You work in wine right? Ok.
Pop quiz, hotshot: What makes your brand unique?
Seriously. Think about it.
Have your answer?
Ok.
Is your answer “our wines”?
You just failed.
Is your answer a variation on “our hands-on approach/small lot fermentation/unique vineyard location/new French oak/anti-mechanical pumpovers/hand harvesting/etc.”?
Fail.
Is your answer a variation on your “passion for winemaking/wine”?
Not good enough, people.
What makes my brand unique? This is the first question you’ll want to ask yourself when you are re-working or creating a brand. It’s the foundation upon which all of your marketing and pr work will sit.
Ok, so let’s take a look at these three answers.
Though the middle answer would work for the question “what makes your wines special,” it has nothing to do with your BRAND.
The last answer is entirely NOT unique, being that most people get into wine/winemaking because of their passion for it (as evidenced in the old chestnut: Q: How do you make a little money in the wine business? A: Start out with a lot).
And now for my favorite answer. When I ask winery folk (including marketing-types, btw) what makes their brand unique, the overwhelming response is “our wines.” There is a special place in Branding Hell for this answer.
It’s not that your wines aren’t unique or a part of your brand, it’s just that it’s a terrible answer. I’m sorry to be so harsh, but it’s true. It’s as if you were to ask me what makes ME unique and I answer with “my fingerprints.” TECHNICALLY I’m not wrong, but by choosing this boring and obvious answer I’m missing the opportunity to tell you:
That I almost became a Hollywood agent
Or
That I started a guerilla film production company in NYC when I was 20
Or
That I name my pets after action movie characters
Or
That I once dyed a teeny part of my hair purple in high school because my parents told me I couldn’t, but then wore a baseball hat everyday until it turned back to its normal color.
Or
Basically anything.
But no. I told you that my fingerprints make me unique, so you don’t know anything about me except that I apparently am boring and like to state the obvious. Every winery has wines, and every wine is unique. Kind of like finger prints. Your wines might be incredible – I bet they are – but hundreds or thousands of wineries claiming that they are entirely unique because of the same reason is counter-productive for all of those businesses. At the moment, I can’t think of another industry that gets away with this approach.
Think about it. Imagine that I just started a soda company and you asked me what makes me special and my answer is “My soda is really good.” Are you getting your checkbook out? I don’t think so.
When you are creating or recreating your brand, focus on what REALLY makes you unique. There are probably lots of reasons. Now pick the most interesting (and appropriate). This will most likely take a while. It’s tough. It’s frustrating. It’s worth it.
Building a Brand is a new series on Millennier where Leah breaks down today’s process and pitfalls for brands in the wine industry.
I am sorry to see this blog turning to the cliche “think outside the box” marketing rhetoric so often toted by recent graduates.
You talk as if one size fits all which is the main problem with marketers in the industry. Small companies can never hope tp compete with large corporate entities when it comes to advertising and branding budgets. The “quirky”, trend driven part of the market is best left alone if you want to survive in the long term. Smaller producers need to play to their strengths by making higher quality, unique WINES (this is their business), which larger companies have and always will struggle to do.
As a side note, where do you find all of these figures about “millennials” being a huge untaped market. It seems to me that the industry is servicing them just fine (the likes of Gallo, Constellation etc.) As long as millennials are a price driven sector of the wine market, they will never attract the attention you think they deserve. Most producers are more then happy to let the big guys have this part of the market. This does not indicate failure or lack of foresight on their behalf, far from it.
Nice post.
All wine is basically fermented grape juice. It’s hard to convince anyone that yours is better just by saying so. Even if true, it’s much easier to hook someone with a story about your purple hair, although it’s no guarantee: you still have to deliver an above-average product.
Lookinf forward to more posts in your series on branding.
Provocative…but slightly thin at the end. As this is a series, you get a pass, we’ll see what’s up with the next installment.
Great idea! I agree about winemakers saying “their wines” make them special. In the course of my research about wineries going outside the box, I’ve seen a few take a personal approach (Jeff Stai).
I still have many to cover so I’ll ask that question! Great blog!
Hi Leah, I just wanted to thank you for this post, as you know I own a gourmet brownie company and although we are not the first we definitely consider ourselves a niche and unique against the others; BUT our main problem has also been how do you describe and get that across to people when everyone has their own memory and idea of what a ‘brownie’ is. Finding what makes you unique is the challenge, even today for a food company, just saying that you use organic ingredients, that you’re local, or only bake during full moons (not really) doesn’t necessarily make you special. For us, we stress that we are a mother-daughter company, that our recipes have been passed down and updated (2.0 style) and that everything we produce is baked by hand and with love. For now this seems to be enough but I am always on the hunt for those ‘unique’ keywords.
Branding is incredibly important when you’re dealing with the Millennial or YAYA segment because—especially with wine—consumer knowledge of the product is so low. Sure, there are wine enthusiasts in the segment like any other, but for casual drinkers, wine can be an intimidating product segment. The often vague descriptions of taste do little for the uninitiated, and most end up just picking up a bottle with a fancy label. This blog, and recent coverage of Millennials and wine, prompted me to write more about how the 18-24 year old market responds to the traditional marketing methods wine makers tend to rely on. Check it out here: http://www.mojo-ad.com/blog
Provocative…but slightly thin at the end. As this is a series, you get a pass, we’ll see what’s up with the next installment.