Two Super Marketing Stories from a

Super Country

As most of you know, I was in Italy earlier this month vacationing with my family. While we were touring the wine country of Tuscany, two very interesting  marketing stories presented themselves. Since their implications are so applicable to the issues we face, I thought I would share them with you today - and share a bit of the magic of this wonderful country.

Story One

Once upon a time, Italian farm workers in the Tuscan region drank simple Chianti wine with their lunch in the fields and with their dinner in their homes. Over time, this fruit-of-the-vine was sold to non-farmers throughout Italy and the world. And it became very popular.

To meet the high demand for Chianti wine, Italian producers demanded more and more grapes and grape juice from each vine. Sadly, but not surprisingly, over time the quality of the wine, along with the price point and the demand, began to decline.

Enter two parties who felt conditions needed to change: smart (and smarting) winemakers and Italian politicians who noticed a wine-induced blip in the economy. They decided that "less wine with better taste" was the only way to change the "cheap and awful Italian wine" perception in the worldwide market and win back their market share, sales, and profits. In 1963, this fairytale collaboration of the public and private sectors established wine standards and categories.

The government-instituted standards were made real and visible to buyers by the addition of a special label to bottles meeting the specific quality criteria. For Chianti, this certification is a pink, thin label near the mouth of the bottle.

In short, by abandoning the "we'll make it up in volume" approach and instead creating and selling a higher quality product, Italian Chianti was reborn and the Tuscan wine producers (and politicians) lived happily ever after.

The moral of the story for today's U.S. marketers is - be careful which pricing strategy you choose to go to market with and always be mindful of product quality.

Story Two

Not all that long ago in a beautiful land called Tuscany, winegrowers had created sales and profits by improving their Chianti wine and life was good. But things were soon to get EVEN BETTER.....

Not wanting to rest on their laurels - or grape vines as the case may be - some Tuscan winemakers started experimenting with blending together different grapes of the region together to create new and different tasting wines. They had noticed the worldwide demand, especially in the large and lucrative US market, for blended wines and they wanted a piece of the action.

Soon the market was identified, the product developed and tested, and life was good, well, almost....

Two things stood in the way of their success. 

1. The very set of wine qualifications that had originally helped the winemakers improve the quality, sales, and profits of their Chianti wine was now working against them and their new fantastic blended wines.

You see, the Italian wine qualification system did not apply to these wines because the wine contained a varying percentage of juices from several different grapes. 

2. The market perception of non-qualified wines made in Italy was very bad. This perception was based on the pre-1963 Chianti.

What's a marketer to do? - See below.....

Info on Italy Trip: Since I arrived in Italy two days after the Pope died, here are the answers to the top questions I'm asked about my trip: • Yes, we did go to Rome and it was NOT too crowded to sightsee • No, I did NOT wait in line to see the Pope • Yes, we did get into the Sistine Chapel (the last day before they closed it for Conclave) • No, we were NOT part of the Pope's funeral crowd (we were in Florence on that day) • Yes, we did get to see St Peter's Square and the Basilica before we left for home - we even saw the Cardinals walking around If you'd like to see the vacation photos email me for a link - Rose1Walter@MosaicMM.com.  Ciao!

In short, the Italian wine marketers re-positioned their non-certified wine by creating a new category. The name they chose for this category was not only proprietary in that it played off the name of the region, but it also appealed to the US market (remember, this was the market they were targeting) with a very American-sounding name. That name? Super Tuscans! The price range? $20-$200 per bottle. Today millions of dollars worth are sold annually.

The winemakers (and drinkers) are indeed living happily ever after.

What does this story teach us?

• Be aware of market trends

• Target lucrative developing segments

• Appeal to your segment on as many levels as possible (category name)

• Don't be afraid to re-create the market for a product that will bring the market superior quality and value, and finally

• Italians really are good marketers

  Remember, Mosaic creates customers for business-to-business companies through specific project work, on-going retainer assignments, and marketing coaching sessions.
  

Until next time.....

Rosemary Walter
847-483-5018
Rose1Walter@MosaicMM.com

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