. Doing so will give you a reliable compass to guide you through any future marketing-related decision-making processes.

How can this course be life-changing for you?

This book can give you new ideas and teach you new perspectives and structures to think in. Or it can change the way you work and make your marketing efforts’ results outstanding. What makes the difference?

Marketing’s essence is not what you are thinking but the effect of what you are doing. It is like yoga or running. Only reading about it or watching educational videos won’t improve your health. But if you start to implement the theory, your accomplishment will already enhance in a short period.

This is why we created a Tools to Success section at the end of each section. Some of them aim to understand a new viewpoint or mindset, and with some, you will already build the essential brand elements of your winery. Dedicating time to executing them is the only way to fully benefit from the course.

And now, let’s start with the first chapter, where you will be introduced to four new trends that can strengthen your communication.

1 New ideas in business communication

1.1 Trend No. 1: Don’t talk like a corporation, talk like a human

Around the new millennium, the world has fundamentally changed as the internet is present in almost every aspect of our lives. For a long time, companies have used business language when reaching out to their customers. It could sound as official and formal as if you were a lawyer. Or playful and inspiring in the case of a chocolate factory. But whatever tone they used, it was always sure that a company was speaking to its customers.

Giving information or drawing attention to their „3 for the price of 2" special offers. It was one-way communication, and customers could respond only by action like purchasing the products or ignoring them.

The world has changed, and the days of one-way communication are gone. Today there are many ways available for customers to express their opinions. Just think of the reviews on Google, Trip Advisor, or any social media site. Customers can express their opinions in written reviews, by posting photographs, or by simply giving stars.

In the