Over the past several days, I have been posting reasons for wineries to use blogs as another tool to increase their online exposure and ultimately sell more wine. It occurred to me that there is a basic fear that also needs to be overcome before more wineries join the wine blogosphere. The fear is not controlling the message or what becomes of the online conversation.
When I was at Kodak, I was trained by PR flacks on how to answer any type of question and not say anything that was “off-message”. In many cases, this leads to repeating the same canned response highlighting the product or services’ key benefits and how much we care about our customers’ business… blah, blah blah. Much of this attitude still pervades large companies today and most likely the wine industry where healthy egos and lots of money are also at stake. I only mention this because blogs, as marketing guru and blogger Hugh MacLeod says:
“…are not selling channels, they are disruption channels.”
What winery wants to be disrupted? Aren’t battling the weather, rogue insects and the taste buds of Parker and Tanzer enough?
I’d say most every winery needs to be disrupted and blogging is the most efficient medium to accomplish this goal. Why? Because of direct shipping, oversupply, brutal price competition and industry consolidation. Disruption is everywhere in the wine industry and most wineries need to change in order to stay competitive. Why not be on the leading edge and expand your market beyond the interests of your distributor and the status quo?
Johnnie Moore, another marketing consultant/blogger, summarizes the value of blogging well:
“…the value may not be the immediate impact of their words on the market, but how the conversation changes the blogger. As Hugh says, it may be a mistake to focus on using blogs to sell things; it’s more about creating real engagement – where you are changed too.”
One thought that keeps popping into my mind regarding wineries blogging is this — what about the poor wineries in my home state – PA that could blog all they want but not sell to a single person because of the shipping restrictions ? Would they/should they still enter the blogosphere?
As a consumer I know I am peeved as can be that I can’t order some of the great recommendations you make online…. and I know the frustrations the local wineries face as this whole shipping thing gets sorted out. But for now, it’s still a bummer to live in a state where you can’t even ship the wine you buy on vacation home…..
Just a thought…..and maybe the shipping topic is one you’d like to explore sometime in the future on the show. You need to be a mensa scholar to follow the ins and outs of the controversy, but its worth a try.
Warmly
-Paula
Hi, Paula and thanks for your comment. I got my MBA from the Katz School at Pitt, so I know all about the neo-prohibitionist activities going on in Pennsylvania (how come I can get a case of beer put in my trunk in a drive-by liquor store, but not a case of Ridge Zin?). Anyway, I think that any vintner would benefit from the direct conversation with customers and even wineries in Pennsylvania would sell more wine in the state (and maybe to some wine lovers driving over from New York). This direct shipping situation is something I will be talking about on the podcast and blogging about here. We have made 10 steps foreword and 8 steps back on this one, I’m afraid. Progress in some states, regression in others.