Timing Is Everything

The wine industry is undergoing monumental expansion, with new brands coming to market daily. Technological advancements, corporate innovation departments, custom crush facilities and virtual wineries like Crushpad are fueling this growth by decreasing time to market and entry barriers. It is an exciting time for the industry and consumers alike, and for brand owners, it necessarily means increased competition for sales and publicity.

Getting the timing right for a brand launch is a key competitive force. Most wine marketing professionals begin brand planning before the fruit source is even identified! They do so because the vineyard is related to many of the costs of bottling and selling the wine, and therefore the brand’s financial performance. For example, a prime fruit source often implicates a particular type of bottle, label, sales pitch, etc.

For a nascent small or micro winery, timing is even more important given limited resources and a void of brand awareness. The ideal time to create a brand strategy is just after you decide to make wine; or better yet, in conjunction with the decision-making process. In short, it’s well before any of the winery’s look elements have been constructed!

It’s tempting to do just the opposite -- many new winemakers have a label or website concept in mind, and rush to create them without considering how they will fit into the overall business’ brand plan. Doing so puts a winery at a disadvantage because a brand’s “look” elements (name, label, website, etc.) need to support the additional crucial parts of the plan; not define it.

A solid brand business plan includes, but is not limited to the following: a unique and compelling story which is brought to life by the external communication elements (label, website, printed materials, etc.); a production plan (cases and intended growth); a sales plan (percentage breakdown between direct to trade, direct to consumer, and three-tier distribution); and a target sales and promotional audience (to whom you’re planning to sell and market the wine). It can be helpful to think of all the brand plan parts as a web of interconnected elements that strengthen and support each other. They are the very building blocks along the path to your success. So spend time cultivating them, and do so at the right time, at the early stages of your business.