It seems like the
proliferation of small wineries leads to difficulty in differentiation, and
biodynamic membership serves more of a marketing play than anything else. Since
not all wineries have a claim to fame like Grgich Hills Estate- with
international recognition at the historic Paris Wine Tasting of 1976- I was
curious about how else small wineries might market themselves and break through
this "winery overload".
As it turns out, for
most wineries, direct-to-consumer sales represent 70% of all case sales.
Unsurprisingly then, 75% of wineries have a wine club. This makes sense- wine
club membership guarantees wineries a reliable cash flow, higher margins,
direct access to end consumers, and loyal advocates. Thus, I would imagine a
great deal of time would be spent optimizing the benefits to and retention of
wine club members.
It also seems like
the importance of tasting rooms would be inversely correlated with the size of
the winery. The training of the staff, placement of brochures and signage, and
décor of the room must all factor into the branding of the winery and the price
charged per bottle. I almost wonder if the environment created is more
important than the taste of the wine itself.
Lastly, I wonder
whether pricing is used as a signaling mechanism for smaller wineries. If they
can brand themselves as higher quality than mass produced wine, charging a high
price could create the perception that what's inside the bottle is better than
the competition. Counter intuitively, higher price could be a differentiating
factor that drives higher sales.
No comments:
Post a Comment