Wine Business Advisor - Issue #25 "Consumers love simplicity"

Hi Dude,

Many wine commentators will have you believe that everything has changed. That wine consumers have been somehow transformed by the #covid experience. Perhaps they are being hasty?

Sure, some things have changed, but has it really been dramatic? Route to market may have become a little more online biased. Web-based price comparison might have become the norm. An ability to communicate with wine-lovers using digital and social media channels might be a larger advantage than ever before. But these comments all reflect a means-to-an-end. They all refer to changes in sales & marketing. But has the consumer changed? I would say no.

Consumers are not as engaged as the wine industry might like to think. Most consumers find wine intimidating. Scary even. For many there can be no greater stress than being handed the wine list in a restaurant. The ghastly spectre of failure & ridicule looms large with the prospect of getting it wrong. In front of everyone! The second cheapest wine on the list will do. Won’t it? 

The wine industry has a poor track record of simplicity. In fact, it somehow seems embedded in the DNA of the wine industry to complicate things. Malolactic what? Consumers yearns for simplicity. Even high-end consumers seek explanation, with simplicity. Simple brand comunication evokes confidence. Consumer confidence translates into wine profits. It’s simple - consumers love to buy what they understand. And what they love. That’s non-negotiable. 

So Dude, what is special about your brand? 

Does anybody really care? 

What is your story? 

Is it simple? 

Do you know?

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