Seeking Distribution: Tips for New or Growing Wineries on How to Approach the Wholesale System

Implementing an effective distribution strategy can be an excellent way of building a wine brand. Wholesalers provide sales know-how, relationships with accounts and their buyers, expertise in the three-tier system and logistics, and a network of “men on the street” who serve as winery ambassadors. Distributors are a set of business partners -- an extension of the winery, so selection for proper mutual fit is critical.

Before considering adding distribution to your sales strategy or even approaching a wholesaler, it is important to understand this dynamic segment of the industry. An industry colleague, Craig Eastman of Northwest Core Collection based in Portland, Oregon, likens the changes in distribution to an hourglass, with suppliers pouring into a narrower middle tier and trying to reach a wider base. From a supplier to wholesaler point of view, it can be thought of like a “funnel” that’s been turned 180 degrees:

Twenty years ago, the funnel was upside-down, with the narrow part at the top representing winery suppliers. It was easier for winery suppliers to gain distribution given less competition and wider availability of smaller wholesalers from which to choose.

Today, there has been a dramatic shift: the funnel has many more wineries trying to pour into a much narrower marketplace given growth in the number of producers and widespread consolidation of wholesalers. The dynamic and complex nature of shipping and compliance regulation adds further fuel to the fire.

While the above may seem daunting or even discouraging, being aware of the current business situation will help you make better decisions regarding your sales strategy. It may even be tempting or advisable to shun distribution all together in favor of a fully direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales strategy, but this decision depends on a winery’s goals and production. (Know that DTC has its challenges, too: customer acquisition and retention, less sales strategy diversification, potential growth limitations, compliance, etc.)

In short, there is no perfect answer -- each winery is advised to consider the pros and cons of engaging wholesalers within the framework of its broader business strategy. Asking the right initial questions and knowing best practices for seeking distribution is very important. Below is a step-by-step approach:

1. Decide if distribution makes sense. First tackle the supply side of the equation. What is my current production? Am I planning to grow it and if so, at what rate? Will doing so be profitable? Then look at the demand side. Am I selling everything that I make through DTC channels? Is this working and meeting my needs? If I’m growing production, are my DTC sales growing at a similar rate? (Or for a rare few, do I have the advantage of a multi-year waiting list and no plans to grow.) Are there accounts who have requested my wines? Do I have press that supports my quality and unique story?

At one extreme, a winery selling everything it produces with more demand than supply and limited growth plans may decide not to pursue distribution. On the other end of the spectrum, a brand with plans to grow and a goal of national presence with on- and off-premise accounts will need it. There are many business situations in between and the right answer will depend on each winery’s unique factors, inputs (resources) and desired outputs (goals).

2. Have a plan. Assuming distribution is a fit for you, the next step is to approach it in a business-like manner. Decide how many markets you’ll explore in the coming year or two. The number will depend on the amount of time you have to research and network and your production. (Hint: a 500 case winery should not aim to place 10 cases in each state -- doing so would create quite a hassle given the time needed to manage wholesalers and spread volume way too thin.)

Choose a number of target markets that make sense to you. These may be the traditional high volume states like California, New York, Florida and Texas. Or perhaps second-tier states where there may be less competition such as Arizona, Colorado, Virginia or Washington. Maybe you have personal reasons to travel to certain markets given family or other interests -- consider these, too. The main point is to be realistic about states that may be a fit and understand that your presence in each of these markets will be necessary to drive sales.

3. Do your homework. Once you’ve determined your target markets, you’ll need to do some research. Find out if you’re pursuing a franchise market -- these states have laws making it more difficult to unwind distribution agreements and entering should not be taken lightly. Gain an understanding of pricing and sales trends by reading the state’s beverage journal (http://www.bevnetwork.com/bevnetwork.asp). Ask your industry colleagues or buyers in accounts you frequent in the market with whom they do business and why. Try to find out about the wholesaler’s financial policies (i.e., does the business pay its bills), reputation, storage conditions, etc.

