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Utilizing In-Market Events to Capture New Audiences

Thank you for attending WINExpo 2024!

For more on Winery Roadshow Events – see our upcoming class!

1. Planning & Prioritizing

Type of Events: Building Blocks

Category & Type Considerations:

  • Goal: Could include Driving Sales, Retention, Engagement, Brand Building, New Customer / Member / Prospect Acquisition.
  • Scale: From Intimate to Grand.
  • Audience Make-up: Customer vs. Prospect; Familiar with Winery vs. New to the Winery.
  • Groups Make-up: Where participants know each other vs. those that don’t
  • Experience Design: Interactive vs. low Engagement Participant Experience

Six Main Types of Winery Roadshow Events:

Events that We Host . . .

  1. Winery Dinner – Hosted by a winery spokesperson at a trade key account
  2. Club Events – Brings local members together in a neutral location
  3. Other Events – Theme based, scalable, connected to the brand

Events that Others Host . . .

  1. Charity Hosted – They organize, we pout. If we need to be there anyway, how can we maximize our time invested traveling to that market?
  2. Strategic Partner Hosted – Work with a non-wine trade partner, that is aligned with our brand and has a similar audience. How can we build our businesses together?
  3. Champion Hosted – Hosted by one of our brand ambassadors (i.e., VIP customer, club member). Where attendees may know each other, but all know the host.

Your Winery Roadshow Events Profile?

  • Which of these six types of Roadshow Events do you currently participate in?
  • Which ones should you participate in?

Common Challenges of Winery Hosted Events:

  • Need to find and vet the location.
  • Need to drive the planning from afar.
  • Need to tailor event design & production, based on location and goals.
  • Winery bears the cost (financial risk) of the event.
  • Need to sell enough tickets to break event / meet financials goals.

Common Challenges of Events Hosted by Others:

  • Finding and vetting the right strategic partners / qualified hosts or champions.
  • Make sure the attendees / audience are qualified target customers.
  • Event design and planning is up to the partner – So, how to get our needs met?
  • When others host the event, the winery can’t control the energy / food / venue, but it still reflects on the winery.
  • Clarifying expectations – understanding who does what before, during and after the event.
  • Access to attendee contact list.

Common Challenges of Any Type of Road Show Events:

  • Need to have a spokesperson that can effectively speak to – and inspire – large VIP groups.
  • Staffing needed for selling, planning and attending each event.
  • Getting wine and support materials to the event location.
  • Budgeting for and cost of travel.
  • Permit responsibility – is one needed, if so, who holds it?

3. Logistics & Execution

Identifying Resources:

  • Hosts
  • Managing Expectations
  • Clarifying Who Does What
  • Understanding Who’s Invited
  • Planning & Communicating Logistics
  • Leveraging Market Visits
  • Internal Resources
  • Other Considerations

The Day Of Show Flow:

  • Event Style
  • Categories
  • Silent Selling Materials
  • Kick-Off
  • Storytelling
  • Wine Tasting
  • Wine Sales Opportunities
  • Wine Club Opportunities
  • Other Considerations

2. Marketing & Outreach

Target Participant Segment – Who specifically?  How to reach them?

DTC Customers:

  • By R-F-M
  • By past wine purchases
  • By geography
  • By VIP level
  • By DTC channel (TR, web, social, phone)
  • What else?

Club Members:

  • Current members
  • Members by club level
  • Long tenured members
  • Former members (alumni)

Corporate Clients:

  • Corporate event (in person or virtual) clients
  • Corporate gift clients
  • Customers / club members at key organizations
  • Non-profits / charities

Visitors:

  • Web, TR & Other Event
  • Recent / past TR visitors
  • Recent / past event attendees

Prospects:

  • Social media followers
  • Bloggers / influencers
  • Strategic partners

4. After the Event

Debrief & Follow-Up

  • With Guests
  • With Hosts
  • With Key Accounts
  • With Partners
  • Internal Winery Debrief
  • Winery Host Debrief
  • What/Who Else?

5. Measuring Success

Are you measuring what matters? Remember the WISE Triple Score:

  1. Sell Wine
  2. Sign-Up New Wine Club Members
  3. Capture More Contact Data

Consider:

  • (During) Event Sales
  • Post Event Sales
  • Total Event Revenue
  • Future Revenue/Impact –
    • New club members
    • Club conversion rate
  • What else?

Contact Info:

Jessica Hart
jessica@jessicahartconsulting.com
https://jessicahartconsulting.com/

Meghan Delzell
meghan@sangiacomowines.com

Sonyia Grabski
sonyia.grabski@trinitascellars.com

Jennifer Warrington
jennifer@wineindustrysaleseducation.com

Key Takeaways

Jessica Hart

  1. You’re responsible for their work environment, that’s from the transportation to rogue guests at the event. Remember “work environment” is not where they open a laptop when it comes to in-market festivities.
  2. Prep your team members with options, where you support their safety. Uber business is a simple example.
  3. Have their back, 99% of guests are great – the few spoil it for the many. If they say someone was weird – trust them.
  4. Hold a “post-mortem” to learn what “they wish they knew” beforehand.
  5. Keep a running FAQ from “post-mortem’s” so when you have someone fill in, or a new hire – you have a resource for training instead of sharing random stories.

Meghan Delzell

  1. Defining your brand identity, voice, and style and bringing it to life visually when you’re off-property. How do we translate the “Who” of who we are when we’re away from our home base? aka. How to stand out in the crowd!
  2. Ask lots of questions. Align the host’s vision with realistic expectations, then add your own surprise and delight.
  3. Be willing to go the extra mile
  4. Communicate, communicate, communicate -before, during, after! Staying in contact with customers can lead to spontaneous meet-ups and sales!

Sonyia Grabski

  1. Identify & Connect with Your Ideal Audience: Focus on the demographics and interest that align with your wine brand.
  2. Think Outside of the Box: Sponsor tastings at a conference, find smaller groups with similar interest, build corporate offerings, sponsor charity event wines & create offers for attendees
  3. Tailor Your Brand Experience for Mobility: Create portable yet immersive brand experience – Banners, themed set-ups, branded accessories that resonate with your core identity.
  4. Leverage Post-Event Engagement: Create marketing flows post event to engage with new contacts

Jennifer Warrington

  1. Start with WHY – understand your objectives and goals first.
  2. Decide on what type of events make the most sense for your brand and level of risk.
  3. Flesh out your Go-To-Market Strategy – what’s possible? What markets or segments to focus on?
  4. Plan & Execute – Winery-hosted or Champion-hosted – what are the different needs?
  5. Measure, adjust, test, repeat for success.