ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS IN THE WINE INDUSTRY
ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS IN THE WINE INDUSTRY
Alena Veller
Master, Saint-Petersburg State University,
Russia, Saint-Petersburg
ABSTRACT
The article discusses the features of advertising and public relations in relation to the industry of wine production and distribution. This area differs in many ways from other alcohol markets and requires a special approach to the formation and implementation of the communication strategy of a winery or wine trading company.
Keywords: public relations, wine marketing and PR, communication strategy, wine advertising.
According to the framework of wine marketing, term "promotion" is a special mix of advertising, public relations and sales promotion methods used by a winery or a wine distributor as part of the implementation of its marketing strategy. Effectively implemented promotion forms a special perception of the wine brand in the consumer's mind and helps to stimulate demand for products. Thus, advertising and public relations can be called subgroups within the general term "promotion" [Wagner, Olsen, Thach. 2019].
Advertising of products in the wine industry Advertising allows a wine brand to attract the attention of consumers, very often through the use of various media, including print advertising, brochures, radio and TV advertising, Internet advertising, email marketing, signage and banners. Most often, wineries and wine distributors advertise on a paid basis, although there are other opportunities, such as cross-promo and barter deals. M. Hall and R. Mitchell is distinguished by the following advertising channels: television, advertising at the point of sale, radio advertising, newspapers and magazines, online advertising, coupons and favorable offers, correspondence in the home mailbox, recommendations from family and friends (word of mouth), sampling and tastings in the store, email mailing, sponsorship of events, expert recommendations, advertising in the restaurant interior (on umbrellas of summer verandas, etc.) [Hall, Mitchell, 2008]. After analyzing the table presented by Hall and Mitchell with an analysis of the effectiveness of these advertising channels, it was concluded that, firstly, it analyzes the effectiveness of the presented advertising channels in relation to wine and premium segment food, and secondly, the relevance of some data may be insignificant due to the prescription of the study, as well as due todue to the fact that this example does not take into account specific legislative restrictions on advertising alcoholic beverages, which can significantly affect the list of advertising channels listed.
Further, Hall and Mitchell note that traditional print advertising is still very often used by producers and distributors in the wine industry, and there are two reasons for this: firstly, historically, such a product as wine has always been perceived by consumers as a separate product of greater importance than other products of the grocery industry. baskets. In addition, the purchase of wine presupposes the presence of certain knowledge about the varieties and various subtleties of the product, and the replenishment of the baggage of this knowledge was just promoted by print advertising, in which it was possible to tell about the nature of wine, its compatibility with various dishes, etc. The second reason for the popularity of print advertising in the wine industry is the opportunity to target the audience for which print advertising is designed, since such a means of promotion is most suitable for consumers with a high level of involvement in the wine sector, and it is they who are more likely to be affected by the advertising message.
Television advertising of wine products is quite rare for many reasons, and in some countries it is completely prohibited. In addition, even if it is possible to create a television advertising message for a wine product (for example, non-alcoholic wine, the advertising of which is not prohibited), advertising on television requires very large financial expenses for its creation, which makes it inaccessible to many players in the wine industry. Another problem of television advertising is the inability to target a specific target audience, which means that the "deliverability" of the advertising message will be extremely low and is not suitable for all manufacturers [Hall, Mitchell, 2008].
The situation with targeted advertising is slightly better on the radio, but there are multiple restrictions on advertising alcoholic beverages, the cost of advertising can also be high, and the promotion of only one wine brand is ineffective.
Billboards and outdoor advertising can attract the attention of consumers, but in this case there is a problem of choosing a place for an advertisement, as well as the legitimacy of such placement. If it is impossible to advertise wine as alcoholic products, wine producers and distributors should think about advertising related products and services (such as, for example, children's champagne and juices from Abrau-Durso, their tourist center, spa center, etc.).
Despite the fact that the implementation of classic advertising campaigns of wine industry products in various channels involves a lot of restrictions, and very often it is completely inaccessible to players of this special industry, we should not forget that advertising is only one of the elements of the implementation of the overall marketing strategy of a wine enterprise [Moulton, Lapsley, 2001].
In addition to the above, there are other disadvantages of advertising for the wine industry:
• wineries often have a very limited advertising budget, and such a tool as advertising is very expensive.
• many wineries focus on domestic sales markets, and this implies the creation of a special national marketing approach to increase the presence of the wine brand in their home country.
• the complexity of evaluating the effectiveness of an advertising message.
• a high degree of consumer distrust of direct advertising.
• availability of more effective ways of promotion [Wagner, Olsen, Thach. 2019].
The point that should not be forgotten is that the advertising of wine products should always meet high ethical standards – it should not encourage excessive alcohol consumption, in any way tell the consumer that wine can be useful, say that wine directly affects social status and increases his mental or physical abilities. In many countries, these aspects are directly spelled out in the laws regulating the advertising of alcoholic beverages.
Summing up, we can say that advertising is a powerful and very effective communication tool, and it could significantly help wine industry players in promoting their products, but do not forget that advertising cannot work by itself, but must harmoniously coexist with other tools, as well as with other participants in the supply chain wines to the final consumer [Moulton, Lapsley, 2001].
Public relations in the wine industry
Public relations in the wine industry is a rather specific term, as they are closely related to news about the winery, wine brand or wine distributor, as well as many other events related to wine in one way or another, and their main function is to place these news in magazines, print media, on television, on the Internet and other media, including both simple press releases and the participation of representatives of the wine brand in specialized events, establishing personal contacts with industry experts, and many other methods [Wagner, Olsen, Thach, 2019]. In addition, crisis communications can also be included here, which somehow happen in any sphere, and in the wine industry will have their own special specifics.
Some authors note that PR can be much more important for wine industry enterprises than advertising, which is still a direct and unidirectional tool [Hall, R. Mitchell, 2008]. Public relations can be extremely useful for developing long-term relationships with consumers and other target groups of the public (stakeholders). Public relations in the context of media relations are important for wineries and wine trading companies also because companies do not always need to spend a large amount of money on creating and broadcasting information guides. What is much more important in this case is that PR campaigns give companies the opportunity to broadcast their key message for free through the media, which are always actively searching for suitable news agendas, while PR allows not only to deliver a specific message to the audience, but also to communicate with it directly.
Wine business enterprises, especially wineries and grape producers, can implement a large number of different PR strategies throughout the calendar year, since work on the vineyards is carried out even in the winter off-season. Information guides for the media in this case can serve as: the spring release of a new vintage (last or earlier year), summer visits to the winery by tourists, autumn grape harvest and planning of new wine collections, as well as how the vineyards survive winter in winter, and how the owners of the winery represent it by participating in various industry exhibitions and festivals.
Summing up, I would like to separately note the possibility of using modern Internet technologies, which opens up additional opportunities for PR campaigns in the wine industry, which compensate for the difficulties of the wine market enterprises with advertising. The interaction of producers and wine trading companies with the online community of wine lovers helps them achieve goals that, due to multiple limitations, cannot be achieved using only classical PR technologies. It is the promotion of wine and specific wineries on the Internet that plays a key role, as it allows direct interaction with target audiences in various ways at a relatively low cost level.
References:
- Hall M., Mitchell R., Wine marketing: a practical guide. // -2008.- Butterworth-Heinemann imprint of Elsevier, p. 84-86.
- Moulton K., Lapsley J., Successful Wine Marketing. - 2001. // - Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, p. 4-9.
- Wagner P., Olsen J., Liz Thach. Wine marketing&sales: success strategies for saturated market. // - 2019.- Third edition, The wine appreciation guild, San Francisco, p. 6.