When you’ve found a potential match, study the distributor’s portfolio -- this is typically available on the company’s website. Does it look like a collection of wines with which you’d like yours to be associated? Does a wine or category you offer fill a need or create a new category that may be of interest to the wholesaler? Will your brand be a big fish in a small pond or a small fish within a sea of competition? What territory or territories are being covered? Is the business restaurant or retail focused? Do sales reps hand-sell fine wines or move volumes of beer and spirits suppliers’ products?

4. Craft your pitch. Determine what uniquely defines your wines. Pull together your materials, press reviews, account list and any other third party endorsement of your winery’s performance. Solicit any potential new accounts who would buy should your wine become available in the market. When preparing to approach wholesalers, demonstrating traction and demand is very important. Unknown brands with little recognition and support are not competitive and represent a lot more work for the distributor.

5. Approach your target effectively. Try to get a colleague who is already doing business with the wholesaler to recommend you, or at least seek an introduction so yours is a warm call. Do not send a box of samples with a note “Dear Owner” and a pile of information. Instead, call or email the owner or manager and politely introduce yourself, state your (specific) reasons for why you think a business partnership would be mutually beneficial and outline what you’re prepared to offer such as training, market visits, samples, ideas for sales, etc.

When you do get an appointment, be sure to have F.O.B. pricing and goals for case sales, account break down (percentage of on- or off-premise), market visits, your availability for training and education, and a list of questions in mind. If you are turned down, do take the time to ask why the decision was made and ask for a follow up appointment or referral if possible.

Top 5 Mistakes Made by New Wineries

1. Neglecting the business planning processes: Too often, new wineries launch without a roadmap -- a mission, vision, set of defined goals and aligned strategies and tactics. Owners and operators spend countless hours tending to vineyards or seeking grape contracts and debating desired styles, aging vessels, and packaging, and yet surprisingly little (or no) time is dedicated to concretely defining the direction of the business.

I’ve heard many excuses for not engaging in business planning: “it’s in my head”; “I need to focus on selling”; or my favorite, “I don’t want to lock into anything while I’m starting”. Rather than serving as a delay mechanism or absolute path, a business plan is a dynamic document that should be revised as the venture grows, and serve as a benchmark for progress evaluation. Operating without one is like arriving in a new city, hoping on the freeway, and hoping to make it to your destination. You’d probably eventually get there, but wouldn’t it have been easier and a lot more fun with an efficient GPS or even a map?

2. Lack of branding: The wishful or erroneous thinking that a wine will sell itself because it’s “good” or “made with passion”. Consumers have thousands of wine brands from which to choose, and they are notoriously disloyal when it comes to their choices. It’s convenient to think that your wine is above the identity creation process; there can be some benefit from being the new “hot” bottle, but over the long haul, the vast majority of successful wines are also compelling brands.

A strong brand consistently communicates its distinct identity and value proposition for the consumer. Identity is composed of a defined look and clear messaging; it includes logo, label, printed material and website design, and anything written -- name, label copy, printed material and website copy, etc. Both look and messaging serve together to communicate a foundational platform – the brand’s unique selling propositions that in turn create value for the targeted set of consumers.

3. Confusing a label with a brand: For many, the label is the fun part. It’s the visual extension of the winery owner’s dream, and can serve as a cue for memory among a sea of choices. Most people start a wine business with a label already in mind. And many start designing it well before they’ve conceived of an identity. This mistake tends to lead to a variety of less than ideal outcomes: messaging is unclear or inconsistent; positioning is not considered; and the target audience is not effectively reached. Furthermore, creating a label before a brand often makes it more difficult (and possibly expensive) to work with other service providers such as website creators, copy writers, and marketing and sales personnel.

4. Launching before it’s time: As the expression goes, “you get only one chance to make a first impression”. Whether it’s sending press announcement before wine is available in the market, emailing potential customers well before the website is launched (or has been checked for bugs), or releasing a bottling before it’s showing at its peak, all of these actions serve to diminish a wine launch. In general, media won’t write about a wine that’s not available, consumers won’t pay to reserve an unknown wine months before it’s released, and new wines released while suffering from bottle shock won’t be well received. The lack of action post pre-mature launch is discouraging and worse, there is no true opportunity to do it correctly.

