Adrienn runs the Wineglass Communication company which helps Hungarian wine producers to market their wines. She has published a book on wine marketing which is available on her website, especially written for the winemaking community.
Find below the English excerpt of the Kielmayer Kris KörKép Podcast which is available on Spotify, Google Podcast, Anchor and other platforms.
Content
- Personal story
- Wine marketing, the book
- Story telling
- Aszú
Personal story
When Adrienn first encountered wine she met straight away the complex, multi-layered and interesting side of the beverage. At college there was a course on healthy nutrition and within this wine got introduced on the side line. But the fascinating world caught her attention straight away. During her practice year she spent six months in the USA where she encountered the WSET for the very first time. Coming back to Hungary she went from one wine related job –French wine merchant- to another wine –wine journalism- before settling for good in the wine business.
Wine marketing, the book
The book on wine marketing, specially written for the winemakers, the actual producers by Adrienn Tóth and published through the Wineglass Communication Company where its also available does a great job in digging deep into the wine communication subject, on- and offline as well.
There are great capabilities in wine as its lends itself to story telling and personal communication. While its also challenging since there are many competitors on the shelves, while let’s say a milk product has 3-4 brands on the supermarket shelves there are hundred different „winemakers” next to each other.
While a good story may reach the consumer during a wine tasting personally yet the same story may not come across the same way in the virtual world.
While online present is important when it comes to creating awareness or sales but Adrienn pointed out that merchants play a crucial role in the distribution. And often wine producers sell through various merchant which should also be supported by the winemakers as well. If you sell 90% of your wine through wine merchants it’s important that you focus on them as well. Trade is business on its own. Producing wine is one thing but it still has to be sold. If a winery aims to be in the (ultra) premium segment the business activities must also be up to the standard, from professional background work, presentation to delivering the message with appropriate knowledge.
The presentation has to be professional and premium as well.
The company communication sends a message to the consumer. It used to be only one way in the past but due to the internet and social networks there is more and more a two way communication, a dialogue. Wine production is perfect in this instance as it matches the trends of the consumers’ communication, it can be authentic and faithful to itself.
Wine tourism is an important channel when it comes to sales yet it’s also capable to make a very strong attachment with the consumer as well, a life-long, regular customer may be formed as well through the process of well-being and hospitality.
Story telling
Wine is a traditional product, therefor the communication has to be innovative says Adrienn. Finding the personal voice and the message why I am unique. Story telling is based on honest communication. There are three key elements; the main character the protagonist; the challenge which will be faced; the battle and struggle to overcome this whereby the protagonist will grow in character, personality.
Some call this three act structure into: setup, confrontation and the resolution. While the 4 P’s of a story are summed up in: people, place, plot and purpose.
We want to sympathize with the protagonist, while we all know that nobody is perfect hence a “struggle” is normal. The story telling in the wine world has become increasingly important within the wine marketing. The conscious communication is part of the wine marketing.
Aszú
The Wineglass Company is involved in a number of communication projects. One of them is the toast with aszú wine (Koccints aszúval in Hungarian), which is focuses on pushing the sales number of the Aszú wine during the Advent months. While for many it seems a rather cliché to have the noble sweet wine during the festive period. However based on my personal experience we all consume far too less of it and if we want to be authentic when it comes to promoting it abroad as well; we need to communicate (and consume) this fantastic beverage more often. Gastronomy plays an equal important role in this case.
Wine is perhaps one of the last agricultural products whereby the consumer can identify with a person and close origin. There is a genuine connection between place and product, wine preserves the notion of origin.
Tokaji Aszú not only has a status, a history but due to its complexity it’s a one of the classic, fine wines of the world. A good Aszú does not need to be overly explained, it is a luxury product when it comes to fine dining as well. A big impression can be made with a Tokaji Aszú.
The amazing cellars of Tokaj, Hercegkút
