161: Use Storytelling to Sell More Wine

Understanding why people drink wine allows you to use their attitudes and behaviors to improve your marketing to keep your customers coming back. This research is exactly what Kathy Kelley, Professor of Horticultural Marketing and Retail Business Management at Penn State University loves to do. In her studies, she has found that sustainability is very important to customers however it can mean different things to different people.  While 7 out of 10 adults in the United States consider purchasing food and beverage with a sustainability component a priority, one-fourth of these respondents could not articulate sustainability. This gives the industry a great opportunity to better communicate what sustainability means.

Communicating sustainability should be incorporated into a brand's DNA from point A to point B through all marketing channels including face-to-face, social media, print, and website. Storytelling is a great way to convey your brand values because consumers are more likely to remember stories. By describing specific practices and why they are important, you set yourself apart from the competition and create an emotional connection with your consumers. Kathy’s research on sharing cover cropping practices found that customers were willing to pay one to four dollars more per bottle after learning about the specific sustainable practices. Listen in for more tips on how to determine your customer demographic and refine your marketing.

References:

• Cover crops make vineyards more sustainable; strategy can be a marketing tool
• Kathy Kelley
• Identifying wine consumers interested in environmentally sustainable production practices
• Penn State Extension Wine Business Management and Marketing
• SIP Certified
• Vineyard Team – Become a Member
• What Sustainability Means to Consumers by Morning Consult
• Wine consumers’ willingness to adopt environmentally friendly packaging practices at tasting rooms: An ECHAID analysis

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Transcript

Craig Macmillan  0:00 

I'm your host, Craig Macmillan and with us today is Kathy Kelly. She is professor of horticultural marketing and retail business management at Penn State University. Kathy, thanks for being here.

 

Kathy Kelley  0:08 

Thank you very much. I appreciate the invitation.

 

Craig Macmillan  0:11 

Tell us a little bit about the work that you do and where your kind of research interests lie.

 

Kathy Kelley  0:15 

So I've been a faculty member at Penn State since 2001. And I have a teaching extension research appointment, all three of my aspects deal with some sort of marketing component. And my research, I really became very interested in learning about w