Financial pressure often drives the decision to launch pre-maturely, and this is why having a business plan with strategies for staying afloat during best and worst case scenarios is a necessity.

5. Having a “build it and they will come” mentality: This thinking is a symptom of lack of true marketing-driven strategies. Consumers do not automatically appear just because a new winery creates a website or opens a tasting room. Similarly, just because you send a mass email asking for a sale doesn’t mean they’ll actually enter their credit card information. Growing sales is about cascading your winery’s unique message (see number 2 above) and creating meaningful customer relationships. It takes time, which is a particularly tough pill to swallow in the wine industry given the initial and early investment.


The good news for wine business owners who want to build their businesses strategically is that there is a wealth of information available. Successful Wine Marketing by Moulton and Lapsley, and Wine Marketing & Sales, by Wagner, Olsen and Thatch, are two great books with which to begin. Online tools for business and marketing plans are available on a variety of websites including the Small Business Administration, Harvard Working Knowledge, and Start Up Nation And industry publications like Wine Business Monthly and Wines & Vines cover trends and practices. Lastly, there are numerous talented industry experts available to meet your marketing and management service needs.

10 Steps to Creating a Winning Website

Building an effective website is a challenging and time-consuming task no matter what the budget. In addition to fiscal pressures, there are also time constraints and sometimes a lack of familiarity with the process or technology involved. Wineries often rush to “get something out there” without first developing a strategy.

As a brand manager who has worked on website projects ranging from the simple to the simply daunting, I’ve developed a series of best practices for small winery website creation. The following are my ten steps to creating a better web presence:

1. Begin at… the beginning. Do you have a strong brand identity, including look, message and story? If not, it’s worth your time and budget to complete or reassess this area as the problem will not solve itself online. If so, you’ll need to have a clear vision of your brand to best portray it online. Also, make sure to have your visual asset files (labels, logo, bottleshots, etc.) on hand and in the proper format.

2. Assess your goals, strengths and weaknesses. What do you want your website to do for you? Will it be a place to learn about the brand and help potential accounts find distributors? A portal for direct purchase? A destination? All of the above? How much time are you willing to spend maintaining it? Are you comfortable overseeing it, or will you seek professional expertise? If it’s the latter, what areas will you outsource? (Begin to research experts if you’ll be outsourcing.) And start working on a budget.

Design is the primary expense for most wineries as hosting is relatively inexpensive given the number of providers and technological advances. A word of caution here: be wary of website design “favors”. More often than not I’ve seen these seemingly good gestures produce sites that look nothing like the winery brand and do little to assert the wine’s quality. In the branding world, you get what you pay for.

3. Develop your site’s information architecture. First, outline the site’s shell. The shell designates and organizes pages and type of content. Think about the purpose of each page and how it will relate to the others. Determine which pages are most important and which might be sub- or linked pages. Next, determine how users will navigate your site. Will a menu appear on the sidebar, or across the top or bottom? Determine whether you will have a landing page or if the URL will go straight to the main homepage. Common menu items include “About”, “Our Wines”, “Vineyards”, “Store/Purchase”, “Wine Club”, “News/Events” and “Contact/Visit”.

Finally, think about which areas of the shell will be stagnate versus dynamic when the page changes. For example, you may want your logo to always appear at the top but have a different picture on each page. Will each page have a link to another (a best practice for search engines)? How will purchasing instructions be made evident on each page?

4. Brainstorm on copy outline. This is not the time to wordsmith and edit; instead, create a bullet point list of the ideas you’d like conveyed on each page of the site. Think about how you’ll tell your story in a succinct and compelling manner and what visuals you’ll use to support your message.

5. If needed, meet with marketing and/or web design professionals to establish project parameters and timeline. If you approach these service providers with an architecture and copy outline, you’ll likely get a better deal on consulting services. While the outputs may change or become more refined as the project unfolds, the initial work you contribute will ensure a better return on your investment. Come prepared with a brief detailing scope of work (what you’re looking to outsource), assess capabilities and seek estimates.

