September 4 2008
So, I tune into the Republican National Convention last night to see what a 44 year-old attractive, archconservative, gun-totin’, female Governor, with an infant son, a husband who wins snowmobile races and a teen daughter who is pregnant, a self-styled Hockey Mom, who believes global warming isn’t man made and that drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge seems like a dandy idea, has to say as the VP candidate on the Republican ticket.
And then I hear her talking about energy independence and the wild-eyed, pasty young white dudes and blue hairs in the crowd start getting rowdy and chanting “Drill baby, drill!” in regards to exploring oil in Alaska.
And, while I’m no politico, and stay somewhat neutral to both camps, I’m thinking to myself are these people friggin’ nuts? If these people aren’t nuts, they have to be drunk.
Sure enough, I think they were plied with some wine to loosen them up prior to Rudy Giuliani’s speech. Again, I’m not political, but I think the hook needs to come for Giuliani from stage right ... enough with the 9/11 glory mongering.
A quick bit of research led me to this special wine for all of the RNC convention-goers. A 2001 for a Chardonnay, too. Methinks nobody will notice that its probably a nice straw amber color at this point.
But, last nights events make a whole lot more sense now. Too much wine leads to social lubrication and some crazy cheers like, “Drill, baby, Drill.”
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September 1 2008
Take this as you will, but last week was longer than a year of snowy Sundays. Happy to be moving on ...
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August 12 2008
Dateline: August 12, 2008
Today will go down in the wine industry annals as turning point in the wine industry, a day of reckoning, an inflection point for the future of the business. Many might liken it to a day of great tragedy, yet others will view it as a day of triumph. If that sounds like war, with winners and losers, perhaps that is apt; great tragedy for one always creates hope for another.
Southern Wine & Spirits and Glazers, two of the largest distributors nationally, have merged, creating a new class--a super-tier of national wine distribution.
Friends, if you’re a small distributor, winery, retail shop owner or passionate wine enthusiast, today is your Independence day, your day of freedom.
It is simple. A merger of this kind will take at least two years to sort out, with untold collateral damage to employees and customers. Am I grave dancing? Not at all. I am, however, looking at the big picture and realize that a gaping hole has been created in the market, the kind of hole that does not gently request to be filled, but demands to be filled by smaller, middle-tier distributors who have just been handed a gift--a gift of certain growth. With this growth comes greater opportunity for wine shops, which cascades to greater opportunity for consumers, not to mention the robust development that this will yield in the growing online channel for brands seeking an outlet.
1) mega-mergers almost never work based on a) culture b) poor execution in integration c) ego
2) When Sr. leadership makes decisions based on creating value for stakeholders who are not ultimately a customer it is a mistake of colossal proportions.
3) Innovation always, always occurs at small companies and incremental, leveraged gain occurs at large companies
Simply, this merger is not about wine, it is about dollars, supply-chain and logistics.
Pure and simple. This is not about wine. It could be television sets or dairy. It is about moving product from here to there.
This reality from the perspective of a box pusher begets opportunity for those that have customers, real customer relationships.
Large distributors think it’s about logistics and delivery to their customer, but it’s also about relationships and most large distributors treat their sales people like disposable goods and this mega merger is going to cause roils of panic at the rep. level.
All the better for others who can pick up the pieces.
Read the excerpted quotes at Wine & Spirits Daily and tell me where you find a quote about delivering value to the customer. Sure lip service is given to the retail tier, but at the end of the day, it is about wringing more profit from large brands to large retailers.
Much has been made of the consolidation wave and the growth of larger wine concerns, but has Fosters taught us anything? Brand management on a large scale is very difficult to do successfully and represents such a small percentage of the number of wine brands in the U.S.
If I am a small winery, a small distributor, a small retailer, I am making a bet on growth and doing so by providing value where value has just been distracted—from the small retailer and the ultimate end-user, the consumer.
