Marketing professionals join together for classes, networking and industry discussions
Last week, 30-year wine industry marketing veteran Michael Wangbickler (Balzac Communications) announced Appellation Academy, a place for wine and spirits marketing professionals to join forces, advance their skills, share ideas and work toward industry-inclusive solutions.
“It’s an online membership community featuring courses and workshops, dynamic bulletin board conversations and master classes,” says Wangbickler. “By joining together, sky’s the limit to the types of discussions we can facilitate and problems we can solve.”
Appellation Academy is made up of three core components: educational courses, live coaching and an online community. The first course, PR Toolbox, offers eight lessons (each broken into smaller modules) that can be started and restarted to make them more digestible / accessible. Mentorship may take the form of single subject directives or themed discussions (future plans include retreats and meet-ups). The “least understood but probably most valuable” component, says Wangbickler, will be the community of professionals. “This is where we can exchange ideas, talk about trends and new technologies, network and share sources,” he explains.
“I’m just trying to coach the next generation of wine and spirits marketing professionals,” continues Wangbickler. “It’s desperately needed in our industry. I find more barriers to entry than in other fields. Appellation Academy should aid in professional development for both veterans and newcomers.”
Asked for an example of the envisioned idea-sharing component, Wangbickler cites artificial intelligence (AI). “[It’s a] powerful tool if used right,” he says, but many in the wine industry aren’t sure how to start or pursue it. “We can give exposure to a topic and share knowledge so people can decide for themselves how and when to use it,” he says.
He also pointed to industry-wide challenges such as the recent World Health Organization report and the rise of new-prohibitionists, and the declining consumerism in younger generations, as topics that could benefit from wider conversations. “[These threats] need to be solved collectively,” he insists. “Our community boards will be living, thriving entities where ideas can emerge and grow. We can use open conversations to plot our path forward.”
To learn more about Appellation Academy, tune in Wednesday morning, May 8, 2024, at 10 a.m. for a What to Expect session. (The session will be available to review after the recording as well.)