If you’re taking the project on by yourself, this is a great time to begin researching web hosts and domain registration. There are numerous good choices out there and the best fit for your site will depend on a number of factors such as plans for e-commerce, number of pages and amount of file storage needed. I’ve been very impressed with http://www.godaddy.com/, a low-cost, high-service, efficient purveyor of a range of web services. GoDaddy offers one stop shopping for domain registration, web hosting, email and more. And the customer service is nothing short of fantastic.

6. Cover the admin. Be sure to register your domain if you haven’t already. Set up your email and web hosting accounts (if needed), and any auxiliary services such as online file back up or shopping carts for direct sale. Publish a simple “coming soon” or “releasing in 200X” page as a placeholder with your logo and contact information. If you’re planning to or thinking about linking a blog to your site, make sure your desired URL is available and set up the account.

7. Select the look and begin copy writing. If you’re working with a firm, you’ll have multiple rounds of edits for the layout. And if you’re doing it yourself, you’ll likely be working with a web host that offers templates. Once you’ve figured out the look, it’s time to begin deploying copy to the site. Be sure to follow the “less is more” rule, avoiding a lot of competing visuals, scrolling and wordy diatribes. Make how to purchase wine, sign up for your e-newsletter (see my “Effective E-Marketing paper”) and contact the winery very obvious and easy to do.

8. Gather a group of trusted editors. Once you’ve created design and content, select a trusted group of advisers and email them a link to the site for comment and suggestion. (A bottle of wine as a “thank you” offered to those who get back to you within the week works wonders here.) Self test to make sure that all links work, and that your graphics are displaying properly. Read the copy on each page aloud to make sure it sounds like your brand speaking. Spell check every page. Twice.

9. Officially launch your site. Announce the launch of your winery’s site to every key audience – press (media with whom you have a good relationship), trade, wine club members, colleagues, employees, service providers and vendors. Consider offering a purchase discount or free shipping in the announcement to those who act within the first month of the launch. Do your back end due diligence. Make sure to optimize the site by writing keywords and tags for each page and submitting it to the major search engines, or have your contracted firm do so.

10. Incorporate continuous update and improvement into your website management process. There may be more bugs or edits in the first few months. Be sure to correct them and thank anyone who offers you suggestions. Be sure to keep the site relevant as you release new or run out of old wines. Update it at least monthly with press reviews, price changes, special offers, events, etc. Keeping your site updated and relevant is a crucial part of effectively managing your winery’s online presence. While doing so is easier and decidedly less time consuming than the creation process, this final step is easily overlooked. An out of date site is a less compelling and therefore less visited site, decreasing your chances of repeat sales.

PR Blunders: 10 Mistakes to Avoid

The press can be really difficult at times -- intimidating, curse and even worse, silent, especially when you’re a novice at public relations. Ten years ago, my first phone call to a wine writer (let’s call him, “Rob”) went something like this:

Dixie: “Good morning, Rob. I’m calling from XYZ to tell you about our new wine...” (Interrupted mid-sentence.)

Rob: “Do I know you?!! Obviously not! If I did, you’d know not to call when I’m on deadline.” (Hangs up.)

As the new public relations associate for the company, I was shaken and frustrated. How was I going to generate press for my wine brand with writers hanging up on me and ignoring my emails? From a novice’s perspective, writer Rob was rude and I was just doing my job.

Now, as a seasoned PR pro who has since conducted hundreds of press meetings and exchanged thousands of phone calls and emails with journalists, I cringe when thinking of the two major public relations blunders I made within ten seconds during that call!

The good news is that communicating with the wine press, once you have command of the “do’s” and “don’ts”, is actually quite straight forward and even pleasurable, especially when your wine ends up in print! The key to doing so effectively, like in any relationship business, is to know your audience.

It takes years to build media relationships and get to the point where you’re fielding as many press calls as you’re making. In the meantime, avoiding the below mistakes will help you get started and save you time and money:

1. Calling at the wrong times or just because. In general, bad times include “writing days”, the day of or before a deadline, weekends, and late at night or early in the morning. The latter two are easier to avoid. Many writers are freelancers and your calls go to their home offices; hence the need to call during business hours. As for knowing deadline or writing days, without a personal relationship, this is more difficult, but at a minimum you can avoid calling the day before a newspaper columnist’s weekly article appears.

