Transcription of the #socialwine chat with Sales Manager, JJ Williams of Kiona Vineyards and Winery

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craigsutton: Welcome to #socialwine tweetchat with special guest @kionawine. Need help? Click here http://ow.ly/1vPuC

craigsutton: Tonight we’re talking “the process of building a marketing plan around a wine” discussing the Lemberger and ice wines

craigsutton: Whats in your glass?

craigsutton: Its a @kionawine 2003 Syrah for me!

craigsutton: Don’t forget, you are welcome to comment between questions using the #socialwine hashtag.

KionaWine: @craigsutton #socialwine Sipping a 2002 Estate Red Mountain Merlot. I know, it’s tough working for a winery.

craigsutton: @kionawine sounds yummy, Ok lets start with the questions!

hashtager: # Don’t forget, you are welcome to comment between questions using the #socialwine hashtag.

craigsutton: Q1: What is the first step in your decision making process when thinking about marketing your wines? Specific goals?

ThomsonVnyrds: Martini & Rossi #Prosecco Cheers to warm weather in #SF #CA this #WineWednesday

KionaWine: A1: First step is to determine who is interested in a specific wine. Ice Wine drinkers and Sangiovese drinkers are different.

KionaWine: A1: There is obviously some overlap, but often have to appeal to completely different demographics within our own product line.

KionaWine: A1: There are people who enjoy our Ice Wine on a weekly basis that don’t even consider themselves “wine drinkers.”

craigsutton: Q2: From @MargoAndTroy Do you try to develop a mktg plan for each wine or do you develop plans that are more general?

KionaWine: A2: Both. A lot of selling wine comes down to brand recognition. With over 20 wines, we have to be general.

KionaWine: A2: But also specific. We push the “brand” but also highlight specific products depending on the market

KionaWine: A2 Unlike some wineries, we make so many wines that it is sometimes hard for somebody to find a specific wine in a shop.

KionaWine: A2 which is why selling the Kiona” name is oftentimes more important than pushing one specific wine.

craigsutton: Q3: How do you research a demographic and target them for your wine sales, does your distribution network help?

KionaWine: A3 A lot of times it comes down to price. Different price tiers can greatly influence who is interested in wines.

KionaWine: A3 Sometimes you won’t get a second look because the wine is too expensive, sometimes because it is too inexpensive.

KionaWine: A3 To answer the question more succinctly, yes, the distributors help immensely. They know what their buyers want.

craigsutton: Q4: from @wawinereport how has Kiona has leveraged interest in Lemberger to build up their brand and upsell people?

KionaWine: A4 Lemberger has a small but extremely dedicated legion of followers. It’s so good and so unique it brings people in naturally

KionaWine: A4 A lot of people visit us because of one wine or another and are surprised we make so many other wines.

KionaWine: A4 Lem is a good segue wine. It’s inexpensive and competitive. People are willing to check out more expensive wine after trying.

KionaWine: A4 10-$12 is a good experimentation and impulse-buy price range. People are more willing to drop 20 after 1 positive experience.

craigsutton: #Craigmercial Please tell your friends to join us at #socialwine, the goal is to learn from each other and support makes it worthwhile!

craigsutton: Q5: From @onerichwineguy What is the above $30 mkt doing this spring? Is that mkt coming back anytime soon?

ThomsonVnyrds: Q5 midpoint. Drink the rest of the #bottle yourself or invite a #neighbor over? Join #socialwine on your own or w/a #friend!

KionaWine: A5 30$+ has been hard. Overall good for us though because people are discovering that 10-$20 wines can be as good as $50+ wines

KionaWine: A5 Most of our wines in WA are at or under $20. People who used to buy $40 wines are “downspending” to ours and are enjoying it.

ThomsonVnyrds: @craigsutton #Apologies.#Priorities.I know!Never leave a #man in the field.That’s the #rules. Even #SparklingWine #Champagne

KionaWine: A6 So many things. Grape origins, niche, how much we make. We are family owned/operated so we get to do everything ourselves

craigsutton: Q7: From @clivity What role do individual relationships play, given the size of Kiona?

