A wine is a many splendored thing
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Now for this week’s instalment of The Wine Marketing Masterclass. And we’re going to finish up with product - the first of the famous four P’s. We looked at why “the liquid in the bottle” isn’t the only thing that matters last week. And how “products” have layers - like onions and Shreks - the week before. And this week, we’re going to look at all the things that are actually your “product”. Even if you don’t think of them that way.
I’ve just come away from a big meeting today. This was one of the main slides we ended up with:
For most people there are too many wines. They want you to offer a limited selection.
For most people more information is a pain. They want to know what the wine means for them.
Yes, people are put off by snobbery. But in truth they’re actually more worried they’ll “get it wrong”.
A lot of today’s big slide comes back to what the wine “product” actually is. So let’s put that to bed.
The Wine Product is a Many Splendored Thing
In the language of marketing the bottle and its contents are “the actual product”. But what the thing - the wine - does for people… that’s the “core product”. If we learn nothing from this bit of the course, it’s that the core product is - for marketers at least - more important than the actual product.
Kodak sells film, but they don't advertise film; they advertise memories.
That’s a celebrated quote from the marketing writing Theodore Levitt. We’ve come across him several times in the course.
Whispering Angel sells wine, but they don’t advertise wine; they show attractive people being aspirational
That’s a quote from me. But I think it works:
The author Fay Weldon was also Head of Copywriting at the ad agency Ogilvy where she coined the slogan…
Vodka gets you drunker quicker
On the whole people don’t buy vodka for the thing itself. They buy it for what it does.
Core product vs actual product
“Wine gets your drunk slower” is a terrible slogan. But what does wine do then? Well here are some examples, that I was involved in, on the descriptions of wine at Pix.
Look for the third… the bottom… description in each case. That’s a “core product” description. This wine is for a date night. Or a barbecue. Or a dinner with friends. These can even be quite subtle. This wine is a future classic. In other words, this is the sort of wine that people in the know, know about. Do you want to be a person in the know? Of course you do. So buy this.
The core product is something that the drinker creates. But it can also be something you inspire. Let’s look at this example, from Chêne Bleu. Here’s a quote from their website:
Non mihi, non tibi, sed nobis ‘Not mine, not yours, but ours.’ We chose this motto as it expresses the interactive philosophy at the heart of our work. As with a great bottle of wine, the pleasure is magnified by sharing. We take great pleasure in sharing Chêne Bleu wines with those who appreciate them.
If you are a good marketer, you can help craft how people conceive of your wine. You get to have a hand in how they manifest that core product. What the wine means to them.
But often in the wine business we ignore that core product in favour of focussing on the…
Actual product
Remember this refers to the physical attributes of the product, like the taste, aroma, colour, and texture of the wine.
It’s what we describe using the Aroma Wheel.
Or the WSET Systematic Approach to wine tasting. They’re essential. They are the actual product. But they’re what wine is. Not what wine does. Or means.
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