Having a reason for calling is as important as your timing. A good pitch has a strong angle. These are not good angles: 1) “Hi, I’m Mary and I’m passionate about Chardonnay!” Or, 2) “This is Mike ringing to tell you about our 2007 Merlot”. If you’re going to pick up the phone, you’d best be returning a phone call or at minimum have a pitch that might be of interest to the writer.

For example, you are from Pittsburgh and your wine just because available in Pennsylvania, so you reach out to Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Or, your wine proceeds benefit a special cause and you notice that Better Homes & Gardens prefers to recommend bottlings that support charitable organizations. These are just two examples, but they demonstrate that the caller has done her research and has a potential angle. Without the research and the angle, it’s best to send an email.

2. Calling to “follow up” on samples sent, or worse -- receipt of a press release. If you sent it and he hasn’t written about it, calling to follow up will almost certainly ensure that he won’t. Trust me, the writer will call you if interested -- it’s even truer with the press than with dating!

3. Addressing materials to “Dear Wine Writer”. If you don’t have a contact name, you can be sure that the publication’s receptionist will later be sharing your wine with her boyfriend. The general address on the label makes the intended recipient skeptical.

4. Including a tree’s worth of paper in a sample mailing, yet forgetting to clearly state the price. Wine writers do not have time to learn your winery’s entire history, your children and pets names, nor how you met your spouse, etc. They do want information on the price, the vineyard, the vintage, the (concise) differentiating angle or unique selling proposition that could be of interest to their readers.

5. Sending samples packed with Styrofoam. Don’t do it! Recyclables are much better for someone who receives thousands of bottles per year and likely has a separate room in the house or storage facility dedicated to receiving shipments. (Where would you store all of those Styrofoam pieces?) Furthermore, it’s seen as environmentally irresponsible.

6. Sending samples of wines that are sold out, unavailable in their market or on allocation only. There may be some wiggle room regarding allocated wines, but in general, if their readers can’t get it, they’re not going to write about it.

7. Superfluous, wordy press releases. A press release indicates that there is something new or compelling. It is concise, leads with the story angle and contains clearly stated contact information. Three pages detailing another vintage, a label tweak, or a new employee or website isn’t news.

8. Promoting your scores to the wine press. Emailing the San Francisco Chronicle to tell them that you received 93 points in the Wine Spectator doesn’t score you any points. Ditto telling the press how your wine tastes – the critique and description is the writer’s job.

9. Complaining to a writer or publication about a score with which you disagree. This is a very delicate subject; I’ve only done this for a client on two occasions and I assure you that my tone was deferential. It’s better to focus your energy on sending your wine to the appropriate writers and publications at the right time. Most publications have certain guidelines for submitting samples; some of these are on the Crushpad Commerce Wiki.

10. Letting an article on your wine brand go unnoticed. Thank you notes are a nearly extinct relationship building technique, which is precisely why you should jump at the opportunity to write one when you do get press! A simple, hand-written note is always appreciated. (Just don’t use it as an opportunity to pitch – a real thank you asks nothing of the recipient!)

Lastly, remember that most wine writers receive hundreds, if not thousands of samples per year and press releases and mailings too high to count. Even if your release or wine is a stellar work of art, the press cycle may be several months or more, especially if you’re dealing with a magazine.

The PPQ: A Critical Yet Often Overlooked Ratio

We all know that a winery wanting to compete in today’s crowded marketplace should produce tasty wine. (And of course, do so “with passion”, make it “in the vineyard” and hopefully offer something that the critics will admire.) We also understand that packaging is an important element because many people form opinions and buy wine based on the label design. Finally, we comprehend why pricing, while tricky, should, at least in theory, reflect the quality of the wine in the bottle.

While no sane vintner would purposely make a poor quality wine with an ugly label and attempt to sell it at an astronomical price point, there are a surprising number of wines on the market that do not over-deliver on these three aspects. What a lot of brand owners fail to do, or fail to do well, is critically examine the inter-relationships between the wine’s packaging, price and quality. These interrelationships may be expressed with a simple ratio, the packaging: price: quality ratio, or the PPQ.

