WineVision Annual Meeting: Putting the Consumer First!

What wine consumers want was the focus of the Third Annual Working Meeting of WineVision on July 10-11 in Napa, California. Wine industry leaders from across the country came together to discuss this common challenge of how to make wine a greater part of American culture. And through an industry contest, more than 400 slogans were developed that convey wine as part of a contemporary lifestyle.

Speakers promoted other ideas of ways to connect with consumers. John Gillespie, president of Wine Market Council, encouraged the wine industry to consider three ideas: 1) to sell wine in containers that hold the equivalent of two glasses of wine - the amount that most Americans drink at one time, 2) give away bottle stoppers with messages about how wine stays fresh for three to five days when re-corked and refrigerated, and 3) use the oversupply of wine to make less expensive wine available at restaurants - a critical access point for new consumers.

Consumer concern about the sustainability of grape growing and wine production was addressed during a presentation on a joint project between the Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers. The organizations have produced a comprehensive code of volunteer farming and business practices that will encourage and promote the sustainability of operations. Karen Ross, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers and Kari Birdseye, communications director for the Wine Institute, presented details of the project, to be officially unveiled this fall.

Bill Bishop, a Chicago-based consultant specializing in the supermarket industry, discussed the differences in the current market versus that of five years ago in a presentation titled, "Consumer-Centered Isn't What it Used to Be"; He cited increasingly complex consumer shopping patterns, the increasing power of a small number of large retail chains, and the global internet as obvious differences.

Suggesting that these changes offer emerging opportunities, Dr. Bishop advised building a framework for dealing with a new definition of the wine industry's consumer. Understanding American culture and how it is evolving will answer the question of where wine can fit in, said Bishop, and promotion of California wines in major American retail establishments could ensue that more consumers would develop awareness of wine. It would serve to educate consumers, lead to sampling and experimentation and, ultimately, lead to incremental purchases.

Australia's Paul van de Lee, a principal architect of Australia's successful strategic plan, reflected on that country's success in reaching new consumers through "food -- the access point to culture and to wine," according to van de Lee.

"We changed Australia from beer-drinking to a wine drinking culture"; said van der Lee, who assumed the general manager's position of the Winemakers Federation of Australia in 1994.

"Success in the domestic market set us up for our ability to succeed in international markets. We've seen exports grow to actually exceed domestic sales for the first time in the industry."

Stressing the role that increasing interest in food plays in the development of consumer interest in wine, van der Lee said said his country had worked to simplify "wine speak", and remove the intimidation, making wine relevant in an everyday context. "The lesson for the world wine sector is that there exists considerable potential for further market development. A focus on the consumer to make wine more friendly is the key to unlocking that potential,"; he concluded.

Sean Baenen, managing director of Odyssey, a San Francisco market research firm, said the U.S. wine industry has not yet developed strong brand awareness among U.S. wine drinkers, he said.

Only two wine brands -- Gallo and Beringer -- are recognized by more than 70 percent of U.S. wine drinkers, Baenen said. A third of American wine drinkers don't recognize the name Robert Mondavi, the grandfather of the modern California wine industry.

"Among wine-consuming adults, if you say the words `Kendall- Jackson,' 55 percent have no idea what you are talking about," Baenen said. I

In the absence of brand recognition, consumers are becoming increasingly price conscious when selecting wine, Baenen said. Almost half said price was "very important" in a survey of wine drinkers last year, up from a third of wine drinkers in 1998, he said.

However, the industry has implemented an inconsistent pricing strategy that confuses many consumers, said Agustin F. Huneeus, chief executive of Franciscan Estates. "I think it creates a lot of distortion in people's minds"; he said. WV

WineVision Consumer Slogan Contest Produces Catalog of Phrases that Captures Wine's Special Qualities

Four wine promotion slogans submitted by both the trade and consumers were selected by WineVision as "best of class" in a contest held to develop promotional phrases for use by vintners. The winners, in order of ranking, were:

"Share the wine; savor the moment" by Nancy Brennan, a Napa tour guide ;

"Drink your wine; love your life" by Heidi Darling, formerly of the Joseph W. Ciatti & Co.;

"Me, You, Wine, Us" by Don Steberl, an amateur winemaker in Williamsburg, VA;

"Uncork Life" by Tracy Sweeney of Napa. The slogans were among more than 400 subitted and were intended to create a resource of promotional messages that can be used by wine businesses to reach out and "touch" consumers by identifying what makes wine special. All of the slogans will be posted on the Winevision.org Web site for use by anyone in the wine industry. Four wineries awarded prizes to the "best of class" winners.

Code of Sustainability Previewed

The Wine Institute and the California Association of Winegrape Growers will unveil one of their central initiatives this summer, a project that WineVision has assisted;a voluntary code that defines sustainable farming and business practices for California grape growers and winemakers.