Is today a great day for wine? For many, it will be, and I am not talking about the silver-tongued, gold-pocketed execs at the new mega-distributor.
*Ed Note* For a good contrarian read to the “World is Flat” try “Small-Mart Revolution” by Michael H. Shuman
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August 4 2008
This much I know: blogging about blogging is dreadfully dull. There is nothing like taking a navel-gazing medium and then writing about the navel-gazing. If the subject matter is wine then all the more dreadfully boring because it is a niche of a niche with boorish tendencies.
That said, I do want to point out several separate circumstances that have happened in the last week that contribute to the growing wave of blogging as an incredibly forceful medium.
#1) The SEC will recognize blogging as an information outlet for regulated investment information.
“UNDER certain circumstances, companies can rely on their websites and blogs to meet the public disclosure requirements under Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure), according to new guidance unanimously approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission today.”
Chairman Christopher Cox opened up the discussion by recognizing that the Web has matured providing a big step forward for investors, “Ongoing technological advances in electronic communications have increased both the market’s and investors’ demand for more timely company disclosure and the ability for companies to capture, process and disseminate this information to market participants.”
It is easy to overstate and even easier to underestimate what this means, but this has the potential to completely upset the apple cart of traditional media. No wire service. No press release. A blog. That is Gutenberg’s press manifested for the 21st century.
#2) Good Grape along with six or seven other bloggers are participating in a coordinated blogging effort to announce the release of an allocated wine brand the week of August 18th. This is unprecedented. Bloggers are getting sampled at the same time as traditional media for an allocated brand launch. There will be coverage, editorial will not be governed.
This is damn progressive of the winery in question (more on them in a week) and a real coup for wine bloggers everywhere. I hope it goes well, too; otherwise, it might be the last coordinated wine blogging effort to help launch an allocated brand.
#3) Gartner releases a research report that is at once a no-brainer and genius in its insight, saying (from marketingcharts.com):
The online behavior, attitudes and interests of people from all walks of life are blending together online, cutting across generations and traditional demographics and giving rise to a new online group called “Generation Virtual” (Generation V), according to research by Gartner, which coined the term.
Unlike previous generations, Generation V is not defined by age, gender, social class or geography. Instead, it is based on achievement, accomplishments and an increasing preference for the use of digital media channels to discover information, build knowledge and share insights.
Marketers will ultimately need a separate marketing strategy to reach this generation, according to Gartner.
Within the Generation V community, Gartner defines four levels of engagement - creators, contributors, opportunists, and lurkers - related to the extent to which customers engage with other customers and the level of engagement that businesses and other organizations must have to enable them.
Read full article on Generation V here.
Taken together, in the span of a week, these four items, to me, indicate without a shadow of a doubt, despite the imminent evolution of Web (and Wine) 2.0 into its next phase, that blogging, particularly wine blogging, is here to stay and will be a force to dealt with in the wine industry.
A couple of more mile markers on the wine blogging trip? I think so …
*Ed Note* This post was edited from its original version on 8/6/08
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August 3 2008
The annual Gallup polling on wine versus beer preferences has been kind to the US wine industry in recent years as wine consumption and subsequent mindshare have grown, creating wind for the sails, so to speak.
I always attributed the huge surge in wine drinkers to the wave of Gen. Y’ers coming of age, who continue to come to wine with strength.
So, it’s with a bit of curiosity and intrigue that the most recent Gallup poll shows beer taking a sizable lead in preference, especially amongst 30 - 49 year olds, historically the wine sweet spot for consumer adoption.
The interesting thing to me is the folks that switch back and forth. I like beer; craft beer is a muse, but wine is my mistress and I don’t think I’m that different from a lot of other folks that are into wine. I say let the beer crowd have these namby-pamby folks who can’t make up their mind. We don’t want them. The wine industry and its consumers is only as fast as the slowest buffalo and the confused, conflicted and dazed need to be thinned out. The wine industry is slow enough as it is.
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