The Blog

If you haven’t yet seen it, I’d recommend reading Jane Parkinson’s interview of Dan Jago in the October 2009 issue of The Drinks Business - http://bit.ly/2gQtNe The interview gives a very insightful take on the state of the UK wine industry - not an easy one to accept, but one that can’t be ignored. Firstly, the 80/20 situation – and I quote Dan directly; “80% of wines are mass-market, mainstream brands and customers will treat them in the same way as they treat the majority of their grocery shopping – they rely on value and price. The other 20% is about place, uniqueness and individuality and yet the wine industry has got itself slightly out of kilter because it spends 80% of its time on the 20% and spends time trying to convince people that everything would be fine if customers simply paid more for wine which is quite an odd business model.” I think the huge majority of us working in the wine trade know this to be true, but are guilty of continually willing it not to be. Unless there are a few Jedi amongst us with mind-swaying abilities, a fresh direction is needed if we want to avoid perpetually pushing the boulder up-hill. Positive Mental Attitude alone will not suffice. My business success, in fact the very existence of my company, depends on consumers caring about wine, and being swayed by motivators other than price. This means them being interested in wine, knowing something about it and, as importantly, remembering something about the brands they encounter. However, we are deluded if we think we can make wine relevant to all consumers, even all wine drinkers, all of the time. I suggest the very best we can do is to encourage some people to care about wine some of the time. A Waverley TBS study a few years ago identified ‘Chardonnay Girl’ and a few of her segmented friends. I doubt that analysis still stands up to scrutiny. In reality, consumers ebb and flow, dipping in and out of wine engagement. Sometimes they care, sometime they don’t. They purchase by occasion, with each individual wine choice overwhelmingly dictated by ‘the where, with whom, with what’ of its consumption – most probably that evening. This means even I can be a Chardonnay Girl from time to time (please keep that amongst yourselves). We need to be more flexible and sophisticated in our understanding of the consumer – and accept it is futile to continually force our will on them when they are not listening. For the 20%, it is important that the brand owners invest in being different and telling their story. For the 80%, one could argue that it is a vanity – a luxury that panders to their need to be loved by those who buy their product. At least if you are going to abuse me, love me first, get to know me… But is our duty as an industry to keep trying – in fact, more than that, to do better and to attack the cold hard fact that very few people care. We need to ignite in the consumer an interest, so that the next time they feel like pushing the boat out, our wines come to mind first. In this competitive world, every advantage helps. It can be done. A firm focus on appreciation and occasion will ensure a more effective marketing spend and, conveniently, much more responsible behaviour all round – from trade, retailers and consumers alike. Maybe Positive Mental Attitude will work, after all…