-- Spinning the Bottle --
How do you compete against 10,000 other wine labels?
There are more than 2000 wineries in America, and many thousands more overseas, trying to sell wine to American consumers. To do so, they must find a way to gain favorable attention so they can sell their wine in spite of excess supply and tough competition.
Making good wine—even great wine—or reducing prices isn’t enough. A successful winery must differentiate itself in the market, and the most cost-effective way to do that is public relations. Using both proven and innovative approaches to reaching potential customers, creative public relations campaigns have helped clever wineries prosper while others stumble.
Public relations is also effective for reaching audiences other than consumers. Campaigns aimed at distribution channels, local communities and government agencies and officers have helped expand sales outlets, allow direct shipping to customers and loosen draconian environmental regulations.
Spinning the Bottle: Case Studies in Wine Public Relations covers all these needs. It’s a collection of case studies and guidelines to promoting wine, wine companies and wine-related issues. In it, 50 experts tell how they conducted winning public relations campaigns and what they accomplished. The experts who contributed include long-time wine publicists and marketing experts as well as association officials.
The studies were collected by PR experts Harvey Posert and Paul Franson, who both live in Napa Valley, the heart of America’s wine culture. Each also contributed chapters to the mix.
Posert was the long-time head of public relations for renowned Robert Mondavi Winery, the winery that changed the face of the American wine business, as well as the Wine Institute, the industry’s leading lobbying organization. He also worked in general public relations and spent time as a daily newspaper reporter.
Franson has extensive experience in corporate and agency public relations as well as business reporting and editing. He is now a full-time freelance writer specializing in wine and related subjects.
The book is must reading for anyone involved in managing a winery or marketing wine. It’s as relevant to the student of wine and marketing as to the seasoned executive or winery owner, and a great source of ideas to even the most seasoned wine PR professional.