In a wine industry that is becoming ever more competitive, brands will only stand out with an exemplary communication and marketing strategy. This year’s wine2wine, the wine industry forum to be held in Verona on November 25th and 26th, is going to meet producer’s needs with a memorable series of sessions showcasing best practices in branding, social media and design.
Wine communication is often regarded as obsolete and in many publications wine advertising in 2019 does not look much different from wine advertising in 2009. For example, when marketing wine, the industry usually focuses on the bottle as a product and how it is made, rather than how it can engage and matter to consumers. Today, just as ten years ago, most of advertising placements show an image of a bottle, and mention a geographical component. As a result, consumers have become accustomed to this type of image; therefore, its persuasive power decreases considerably, with the ads failing to promote what they were carefully designed for.
Promoting a wine brand is no easy task, particularly in Italy, where wineries are innumerable. A good wine marketing strategy is an even more laborious achievement, since it includes broad subcategories such as branding, social media and design, among others. wine2wine this year will feature critical dialogues on how the wine industry should approach most of these practices, providing attendees with in-depth insights by some of the greatest experts in the communication and marketing sectors.
Julia Coney, Wine Writer, Wine Educator and Consultant, and Elaine Chukan Brown, Writer, Speaker, Illustrator JancisRobinson.com, WakawakaWineReviews.com
Participants taking first steps into the realm of marketing and communication should attend Claire Dawson’s session on communication strategies for Italian wineries. Having worked to promote classified estates in the Bordeaux area in France for over a decade, Dawson’s insights are pure gold for anyone aiming at highlighting their wine, history and heritage. Wineries with a strategy already in place, but willing to make their communication more diverse and inclusive, are going to be drawn to Elaine Chukan Brown and Julia Coney’s discussion on responsibility in wine communication. The audience will gather key takeaways on how to respect and work with social diversity within the US market. Since the US is one of the largest wine-buying markets in the world, learning to navigate and communicate about wine with respect to the diversity of that market is a priority for anyone doing business across the pond.
Attendees interested in improving the branding of their company will not be disappointed either. Within the past two years, the industry has seen a substantial growth in the use of augmented reality for wine branding. The organisation behind the first augmented reality wine experience is Tactic, an innovation studio based in San Francisco. Opening the second day of wine2wine will be Tactic’s Leading Producer, Hannah Luxenberg, a pioneer in immersive technology. During her session, she will speak on technology and storytelling, discussing how to get the best out of both.
Social media aficionados will find their crowd at Natalie Wang’s and Anne Victoire Monrozier’s sessions. If, on the one hand, Wang will discuss how Chinese social media has revolutionized marketing and sales for wines in China, on the other, blogger and communication specialist Monrozier aka Miss Vicky Wine will use her experience to shed light on the intricacies of the wine community on social media.
Natalie Wang, Wine journalist and Chinese social media specialist, and Anne Victoire Monrozier, Founder at Miss Vicky Wine, Co-founder Vinocamp, export manager Chateau des Moriers
With the wine industry becoming increasingly more competitive, there is additional pressure for brands to stand out. Always on the hunt for significant trends, wine2wine will dedicate a special session on how design and packaging can contribute to attract consumers’ attention and make brands more distinctive. Giles Darwin, Managing Director at Denomination, will introduce attendees to the key elements of best practice in design, to help wineries understand how these can be used to positively impact on their brand; he will also outline the best working practices to get the most out of companies’ design partners.
Together with the marketing and communication track, this year’s edition of wine2wine will also include a number of other key themes such as: “Uniting New Technologies and Wine”; “Humanizing Management and Leadership”; “Understanding Export Markets”; “Integrating Market Insights into Viticulture and Oenology”; and “Demystifying Wine Economics, Finance and Law”. So far, a provisional programme for the event has been published on wine2wine’s website, along with a list of confirmed speakers.
Tickets for wine2wine are now available. Companies interested in exploring sponsorship opportunities for wine2wine can visit our website or request additional information by contacting: sponsor@wine2wine.net.
About: wine2wine is a dynamic international wine industry forum organized by Veronafiere and held annually in Verona, Italy, since 2014. wine2wine 2019 will take place on November 25th and 26th. The event is a key reference point for wine producers and wine professionals eager to develop and grow their wine business worldwide. wine2wine provides unique opportunities to share ideas on the most important issues facing the rapidly evolving wine industry and to connect with wine professionals and experts. The forum takes place over two days and features keynote sessions, seminars, and interactive workshops which aim to equip participants with practical tools to improve their business. Speakers are renowned experts in their field and among the brightest minds in the wine world from Italy and abroad. Additional information is available at www.wine2wine.net or by emailing info@wine2wine.net.
