What we can learn from wine marketers

From the Undercover Marketer

Secrets of the wine trade

I see that France is moving to ‘relax’ its rules on wine. According to the London Times leader:

Rivalry from New World winemakers has provoked France .. to allow wines from different areas to be combined to create fruiter blends .. designed to appeal more readily to the palates and pockets of foreign wine drinkers

Well, excusez-moi! The clever French have been doing that for years. Whoever wrote that Times leader knows nothing about:

(a) The French

(b) Wine

(c) Direct marketing.

But that ignorance, as we will see, is pretty universal. The French are the only people it is perfectly acceptable to be racist about, so our newspapers take regular pot-shots. (I won’t repeat the insulting joke about Paris contained in the Times leader.)

Here is what we publishers can learn from French wine marketing:

Off the record, on the QT & very hush hush..

Having spent some time in close discussions with a director of a French wine cooperative, I can tell you that French wine makers are expert at marketing. There are lessons here for all publishers who’d like to re-purpose editorial for different markets.

I will use what my wine making friend told me about wine marketing to make this demonstration. Brits reading this who are particularly sensitive, please click away now …

What do French know about marketing?

I ask my French vineyard owner “Why does your wine taste different in the UK?”

His answer: “We add things to change the taste for the British palate. If you buy a French Roquefort cheese in Sweden – it will taste different to yours. It’s the same with wine. Each country likes a different taste.”

He shrugs. His cooperative, which produces red wine, adds sweeteners and chemicals. “But not the anti-freeze that other producers add.” Too much and the result is headache and nausea.

What about the other point in the Times leader?

‘Allowing wines from different areas to be combined’?

The French have always done this. For example: Bordeaux is the most popular French wine. But it is a tiny region and cannot possibly supply the huge demand. So they mix it with wine from the huge Languedoc-Rousillon region in the south, which coincidentally is where my friend’s vineyard is.

Go here for the full story and learn why we should follow the wine producers ..

Wine marketing

Or cut and paste this:

http://www.subscriptionsstrategy.co.uk/confidential/the-undercover-marketer

 

Comments

[Rory Brown]

I love the last line of your article. Good stuff Undercover Marketer - although your cover is blown...