Reuters: Elu is "A Red (Wine) Even Democrats will Love"
February 2008 |
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St. Supéry's Red Meritage blend, Elu, is America's wine candidate for President, promoting "sustainability, balance and availability." (Elu means elected in French.) The Independent candidate is single, prefers not to divulge its religious affiliation, and promises to announce its running mate and "Cab-inet" soon, according to www.elu08.com. |
| With tongue firmly placed in cheek, the St. Supéry account team at Benson launched a mock "Elu for President" campaign in January: micro-website, blog, reader surveys, and its own straight talk express tasting events. Proving that serious wine can also be fun, Reuters added a red state spin, and Bloomberg's John Mariani called the wine "lush" – not "a lush," as campaign managers were quick to point out. |
Primo Amore’s ‘Love Letters’ Strikes Romantic Chord
February 2008
Visitors towww.primoamore.zoninusa.com have been emailing their loved ones romantic verses by poets ranging from Shakespeare to Elvis.
Working with Italy's Casa Vincola Zonin, the Benson team developed the promotion for Primo Amore wines, which are made near Verona, Italy, home of the real-life couple who inspired Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. In keeping with the romantic theme, two of the wines - a white and a red - are named for that famous pair of "star-crossed" lovers.
How to Improve Your Website Traffic
November 2007
Search engines like Google.com and Yahoo.com generate at least 50% of website traffic for most wineries. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is key to getting your site listed accurately and prominently for wine-related keywords – it can boost traffic and e-commerce sales, and help journalists find you. If prospective customers and the press can’t find you online, you need SEO.
Since 2000 we’ve been helping wineries do just that. And this Fall, we’ve tweaked and upgraded our SEO product. After an initial, thorough review, we conduct quarterly SEO review and blasts to the search engines to drive more traffic to your website. Read a full description of the service.
The Five Habits of Successful Wineries
June 2007
| We received a lot of positive feedback from a presentation Jeremy Benson delivered at the annual Oregon Wine Industry Conference in March 2007. It started with a simple question: what do successful winery direct-to-consumer marketing and sales programs have in common? We’ve turned the answer into a five-part series of suggestions and ideas that wineries can implement today, at little or minimal cost. |
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Relentless data collection |
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Commitment to customer service |
3 |
Focus on brand experience |
4 |
Setting metrics, standards |
5 |
Consistent execution |
The presentation was also the focus of a panel discussion at the 2007 Wine Industry Technology Symposium in July, and was the theme of Kathie Barclay’s presentation at the U.C. Davis course on “Tasting Room Design & Management,” February 12, 2008.
If you would like a PowerPoint copy of the presentation, please email Jeremy at benson@bensonmarketing.com.
Making Sense of…Winery Dissatisfaction with Direct Sales
Wines & Vines magazine’s January 2007 issue reported on their survey of winery satisfaction with direct sales programs. In short, many are dissatisfied.
Now, everyone wants more rapid revenue growth, but when 68% of survey respondents say they are dissatisfied, something is amiss.
So if you are part of that 68%, call us!
We developed our Direct Marketing Package for wineries interested in really driving direct sales. We are proud to work with Joseph Phelps Vineyards, Lynmar Winery, Clos LaChance, J. Lohr and Trefethen Vineyards, among others. Our suite of services was built to pay for itself in incremental revenues, and includes:
- Creating and executing direct email and print campaigns;
- Developing online merchandising programs that drive sales;
- Analyzing transaction data to understand ‘best buyer’ behavior;
- Keeping websites fresh and compelling;
- Etc.
Another surprising statistic: 56% of respondents indicate that less than 11% of direct revenues are driven by their wine club! We’ve created club solicitation and club member retention programs that would help these wineries enjoy significantly higher club revenues.
Want more information? Just call Jeremy Benson at (707) 254-1107 to set up a meeting to talk about your priorities. Also, attend one of the many conferences in your area provided by winery associations, industry experts, and academic institutions.
Editor Jim Gordon wrote the Wines & Vines story for January. www.winesandvines.com.
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5.4 million, to be precise. Since 2000, our proprietary Internet news clipping service, Enews Monitor, has been helping us, and about 5,000 of you, keep up-to-date on the day’s wine news. Thanks for the support and positive feedback. If you’re not signed up, just visit www.enewsmonitor.com.
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