August, 2012 | Booze Business: A Blog Dedicated to the Business of Spirits and Wine

Marketing is Dead – Long Live Marketing

August 13, 2012 No Comments

Harvard Business Review blog had an article by Bill Lee, President of the Lee Consulting Group called Marketing is Dead. The thoughts and ideas are worth sharing.

His view of marketing is that the “traditional” definition and tools are no longer totally appropriate to this new environment. Let’s take a look at his evidence, which consists of three areas.

First, as Mr. Lee puts it, the “buyer’s decision journey” has changed from passive information coming to consumers (amidst tens of thousands a day) to interactive information gathering requested by consumers. The traditional journey, which begins with awareness and familiarity, continues, but now those decision steps are based on Internet searches, word-of-mouth, consumer reviews and other people to people efforts.

Tomato or Tomahto – it’s now a wine

August 6, 2012 1 Comment

Buffalo Trace Newsletter reprinted a story about a tomato wine made in Quebec. So, I decided to check it out.
The vintner (tomatoes grow on vines, right?) is named Pascal Miche and he has sold 34,000 bottles a year for the past 3 years. In North America, he can legally call his product “wine.”
He produces a dry wine and a mellow wine that supposedly is close in taste to Pineau des Charentes from a family recipe that’s been a secret for four generations. It’s called Omerto and sells for about $25 for a 375 ml.
He’s looking for distribution in the US and some countries in Western Europe like France. Good luck with that, especially since only alcohol beverages made from fermented grapes can be called wine in France.
Here’s a short video on the wine. (You’ll have to click on the link to watch it on YouTube. The video is from AFP, Agence France-Presse.)

Southern Comfort Ad – What do you think?

August 4, 2012 48 Comments

The ad below was just released by Brown Forman’s Southern Comfort brand. It’s the first effort by Wieden + Kennedy in New York. The campaign is called “Whatever’s Comfortable” and runs on YouTube and the brand’s Facebook page. It will also run on national TV.
I’ll give you my take on it but first, have a look.

My informal and very unscientific survey revealed a mixed reaction. “I don’t get it,” said one of my participants, “What’s the message… where’s the brand sell?”
On the other hand, there were those who – like myself – thought that it’s excellent on a number of levels. He has an “everyday/everyman look” and the message of whatever is comfortable comes through loud and clear. Whether you like it or not, you have to give it an A+ on the production values – the glasses and shoes he is wearing, the dog, the other people and, above all, the music is well chose.
Oh, and about the brand sell in the ad coming at the very end, all I can say is if you’re watching this on social media, you know the brand because you clicked on it.