Look and Listen

So I’ve just braved big bad Joburg for WINEX 2010.

I partook in the annual migration that sees us country bumpkins take over Sandton for 3 days.

I’ve always felt that one of the biggest problems with the wine industry is that we are so out of touch with our customers. Most products that rely heavily on their brand’s cache in a highly competitive market spend small fortunes on market research. From soft drinks to spirits, washing powder to hand creams, these businesses know exactly what they need to do to win more custom, or at least they should if you consider the resources channelled into analysing consumer behaviour.

The wine industry is different, apart from a handful of really big players, most of us wander around, clueless as to what we should be doing. We rely on instinct and ‘gut feel’ to varying degrees of success.

You see, as glamorous and wealthy as the wine industry may seem from the outside, if you want to make real money, stick to selling hand soap or deodorant, there just isn’t the budget for putting together focus groups or large scale quantitative research if it’s the wine business you are in.

We in the industry love to moan about the drunken hordes, but for most of us this is one of the few opportunities to actually connect with a massive cross section of the wine drinking public and conduct some market research.

It can be somewhat frustrating at times, giving away something, that we put so much effort into creating. It is easy to become despondent as most people are either in no condition to appreciate it, or are only there to work on becoming so.

This is however missing the point. In amongst this mayhem which needn’t frustrate, if you observe the often hysterical antics that only alcohol can facilitate, is an opportunity to listen, learn and hopefully narrow that rift between industry insiders and our market.

I don’t after all only make wine for my personal consumption.


Cheers
Sean