The Grapevine

How To Know Your Drinking Wine Right

February 17th, 2016

In yesterday’s piece, we discussed how to make your wine shop customers feel comfortable in your shop and how to tune into what they need – advice and guidance, or to be left alone to make their own choices. Let’s take that a step further and apply the same idea to our marketing. [level-members]

Marketing your wine shop needs to be about more than the product on the shelves and the prices on the bottles. You have to create a personality for the shop – or a “brand” if you want to get all high-falutin’ about it – and you have to carry that brand through all of your marketing.

We can, and usually do, layer concept upon idea upon strategy when it comes to marketing. And that’s a good thing, for the most part. Marketing takes effort and thought to be successful. But there is one thing worth keeping in mind when building your brand or shop personality: fun.

Not necessarily Three Stooges fun. But real enjoyment, which can range from Stooge-induced belly laughs to much quieter forms of contentment. And you need to make it clear to your customers that fun or enjoyment should be there goal. Here’s a quote that, for me, captures the idea behind wine perfectly.

Here’s the truth about wine. You may be … someone who [just] wants to drink something fruity and fresh on a terrace in summer or rich and red with your steak at night. Who should care what you’re drinking? Only you should! Quaff away, slurp if you want. Hell use a straw and mix it with 7up for all I care. Are you smiling when you do it? Are your friends laughing with you? Great. You did it right.

Add “family” to “friends” and you’ve pretty much summed up exactly why we should all be cooking, eating, and drinking together – and what we should have in mind when we’re buying and selling wine. Do all you can to make your marketing about the enjoyment wine can bring and you’ll never want for customers.

That quote, by the way is from this article by Ryan Opaz on Medium. It’s long and well worth the read. [/level-members]