by Scot Burns - Owner, Redbarn Marketing

Those who’ve been in the industry a while know that the toughest part of the wine business is not making the wine (that’s the fun part) it’s selling it. For the majority of wineries that don’t have “uber-status” you are going to have to push your wines to the market. It will be much easier to do this if you find a market niche. Unfortunately the majority of wineries I talk to don’t have a niche they pursue. Some have been fortunate enough to have fallen into a niche that they now capitalize on, but for most, it appears to be an oversight.

Niche Markets

Definition of a niche market: A very specific market segment within a broader segment. A niche market involves specialist goods or services with relatively few or no competitors. Niche consumers often look for exclusiveness or some other differentiating factor such as high status. Alternatively, they may have a specific requirement not satisfied by standard products.

As competition continually grows, especially from inexpensive, high quality imports, you cannot simply say that your wine appeals to people that like wine. That would be like a champagne company saying it appeals to anyone having a celebration. Instead, you will benefit from looking at your direct and indirect competition and thinking about how you can uncover opportunities.

In my opinion, your market niche should be given as much consideration as to what goes into your wine. One doesn’t just throw any old grape into any old barrel and wait for magic. I think everyone will agree that the decisions that comprise the end result of your bottled product are a meticulous combination of interrelated choices that all share a common vision or goal. Your approach to carving out and pursuing a niche or niches should take just as much contemplation and strategy.

Identify

So what is a good niche market? Based purely on an economical definition, it would be one that has the most customers hungry for your product with relatively low competition. But, I’d argue that the best niche market for a lot of smaller wineries is going to be the one that they enjoy interacting with the most.

Following are a few ways to get your thoughts going on how to determine your niche:

1. Varietal Exclusivity – while perhaps the most simple, it also has the most competition. Say you only want to produce Pinot Noir; you are going to have a lot more challengers than if you focus on producing killer Cinsault.

2. Epicurean Pursuits – does your wine pair better with certain food styles of foods in particular? You might seek a niche that appeals only to certain segments of the food world. Maybe you only go after fans of Chinese food, choc-aholics, etc…

3. Personal Passion – it’s a lot easier to sell something you love when you love doing it! If your hobby is golf – carve out a niche in the golfing world, if you are a horse fan – you can become the wine to be seen with at all events, and so on.

4. Research Driven – the most scientific approach is the most consuming, but will most likely yield the best answers. Spend some time and money to see who likes your wine and what the competition is.

5. Smoke and Mirrors – create your niche out of thin air based on what perception you want the market to believe. The vodka market does it all the time. You could become the wine most favored by rock stars or charity events. Unfortunately since you may have to force yourself into market it can be the most expensive.

6. Opportunities – here, you take advantage of an observed area of the market that is not being adequately met. This might take careful research, experience or possibly a gut feeling.

You want to focus your efforts on a targeted portion of the market that has very specific needs and loyal customers. Market niches can be geographic areas, a specialty industry, ethnic, or age groups, or any other particular group of people. You might differentiate your product from the competition by exclusivity or status.

Strategize

Employing a niche marketing strategy can be a low-risk way of growing your business. Some simple steps to go after a niche are:

1. Research the market: Identify opportunities and examine the competition if any.

2. Identify and clarify the proposed benefits you will provide.

3. Communicate clearly and effectively: make sure to speak your target audiences language and in the right medium - it’s all about credible integration.

4. Test the market first – try out your target niche on a small scale whether through an event, promotion or advertisement and measure the results.

This is an oversimplified approach to what can be a very extensive research and strategic exercise. Hopefully though, you get a good idea of how finding a specific niche to market your wine will separate you from your competition or provide an alternative channel to go after. If you don’t have clear answers to the following questions; “Who are the people that drink my wine?” and “What sets me apart from the competition?”, I’d suggest that seeking out a niche will benefit you and bring you sales POWER!

Best Regards,

Scot Burns - Owner, Redbarn Marketing

Scot Burns is owner of Redbarn Marketing, a marketing communications company specializing in the wine industry. Scot has over 15 years of experience in marketing everything from energy drinks to video titles. Redbarn speciliazes in providing unique, outside-the-box approaches to market brands that want to stand out from the crowd.

This entry was posted by admin on Wednesday, August 6th, 2008 at 8:17 pm and is filed under Direct Sales, Marketing, The Industry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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