How to attract new customers into a wine store?

• I remember the time when I felt lost entering wine specialized shop. Being surrounded by thousands of bottles with labels I could hardly read, let alone understand. I had no idea what was the difference between Rioja and Monopole or even what was the significance of grape variety. Now, when some time has passed and I have got a deeper understanding of wine, I don’t face this problem anymore personally, but frightened faces of people I see in wine store remind me about this unpleasant feeling once again.

  Most wine stores tend to be organized by grape type or country of origin. However, neither of those directions allows consumers who know little about wine feel comfortable. Low involved wine consumers are struggling with choice in a highly fragmented market and the only person to help them in a wine store is a salesmen.

  

  But how many people without any ideas about wine would ask for help? Not a lot because nobody wants to be asked questions in return that they don’t know how to answer. So traditional wine store organization presumes a certain knowledge and awareness on the part of the consumer and hence narrows their target market only for experienced wine drinkers. What about the casual consumer who knows a little about wine but also wants to enjoy it? 

  A solution could be to make the choice process as simple as possible. One of the tools is to create new ways to classify wines and implement it. One of the best examples is Best Cellars wine store in the US. They classify wines by taste and style, organizing them by headings such as, Fizzy, Fresh, Soft, Smooth, Big, and Sweet.

  

  "Soft," for instance, indicates a mellow, medium-bodied white wine, while "Big" means a powerful, full-bodied red. Bright colors and images also make it easy for customers to select a wine based on their taste and mood.

  It is also possible to democratize the process of choosing wine by grouping products by consumer need. Segregating wines for special occasions, relaxing family dinners, entertaining clients, or a fun evening with friends might well be another easy way to grab attention.
• How do you attract new customers into a wine store?

Wine IS a personality!

People interact with people. Does wine belong on social media?

Wine Guerilla Adam Grist’s recent blog post suggested that for a brand to be successful on social media it must be a personality. It must exceed the definition of a product and appeal to consumers as someone they can identify with. Continuing with this thought: Who can best apply this gob-smacking advice?

How should a personality present itself on social media in order to relate to a wide range of potential consumers? The cute. Think cats and parodies. The ridiculous and ridiculing, the honest, the spontaneous, catchy music, fun, creative and self-affirming.  These are a number of recurring themes found under the most viewed, viral, you-tube videos.

Of course Adam’s post was not suggesting that every wine brand should or is able to market itself in this way, but why the complete absence? If wine cannot connect with the ‘average, normal’ consumer, then it is destined for an ever declining market share.

The change in wine consumption shows that although more people are drinking wine, the average per capita consumption worldwide is decreasing. In marketing or online media efforts then, the focus should be on expanding the accessibility of wine to broader groups of people, rather than encouraging individuals to drink more.

Although not excluded from the concept, small producers who uphold great traditional values and market themselves as such may not see all these ‘viral’ topics or such consumer interests as ones that could be positively used to support such brand personalities. However, there are a great number of brands that could and often certainly try to do so. For these it may be more advantageous to focus on accessibility, rather than education. Wine education or raising awareness amongst consumers has its place, but it is rarely a way to attract new or infrequent consumers.

If a wine is by style appreciable by any average consumer it should be marketed accordingly. This is where these ‘viral topics’ can be applied. Although some wine brands use this style in conventional marketing, we are struggling to find a wine brand that exudes this kind of personality on social media. On social media there seems to still be a barrier separating the wine enthusiast or professional from Fred, Tess and Mary watching their evening sitcom, glass in hand, thinking “Mmmm, relaxation”…

Perhaps few wine enthusiasts acknowledge their occasional enjoyment of such fleeting smiles, moments of pleasure, without actually deliberating on the product wine.

A number of brands on social media, twitter particularly, are represented by individuals. This certainly gives the consumer something to relate to, but, if the object is to attract the attention of consumers, there needs to be a divide between individual personalities and a brand personality. However ‘relatable’, consumers are unlikely to be attracted to a brand because of the brand representative’s coffee tirade every morning.

Here then is a possible beginning of a manifesto on building a “sociable” brand:  

1. Be a BRAND PERSONALITY.

2. ENTERTAIN: Particularly if you aim to attract new consumers.

Personal (an individual’s) personality can be valuable, but may not attract new consumers.

3. Stick to the brand VALUES: create one personality only  (no flip-flopping).

4. Now go be like Barney Stinson… and cross your fingers.