The PPQ is the “sweet spot” of wine positioning --the ideal intersection where all elements over-deliver on value and create delighted customers. Why is achieving a strong PPQ so important? Because creating and maintaining a strong PPQ will enhance your profitability. Satisfied customers may buy again. Delighted customers will buy again. And they will tell their friends about the great value they found!

To illustrate a PPQ example, let’s examine two hypothetical consumers shopping for a dinner party, “Mary”, the CFO, and “Jerry”, the dog walker. Mary selects a $50 of Pinot Noir with an elegant label. Jerry finds a $10 bottle of Zinfandel on deal with a fun, colorful design. Neither had tasted the wine before purchasing it, but both are influenced by packaging and price during the shopping trip. Essentially, they have the same goal: both want to bring home something that looks and tastes good given the money they have to spend.

Mary is disappointed when she opens a $50 bottle that looks like it costs $60 and tastes like $30. Next time she’ll choose a different bottle. Jerry, on the other hand, is delighted because his wine looks and drinks like a $20 bottle, but only lightened his wallet by $10! He’ll reveal this “deal” to everyone at the dinner party.

Notice that the PPQ is important at any price point, and that it doesn’t recommend an actual type of label design. Wine producers have varied inputs, strategies, outputs and goals. And different segments of wine drinkers have differing needs and desires. It’s a dynamic market, but the PPQ’s answer is the same: to be successful, your wine must over deliver on all three elements to effectively delight customers. To use the earlier example, five years later, when Jerry is the CEO of a national chain of dog walking businesses and he has $100 to spend, he’ll still want the same “deal”.

So how does a smaller wine producer effectively compete on the PPQ? First, she is aware of the importance of the inter-relationship between the three elements. Second, he evaluates his packaging and pricing decisions in the context of the actual quality in bottle. Third, he actively fights the little discussed but rampant disease plaguing the industry (house palate, or the tendency to drink only “house” wine after becoming a vintner) and visits wine shops and restaurants, tasting frequently. And finally, she seeks a qualified opinion from an industry expert trained in ideal positioning and market strategy.

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

“Fail to Plan… Plan to Fail” is a succinct, direct, and tried and true business adage. I’d add that it’s slightly obnoxious, especially when referred to as the “FPF syndrome”.

Business planning is one of those things we all know we should do, like taking our vitamins and eating plentiful amounts of spinach. And like our efforts to rise from a comfortable slumber at five in the morning to pound the pavement for heart health, it often takes a back seat to life’s other more pressing matters -- like hitting the snooze button.

There are also numerous seemingly good excuses for not planning, including “lack of time,” “it’s difficult”, “need to sell/do versus think/plan”, and my favorite, “too small to have to worry about it”. Just as “the dog ate my homework” didn’t work in grammar school, “I don’t have time to plan” doesn’t work in today’s competitive wine market.

There are thousands of wine brands from which to choose, each with its “unique” offering of “top quality”, “amazing fruit” and a “passionate owner/winemaker”. So it takes a set of brand differentiators to set you apart from the competition. And while a high Parker or Spectator score may attract attention, “getting a high score” is not a sustainable business model. What happens when your wine gets a dreaded 89?!! And more importantly, how does your 90+ point wine stand out from all of the others in a sea of brands?

All too often, small wineries start with a great name or look in mind, fall in love with the industry, and figure that the rest will “happen”. While that may work for a few lucky souls, for the majority of us, success requires work. The good news is that business planning is not as complicated as you may think. Sure, it requires time and energy, but you’re doing this because you love wine, right? Selling it and doing so profitably is even more fun than loving it!

There are three crucial questions and set of related sub-questions that every small winery should ask regarding its wine brand:

1. Where am I now? Do I have a unique brand story that is meaningful to me? Does it connect with all of my communication – verbal, written and visual? Do I know what differentiates me from the competition? Who is my target customer base?

2. Where do I want to be? Number of cases? Number of markets? Key accounts? Certain distributors or websites? What will my growth look like? Will it be in terms of numbers of cases or enhanced profitability?

