20 big, hairy questions to define your wine brand (in no particular order)

Yes, you should be able to answer them all. If you can’t please set yourself some homework.

1. Describe what your company does. What is your core business? Keep it to the point!

2. Explain your wine brand in two sentences (think elevator speech and leave out ‘quality’ as it’s a given).

3. What is your brand’s tagline? (I think ‘made in the vineyard’ is taken)

4. What are the brand’s core values?

5. Does your imagery, label and logo reflect these core values?

6. What gap in the market does your wine brand fill?

7. Do you have a business vision and goals? How does your brand dovetail that vision and contribute to achieving those goals?

8. What is your brand’s competitive point of difference (and I mean ‘difference’ – don’t say ‘quality’ – it’s a given. ‘Boutique family-owned’ isn’t exactly different either).

9. Describe your target customer(s). What do they do, what car do they drive, how do they spend their leisure time?

10. Why should your brand appeal to this group of people?

11. Why should someone purchase your wine over someone else’s (think elevator speech – you have a minute to answer this, not a week)

12. How are you communicating this?

13. Imagine your wine brand were a person, describe their personality. Would this personality appeal to your target customers?

14. Who are your competitor wine producers and which brands? Why do you see them as competition? What can you learn from them?

15. What do you want people to think when they see your wine?

16. What do you want your company to be known for in the wine industry?

17. Is your website up to date? All the time? (This is the number one bug-bear of wine writers and smacks of ‘I can’t be bothered’ which is not a good vibe…) Does it accurately reflect your brand and its values?

18. How does your brand engage people?

19. Does your sales team e.g. your distributor and all other stake-holders perceive your brand in the same way you do?

20. Describe your marketing communications plan and include social media (one post a day on Facebook does not a marketing communications plan make).

How did you get on? Know the what, why, where, who and how of your wine brand? Plenty more questions available!

About Belinda Jackson's Blog

I'm a professional wino! I am GM for Blind River, a small vineyard planted with Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir in Marlborough's beautiful Awatere Valley. You can see more at www.blindriver.co.nz. I am a director of Wine Competition Ltd which owns and runs two independent wine competitions in New Zealand: the Spiegelau International Wine Competition (www.spiegelauiwc.co.nz) and the Marlborough Wine Show (www.marlboroughwineshow.co.nz) When not 'wining' I am championing local causes such as Renwick Smart & Connected and the Mistletoe Bay Foundation. I have been on the board of New Zealand Riding for the Disabled for over six years. I have three books published and I have a regular wine slot on Radio New Zealand. I started in the wine industry in Bordeaux in the mid-eighties before heading back to the UK to work with a wine wholesaler. Ten years later I was responsible for sourcing and buying 750,000 cases of wine from around the world for one of the country's big brewers. I have been in NZ since 1995 and absolutely love it (the only other place I'd want to live is France...)

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