A draft version, previewed at the annual meeting, showed that the document sets standards in 14 major areas, ranging from pest management and water conservation to neighborhood relations and the treatment of workers.

A 340-page workbook, which will be released in September, will allow individual growers and wineries to rate the sustainability of their operations on a four-point scale. Individual ratings will remain confidential, although wine groups plan to use the results of the self-administered tests to guide industry education projects and public relations campaigns.

"We hope to raise the bar for all of our practices," said Kari Birdseye, communications director of the Wine Institute.

Organizers hope to enroll 10 percent of the state's grape growers and wineries in the self-administered testing program in its first year, Ross said. Growers in Lodi and on the Central Coast have already developed local programs that address many of the issues in the code. WV

Continuing the WineVision Dialoge....Mark Your Calendars! by Rich Cartiere

The WineVision Forum, an effort initiated two years ago to bring together the country's regional trade associations, met at this year's Annual Meeting, addressing the issue of helping wine industries in other states with their sustainability efforts. The discussion included a presentation by Liz Thach, a professor at Sonoma State University, who presented the results of the WineVision-funded Human Resources Best Practices Survey. Get a copy of the results online at http://www.winevision.org. There was considerable input from the regional trade groups on their specific needs. We will have another WineVision Forum during lunch on the first day of the Sept. 17-18 Wine Industry Financial Symposium at the Napa Valley Marriot. This follows the inaugural morning meeting (9 a.m.-Noon) of the WineVision Quality Initiative. The Forum will offer a summation for trade association heads and other interested parties of that morning's efforts at creating a "vision"; of how to facilitate the industry's efforts to improve quality and communicate these accomplishments to consumers and the trade. To attend any or all of these events, give Kathy Archer or Waunice Orchid at call at 707.252.9200.

AVA Announced New Name, Consumer Initiative

David Sloane, the newly named head of the American Vintners Association, used the WineVision annual meeting to tell the group of plans to change the AVA's name to WineAmerica. He said WineAmerica will seek both winery and consumer members.

The effort is intended to build a strategic link between the wine industry and its customer base and perhaps spark grassroots political support for vintner-supported political initiatives.

Sloane said wineries would cement the relationship by offering discounts and even private tours to WineAmerica members. Sloane said WineAmerica, with memberships that could be sought in tasting rooms, would stress the industry's strengths-namely, its extensive product donations to charitable causes and the value of wine production in preserving agricultural land.

Sloane also called for the creation of a new Political Action Committee to raise money to lobby federal lawmakers, noting that his former employer - Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America-raised $337,000 last year and plans to increase such funding. "We have a very serious disadvantage, politically, because we don't give money," AVA president David Sloane said. "It is a cost of doing business that people have to recognize. It requires an investment of time, capital and patience. WV

WineVision Matures by Bill Turrentine

WineVision's third annual meeting was full of the ferment of great ideas. WineVision is maturing as a recognized mechanism for strategic thinking about the future of American wine. It brings together on a regular basis creative thinkers from various wine-related organizations and from wineries and vineyard operations. First, this cross-section of wine business folks consider what the American wine business needs to do to prosper in an increasingly competitive world. Second, they look at what is currently being done by existing organizations and help to rally support for these critical efforts. Third, they identify the gaps between what needs to be done and what is currently being done. Finally, they work with existing organizations, where these organizations feel that the project is in accordance with their own mission, to address the gaps between what needs to be done and what is currently being done. The goal is to stimulate strategic thinking, encourage cooperative action where appropriate and practical and to help make the best use of existing resources.

The main theme of the annual meeting was the challenge of putting the consumer first. Production is so expensive and complicated in the wine business that it has always been a production driven business. But the consumer calls the shots. So how do we become a more consumer-focused business? Leaders like Joel Quigley of Wine Brats, John Gillespie of Wine Market Council, Rebecca Robinson of ZAP and Bonnie Fedchock of the Society of Wine Educators make it seem, if not easy, as least possible.

Quality is another area of renewed WineVision attention. How do we as a wine community organize around quality? Obviously, we need to better understand and address consumer perceptions of wine quality. We need to continually improve quality to stay up with worldwide increases in wine quality. A broad-based cooperative approach would seem necessary because of the complexity of quality research in wine due to the huge number of variables and the long periods of time involved. Finally, there is a need to facilitate implementation of existing and future quality research so that it actually improves the quality of American wines. Quality is properly part of the sustainability effort because the American wine community must continue to improve quality in order to be economically sustainable. On the other hand, sustainability is also part of quality because it is helps form the quality identity the wine community presented to politicians, regulators and the public.

WineVision depends on the involvement of creative thinking from all segments of the wine business. Your support and participation is appreciated as we all work to build a prosperous American wine business in the twenty first century. WV