3. How will I get there? What percentage will be sold over the web versus by hand versus through wholesalers? What types of customers will I target? How will I reach them? What types of media will best drive my customers to buy? How will I get and keep media attention? Who is going to do what?

After answering the above questions, small wineries are in a much enhanced position from which to move forward on all aspects of communication and business planning. These answers in essence lead to your brand’s mission (or what it provides) and vision (or what it strives to be). After those two steps are tackled, the strategy part begins.

Let’s start with what strategy is not: “get a good score” (passive); “sell out of my wine in two months” (a goal); “make money” (a rather vague and obvious goal, although perhaps less so for the number of folks losing money in the wine business).

According to David Collis and Michael Rukstad, co-authors of “Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?” in the April 2008 issue of Harvard Business Review, a strategy is comprised of three primary elements: 1) objective; 2) scope; and 3) advantage.

Objective states your business goal. For example, XYZ wine brand will make $20,000 of revenue in its first year by selling 25 cases of premier Pinot Noir. Scope defines your brand’s market. XYZ’s scope is to sell wine to 50 friends and family in Oregon, and 30 wine club members via the website. Advantage – my favorite and perhaps the most critical element of strategy, states why XYZ is better/ unique/ more qualified to enter its customers’ palates than ABC, 123 and Do-Re-Mi.

In pulling together a sound business plan, your winery is better positioned to succeed. It also gains focus, which can be very helpful in dealing with the myriad of people who assist in your winery’s path to success. These include, but are not limited to graphic designers, web developers, marketing gurus, and yes, even compliance folk and attorneys (fewer hours means less bank drain)! This efficiency translates into cost savings, which means more money, better margins and the ability to reinvest in your success.

Your Label: What it Should and Shouldn't Do for You

The tendency to create a label early on or first in the branding process is understandable. From the producer’s perspective, a wine label is the visual extension of the winery’s “raison d’être”, and is therefore a crucial part of the wine marketing and brand communication process. From a consumer’s perspective, labels are often the first cue in the purchasing decision and one of the most memorable aspects of the winery after consumption. And from our friends at the TTB, regulating them is an opportunity to “ensure that products are labeled, marketed and advertised in accordance with the law”.[1]

In discussing marketing strategy with current and prospective clients, I’m often confronted with label questions and involved in discussions surrounding creation or redesign. Based on my experience, it seems that the label is the first item to be addressed when launching or repositioning and the first aspect of communication to be blamed when sales are not performing as expected. In short, we in the industry place a tremendous value on our labels!

Below, I’ve assembled a short list of what your label “should” and “shouldn’t” attempt to do for your wine:
SHOULD
Provide visual cue to consumer at point of purchase
Support target sales market
Serve as extension of brand’s meaning and value
Be part of integrated communications platform by offering opportunity to communicate with font, shape, color, info provided and logo
Be compliant with our friends at TTB

SHOULDN’T
Ideally serve as sole reason for purchase (for super premium wines and above)
Constitute sole theorized reason for increased or lagging sales
Substitute for brand plan or business strategy
Substitute for communications platform including trade, media and brand marketing
Take up the majority of you time in dealing with TTB

Valuing a critical aspect of a winery’s look and feel is not a mistake. However, basing your marketing and/or sales plan around your label does not constitute sound business practice. I view label (re)design as a secondary tier in the brand’s decision making process.

So why is the label a secondary aspect of marketing? Before addressing the “look”, a winery should deal with two vital elements: 1) create a brand plan including message, value proposition, and identity; and 2) develop a marketing plan defining how your brand will communicate with its target audience and stakeholders and shape the experience with your wine. In understanding your message and for whom it is intended, you’ll ensure a stronger visual and ultimately a label that will convey more meaning for those selling and enjoying your wine.

*****
[1] http://www.ttb.gov/about/index.shtml: “Our mission is to collect alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and ammunition excise taxes; to ensure that these products are labeled, advertised, and marketed in accordance with the law; and to administer the laws and regulations in a manner that protects the consumer and the revenue, and promotes voluntary compliance”