THE BOOZE BIN
By Pia Mara Finkell (@piamara)
I fancy myself versatile, but really, I’ve only ever worked in wine and food. PR, marketing, social media…they’ve all been vehicles to help me stay in the world I love. If you can drink it, or eat it…I’m in. This Thursday, June 30th, however, is social media day, dedicated to the global awareness of emerging trends in all things social and mobile. Perhaps I get the nerdy urge to celebrate because, like wine, social media offers similar academic challenges with a small sip of dorkiness and a heavy pour of interesting.
On another note, a friend from the wine marketing industry told me she recently forayed into fashion PR, and found the industry was so much more “with it,” as far as social media. It got me thinking. With the cushy topic of booze, are we all getting a little lazy? Perhaps, but there are still some best practices out there that are worth mentioning. Here’s one for you!
Currently, my oldest client reigns from Rioja, Spain’s most famous wine region. Rioja wineries produce some of the world’s most food-friendly wines, offering a choice for every style, occasion and price point. Five years ago, the region’s regulatory board, Wines from Rioja turned to CRT/tanaka to introduce and contemporize this old world wine region to a new generation of U.S. consumers through a multi-pronged integrated branding campaign.
In order to successfully create awareness about this vibrant wine region – from educational trade seminars to fun consumer parties– every part of the campaign is integrated for the greatest impact. Coming into its fifth year in the U.S., Vibrant Rioja is proud to have a social media component to all activities.
This is a region that truly ‘gets it,’ and as the Regulatory Board’s Marketing Director, Ricardo Aguiriano commented: “the power of social media is a reality and Rioja must be actively involved more than ever before. It´s probably one of the best ways to spread the message of this storied wine region.”
This year’s Vibrant Rioja Grand Tasting events included a two-city tour with social media components integrated in every portion. This included promotion from Vibrant Rioja’s Twitter account @RiojaWine and the creation of the official Grand Tasting event Twitter hashtag: #RiojaBuzz to create a virtual conversation around the events. This year’s Grand Tasting also features the RiojaBuzz lounge, offering an approachable, engaging space for attendees to interact digitally, including:
- Live-streaming Video: Broadcasting live streaming video to engage Rioja fans all over the world who couldn’t attend the Grand Tasting in person at http://www.vibrantrioja.com/riojabuzz.
- Live Interviews: Live discussions with attending winemakers and influential attendees were repurposed afterwards on Rioja TV (Vibrant Rioja website) and the Vibrant Rioja Facebook page.
- Twitter Feed: Flat screen TVs in the lounge featured the Live Streaming video, plus Twitter discussions, so attendees could join the conversation in real time from the lounge.
In order to increase engagement with Rioja’s Facebook site and Twitter handle during the Consumer portion of the Grand Tasting in New York, the Vibrant Rioja team partnered with the online social networking site for wine lovers, Snooth to co-host a social media sweepstake. Guests were encouraged to tweet about the event to #Riojabuzz and post their favorite wine and post a picture of themselves at the Grand Tasting.
The wine industry may not always be on its game, but I think we’re doing something right!
Cheers and Happy Social Media Day to nerds everywhere!
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