Zenaida Cellars

Hey...It’s Not About the Wine. Yeah, I know...this might be a controversial statement, but if you’re in the wine business and think it’s just about the wine then you’re mistaken. There are exceptional winemakers in Paso, but if your marketing and branding are solely focused on just the product then you’re significantly narrowing your audience. If your strategy is to focus solely on the collectors and the 1% of wine consumers that actually give a shit to know every detail about the wine from the brixs, to PH level, to soil, to how you processed the wine, to aging...the list goes on, I would highly suggest you go about developing a cult brand. More on cult branding in another post. However, for the large majority of us, we have to look beyond the product and ask ourselves what our target audience wants, what they crave, what motivates them to join the club, and what makes them want to be our word-of-mouth ambassador.   Again, it’s not about the freaking wine!!! In my humble opinion focus on your brand, your frontline people, your aesthetics, the atmosphere you’re looking to create, curated experiences, the adjectives you want your target audience to utilize, what type of feeling your environment provokes, what your digital communication looks and feels like, the cadence and segmentation of your communication, and what is the voice of your digital communication. Then use rigorous data to validate your brand strategy. If you want your brand to gain constant and consistent traction, take a step away from solely focusing on your wine product. Stop taking pictures of a wine bottle, slow-motion wine swirls, portrait wine glass shots...boring. People connect with people. People connect with experiences they want to be a part of. Not wine. As always, love your thoughts and opinions. Even if you disagree. Let’s continue to push Paso Robles to the next wine frontier by creating immensely memorable experiences. All the best,  Brandon