Case Studies
Winery Case 1 – 20,000-case production
PR/Media Relations Services
Client Condition
Early on the morning of Aug. 24, 2014, an earthquake magnitude 6.1 hit Napa Valley and specifically, less than a half-mile from client’s winery/cellar/tasting room. Upon telephone communication with the winemaker/GM, who was at the winery shortly thereafter, it was determined that the winery had lost about 30 barrels of wine, representing about 12% of the client’s 2013 barrel-inventory.
The Challenge
The task was to handle the media dissemination of how the earthquake affected the client, but to do so in a sensitive manner because the client wasn’t the only winery to be impacted; or what the affect was on personnel as well. The idea admittedly, was to tell the winery’s story as it pertained to the event.
Tactical Strategy
After ascertaining enough preliminary information as to how the quake affected the winery and its inventory, at around 8:30 a.m. on the morning of the quake, I began sending information of what I had learned about the client’s damage, and I did that via Twitter. For the next hour I tweeted info to all the media contacts in my database. Within minutes, some of those members began responding whether by direct message, universal message, or by retweeting my tweets. Over the course of the day, I sent out tweets whenever I received updated information from the winery.
It’s interesting to note: If this event had occurred several years before, a standard press release might have been the first line of communication.
The Upshot
By the end of the day – and throughout the next 10 days – more than 1,800 people had seen my tweets and retweets, including about two dozen media members, who either posted their own tweets about my clients’ happenstance, visited the winery to interview members of the staff, and posted or had published stories about the quake in general, and more specifically, about my clients’ plight in particular. Among those media who engaged with my client were the San Francisco Chronicle (on three occasions), the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Reuters, Bloomberg News, ABC7-San Francisco, NPR; within three hours of sending the first tweet, The Weather Channel arrived to shoot a three-minute segment – exclusively on our client. Save for several other wineries, some of whom suffered heavier losses, one might have drawn the conclusion that it was my client who was the only one affected by the earthquake.
Winery Case 2 – 2,000-case production
PR/Media Relations Services
Client Condition
The property, on the western slopes of an underappreciated region of Willamette Valley, had been growing grapes by a family for others for 30 years; while in the last 10 the vineyard has been farmed biodynamically. The owners began producing wines over the same period.
The Challenge
To tell the story of the farmer/winemaker/owner and his singularly focused agricultural practices in such a way as to go beyond the usual “passion” of his organic philosophy. Further, it was crucial to promote the AVA, not unlike how Calistoga and Lodi elevated its regions.
Tactical Strategy
I positioned the owner/farmer’s agricultural viewpoint as being “beyond biodynamism” -- because biodynamic farming is an often written-about and sometimes suspicious story – as being “practical”, “because his "young daughters live on the vineyard”, and “not wedded to the sun, moon, and stars”. As for the AVA, I had the owner aligned with one of the more renowned winemakers in the area and went beyond wine and focused on collateral attractions in the region as “You’ll be missing the boat if you miss …” to travel and lifestyle media.
The Upshot
The winery’s inn, which is on a hilltop overlooking the vineyards, is now constantly filled, the wines and how they are made, are garnering stories, mentions, and higher scores. The vintner to whom I’ve attached to the project, is also getting more traffic to his tasting room, which is in the heart of the town in the center of the AVA.
Winery Case 3 – Family owned, 1,000-case production
PR/Media Communications
Client Condition
The winery had come into existence only in the previous five years, and commercial wines have been produced for even less time. The owners had absolutely no experience with promoting their 200-acre site or their wines. In fact, their tasting room hadn’t even been opened and was in the throes of final construction.
The Challenge
First the owners needed to be coached as to the possibilities of putting a media relations (PR) campaign in place. Then their newly released wines had to be vetted for their efficacy. And the vineyards needed to be explored and understood. All with the idea of building a true and singular story.
Tactical Strategy
The campaign was built upon the vineyard, the wines, the winemaker/owner. That might sound like a no-brainer, but upon investigation, I discovered an abandoned quarry on the property – at the precipice of the vineyard – that showed for all to see, the sub-strata of the various soil types; a most rare view. The wines were underpriced for the quality; and they displayed bona fide terroir. The winemaker turned out to be a geek – in the best sense of that word – schooled in chemistry and soil analysis skill-sets. (A further challenge was to get him not be too technical.)
The Upshot
In addition to opening the tasting room and putting a marketing plan in place concurrently with my media relations stratagem, I focused on the various market trips undertaken by the couple/owners. I secured several meetings with media members in those markets; by extension, asked the wine buyer at the restaurant in which my client met the media, to taste the wine. The upshot: the client got a “doubleheader” – not only did the winery get a write-up in that market’s newspaper, the wines landed on the restaurant’s list. The story of the vineyard and its vantage-point quarry, proved to be irresistible to the media. The wines were indeed singled out for their terroir-centricity. Oh, and as for the winemaker: He could easily tone down his techie-talk; and did so in an informative, charming manner.