KionaWine: A6 It’s not according to “in-the-bottle” quality. Our Cab/Mer is $10 in WA and I’d put it against any Cab in the US personally.

KionaWine: Q7 Huge. We are “big” in the sense that we make a lot of wine for a family winery.

KionaWine: Q7 We are small in the sense that we are just a family. We value people/buyers/customers/complainers/fans so much

KionaWine: Q7 Wine is the most social beverage in existence. We take pride in making friends wherever we go and whatever we do.

craigsutton: Q8: from @onerichwineguy what will control the sub 500 case winery glut. standards r being written to call yourself a “winery”?

clivity: @KionaWine Q7, Thanks JJ you do a good job at it.

KionaWine: Q7 Plus it’s our (MY) name on the label! Everything anybody does under the Kiona name is a reflection of our family

ThomsonVnyrds: oh snap! @onerichwineguy great Q! furthermore what will control the ever popular #lifestyle vineyard?

craigsutton: Followers of tonights chat can learn more about the “1eyed wine guy” by clicking here….Later :) http://ow.ly/1vQ6x

KionaWine: Q8 Nothing. If they can sell it more power to them. It’s a lot harder to run a winery than most people think.

KionaWine: Q8 It’s not romantic. It’s not easy. It’s hard, passionate work, from growing grapes, to making wine, to selling the darn stuff.

craigsutton: Q9: What goes into the label process, do you create them internally, work with a vendor, does the process change?

KionaWine: Q8 There will always be a market for boutique wine, but I do think we’ll start to see some form of “shakedown” soon.

KionaWine: Q9 We’re actually working on label stuff now. Being family run, this is an interesting process for us. Everybody has to be happy

onerichwineguy: @KionaWine Answer to Q8 – Amen! people think it’s all a party. It’s harder than it looks.

palatebomb: @craigsutton Good job tonight and thanks to @KionaWine as well!

KionaWine: @clivity Thank you!

ThomsonVnyrds: @KionaWine well said.How do U convey that 2 starry eyed spectators?Is it the industries job 2 self-regulate?Sorry for jumpin in!

craigsutton: @palatebomb Thanks! not done just yet.. thought the Later thing might have got ya!

KionaWine: Q9 Keeping Grandpa and Grandma happy RE labels is a sticky issue. Currently working on dessert wine and non-estate wine redo.

craigsutton: One more ? before we call it a night

KionaWine: Q9 We work with actual graphic designers. We aren’t computer whizzes or designers. They usually know better than we do!

craigsutton: Q10: What channels in both traditional and new media marketing do you use, does either outperform the other?

KionaWine: Q10 Twitter and Facebook are fantastic, but I think they fall in the realm of customer service more than sales and marketing

KionaWine: Q10 1200+ facebook and 600+ twitter followers, I we haven’t seen a huge jump in #’s, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.

KionaWine: Q10 Like we said before, wine is a social beverage. Facebook and Twitter are social platforms. The marriage is perfect.

KionaWine: Q10 But we have some HUGE news that I can’t really talk about yet that will make Kiona MUCH more visible in the Seattle market

craigsutton: Would like to thank JJ Williams of @KionaWine for his time tonight! This was fun and educational!

KionaWine: Q10 You can talk about how good your wine is all day long, but until somebody tries it, it doesn’t really mean anything.

craigsutton: @KionaWine aww, cant get the scoop? Hey look noone is watching *turns around*

KionaWine: @craigsutton #socialwine In time, my friend. :-)

onerichwineguy: Thanks to @craigsutton and @kionawine for tonights #socialwine. Good job JJ!

chefmagana: Thanks guys RT @craigsutton: Would like to thank JJ Williams of @KionaWine for his time tonight! This was fun and educational!

craigsutton: Remember to join us next week, with guest @wawinereport! Get Wine, get Social, lets get #socialwine!

KionaWine: @craigsutton Any time! My job to make Kiona fans happy. If anyone has any questions ever, let me know on Twitter or Facebook

craigsutton: @KionaWine Ill come pay you a visit in May

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 20th, 2010 at 1:48 pm and is filed under socialwine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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