Wine advertising

[328tina]

Hi there, winos. I'm taking a little survey about wine advertising. Flip through a copy of the Spectator, or whatever wine mags you read, and check out the ads. Do you like them? Hate 'em? Think they could be better?

Which ones do you like best?

Thanks for your input!

Edited June 27, 2003 by 328tina (log)

[Craig Camp]

Tina is writing a article for a trade magazine and this is your opportunity to get your thoughts out there on the state of wine advertising today.

Speak up!

[MatthewB]

Wine advertisements do absolutely nothing for me.

[herbacidal]

Wine advertisements do absolutely nothing for me.

but, oooh baby, they rock my world!!

[herbacidal]

more seriously,

i know nothing about wine advertising, as opposed to beer and liquor ads.

[Carema]

My biggest problem is the promotion of the California "wine is a lifestyle" themes. You know in the middle of the country we do not always have access to well manicured patios with palacial ocean views. I look out into an alley. Sometimes I drink out of jelly jars in my pajamas with a big book in my lap no lipstick and the old spectacles on. I am sick of the well heeled ladies and their glasses of urine colored over oaked chardepoo.

And I also know that if you have enough money to do a big glossy ad in a mag, then you are probably making too much wine anyway and I probably will not drink or buy you. If I have never heard of you and you are 2000 cases or less I am intrigued.

Now as for beer it seems to me the cheaper the beer the bigger the boobs. Has anybody done a study to prove this?

Love Carema

[docsconz]

If a wine is advertising then it is not worth buying or drinking. It is generally the larger corporate entities selling copious quantities of cheap and uninteresting wines. I prefer my wine info from other sources. I do not even like advertising influenced publications like The Wine Spectator.

[John W.]

Nope. Don't like it.

If you advertise, you need to.

[Argtv7]

Hmmmmm.

Who needs wine advertising when we have Robert Parker and James Laube to guide us? Or.....uh......I guess if a winery gets a great score in WS, then they ARE an advertiser. Vicious circle.....

I think that the wine community as a whole is very stodgy when it comes to advertising. I'm sick of contrived photos of winemakers leaning against barrels looking thru a glass of wine with a ray of sunlight shining thru it.....yet everyone does it. Winemakers just don't do that all day.

Phelps is doing some cute stuff these days.

[Echezeaux]

The wine industry is working to expand itself, yet its largest producers rarely do anything to advertise wine as something "ordinary" people can enjoy.

Look at the ads from Gallo, for example...when showing food with their wines, it's always something rather fancy...never a bucket of chicken, a take out pizza or a burger.

Or they advertise showing photos of vineyards and one of the Gallo family dressed in jeans to show they're "serious" about hands-on winemaking.

Wine is often presented as something reserved for the elite. No wonder the pizza franchise Round Table is doing well with its "Napa Pizza," featuring ads with guys painfully describing the attributes of the pizza as though it was some sort of fancy wine.

Mondavi, at least, has advertised in very modest quality Woodbridge wines trying to take the "mystery" out of wine. But those ads don't talk about the wines being compatible with basic, normal foods.

For such a "wealthy" industry, the product is poorly promoted.

ECHEZEAUX

[docsconz]

Echezaux makes some good points about the industry not really promoting itself well. That being said I am still suspicious of individual wineries advertising their specific wines. A better approach would be the industry as a whole or perhaps components of it (e.g. the California wine industry) promote specific aspects of wine such as varietals and food pairings, health benefits (purported), how sexy it is , etc., sort of like the "Got milk" campaign or the California raisins.