Increasing Power of Blogs

With 3 clicks and no technical knowledge needed, anyone in the world can create a blog. This fact alone drives professional journalists up a wall as their new competition may not be traditionally trained writers with degrees, but bloggers with a loyal following (who also happen to enjoy wine).

Wine blogging provides an opportunity for amateur writers to rise to the ranks of respected wine media members. We have seen it countless times in our own industry. Alder Yarrow, who spends his days managing an interactive design firm, is one of the most sought after and respected wine writers because of his blog Vinography.com. But it didn’t come overnight; it was because of his enthusiasm, posting frequency, knowledge, and ultimately his ability to harness a loyal user base around his content.

Paris Hilton is a brand (whether you like it or not). What does this have to do with wine you ask? In this same sense, Blogger’s become their own brand with an identifying voice, creating market opportunities abound. From book deals to industry partnerships – your identity can become a commercial venture even if it only started off as a single blog post.

Find Your Brand Ambassadors

Obviously, in my opinion, all wineries and retailers should have their own blog and editorial outlet to provide a voice and casual feedback mechanism for their customers. However, that is for another column. Today, I am here to highlight the power that a third party blogger can have for your brand.

Malcolm Gladwell first used the term maven in his book The Tipping Point describing those who are intense gatherers of information and impressions. In his book, he also references connectors,” or people who have a trusted network that can distribute the message of the maven. Is this starting to sound like the workings of a successful blog? I know this was not Malcolm’s original intention, but this concept translates beautifully to the power of the blogosphere.

Blogs have something that many new (and even some old) brands may not have - mavens. And even if you already do, you can always use more. Think of mavens as brand ambassadors, reading a blog daily, commenting and ultimately spreading that blog and its messages to others on a consistent basis.

The Connector Chain

You, as winery, retailer, and brand, want these same mavens to find you as they utilize multiple connectors” to spread their message! But how? Begin working the connector chain.”

I could talk about the connector chain for hours. Every industry and even every specific niche of an industry has one. One of the best well known examples is the career of Donald Trump. Recognizing at a young age he needed to be with the best, he left Fordham University after 2 years to attend the University of Pennsylvania to pit himself against the best and brightest. From there, he played the connector chain,” taking a job with his father’s company, leveraging his personal and family connections to ultimately build his own brand into hotels, books, TV, neck ties and even steaks!

In the blogosphere, each particular blog will harness a particular demographic and network of users. Looking beyond banner advertising, text links and submitting samples for review – blogger’s provide an even better opportunity to transfer brand loyalty through strategic partnerships. Domaine547.com is one of the first wine clubs on the web to effectively capture this connector chain in the wine world.

Take a look at some of their Blogger Sampler Packs” which offer wines picked, by you guessed it, bloggers.
- 2007 Brooklynguy Loves Wine Pack
- Catavino-Pack 1: Portuguese Table Wines
- Wine Blogging Wednesday Sample Pack
- Good Grape Sample Pack
- Dr. Debs’ Good Wine Under 20 Pack

Catching a theme here? CataVino.net, a trusted blog about Portuguese Wines, is endorsing a wine pack through a partnered vendor, selling Portuguese Wines.

However, this is not entirely one sided. Bloggers can receive great success through these partnerships in a number of ways. One is financial gain through these partnerships receiving commissions on sales or co-brand opportunities. Another is utilizing this exposure as a platform to new opportunities, which is exactly why some bloggers get into the game.

And my favorite is the who are you phenomenon.” Partnering with the right vendor can open you to a whole new world of readers and loyalists outside of your original demographic. If done right, sometimes providing instant validation to a whole new audience. The connector chain feeds itself in both directions!

So, next time you see Paris Hilton walking down the street (because who doesn’t this happen to?) get yourself in a few paparazzi shots with her and you can witness first-hand how the connector chain can lend itself to kicking off a good number of the examples stated above. This may be giving away that I am the MTV generation, but strategies for brand development are sometimes universal across industries.

Cheers,

Mark Spangler, VP; ClassicWines.com, Founder; Wine Marketer

Mark Spangler, based out of Philadelphia, has been actively involved in Internet marketing and business development his entire career, often working in a capacity to utilize the web for brand development. He is the founder/editor of WineMarketer.com and Vice President at ClassicWines.com, an online wine community and shopping portal. He also consults small businesses in Internet Marketing.

This entry was posted by admin on Friday, April 25th, 2008 at 3:16 pm and is filed under Blog, Direct Sales, The Industry, Wine Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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