Every winery has a story to tell and does this through various channels: advertising, PR outreach, their tasting room experience, on the web and now in social media. Most times this story is related to the vineyard and it’s unique climatic conditions, the so-called “terroir” story.
The only problem with this is that every winery tells the same terroir story and few actually have the unique conditions in their vineyard site to actually have much impact on their wine. It’s just more marketing blather that many customers are starting to tune out.
Photo by EverJean via Flickr
So that makes what Stormhoek is doing so interesting. Yesterday Jason Korman posted on their blog a story not about terroir but about what the brand stands for:
- Love
- Being Passionate
- Dreaming Big
- Being Spontaneous
- Celebrating
- Changing The World
It’s not just all about these things, of course, the wine still has to be good but that is much easier to ensure these days even for those like Stormhoek making wine at industrial scale.
But this type of aspirational positioning for a wine brand is precisely what I think connects with the average web-savvy wine consumer today, and a large part of the “luck” Stormhoek has had in the market these past few years (they’ve also had some bad luck, but that’s the subject of another post). So I would challenge all winery leaders to think hard about what their brand really stands for. Is it the place, viticulture or winemaking practices or something else entirely? I think those who think differently will be the ones building stronger brands and customer loyalty.
Change the world or go home. Indeed.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m not sure I believe in terroir, or at least whether winermakers conscious of 90-point scores allow it to express itself.
If a winery is marketing terroir as their USP, then they really need a better way of communicating it. Show me, in concrete terms, the difference it makes in your wine. And why is it different that wine made from the grapes next door?
But regardless, an excellent post.
I agree with you Mike as terroir gets hammered out of many New World wines in the quest for more concentration, oak spice and palate weight. So that’s what makes it surprising that many wineries still pitch this notion in their marketing. Let’s hope this changes…
Thanks!