 "Wines to lift the spirits")
Marketing wine - indeed, marketing any alcoholic beverage (which includes spirits and beers) - in India has one major handicap: you cannot advertise, at least not openly.
This is because Article 47 of the Directive Principles of State Policy (of the Constitution of India) had stated in 1949-50 that "... the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purpose of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health." This is interpreted by each state excise department with varying degrees of strictness, but all proscribe using conventional marketing tools (media & print advertising, outdoors media) to market wines.
Of course, the authorities label all alcoholic beverages as "intoxicating drinks", completely overlooking the fact that wine is actually beneficial to health - at least when taken in moderate quantities ("a glass or two of wine a day keeps the doctor away"?). That is unlikely to change anytime soon, so don't hold your breath waiting for a TV campaign for wines.
The biggies get round this constraint by using surrogate advertising: so there's McDowell Soda and the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team from United Spirits, Royal Stag "Make it Large" parties and Seagram Music cassettes from Pernod-Ricard India, the Kingfisher Calendar, and many, many more. But that takes megabucks and is only for the large companies.
So what really are the marketing options for a new and relatively small winery in India?
First of all, have an adequate budget - if you've spent, say, two years and Rs 5 crore setting up a winery, plan to spend as much time and money establishing distribution and brand awareness. This is problematic: people understand fixed assets (land, building, plant & machinery) and working capital (raw material, packaging material) and can get financing for those assets, but sales and marketing expenses have to come from equity or unsecured loans and so, tend to be given the short shrift - a big mistake, one that's led to many a winery being closed down for lack of sales.
Retail distribution also requires investments as modern trade chains demand entry charges, while stand-alone outlets want discounts since wines have a relatively high turnaround time and, hence, lower returns (than either beer or spirits).
So, it's essential to take people down the AIDA (awareness, interest, desire, and action) route to trying your wine (and hopefully buying more than once) in parallel: use PR, the Internet and social media, expert endorsements, on-premise trials and tastings, and society events to promote the brand and your quality. There's nothing like the winemaker or winery owner personally going round the market and conducting tastings and meeting consumers - a tried and tested model that works wonders for the brand, although you should go down this road with quality wines, not brands that are fighting on price with discounts.
And then wait and hope and pray that your wines do well while the money lasts.
Wines I've been drinking: The improbably-named Dog Point Vineyards from the Marlborough region of New Zealand had an impromptu tasting at the Taj West End recently. The winery was set up in 2002 by ex-Cloudy Bay winery veterans, Ivan Sutherland and James Healy, in the Marlborough region and produces only about 28,000 cases (336,000 bottles) annually, now sold in 30 countries worldwide. Their wines were just fantastic: the Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2012 had classic gooseberry (we recognise it as ripe guava) and lime aromas and a minerally, chalky, lime juice palate that was very attractive - it's rated at 89 points by Wine Spectator and listed at $20 in the US. The Dog Point Pinot Noir Marlborough 2011 was also exquisite: berries and earth on the nose, carrying through to the palate, with smooth tannins and a terrific finish. Also rated at 89 pints by WS and listed at $41 in the US. I would be surprised if you didn't find this wine in India soon.
This is because Article 47 of the Directive Principles of State Policy (of the Constitution of India) had stated in 1949-50 that "... the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption except for medicinal purpose of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health." This is interpreted by each state excise department with varying degrees of strictness, but all proscribe using conventional marketing tools (media & print advertising, outdoors media) to market wines.
Of course, the authorities label all alcoholic beverages as "intoxicating drinks", completely overlooking the fact that wine is actually beneficial to health - at least when taken in moderate quantities ("a glass or two of wine a day keeps the doctor away"?). That is unlikely to change anytime soon, so don't hold your breath waiting for a TV campaign for wines.
The biggies get round this constraint by using surrogate advertising: so there's McDowell Soda and the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team from United Spirits, Royal Stag "Make it Large" parties and Seagram Music cassettes from Pernod-Ricard India, the Kingfisher Calendar, and many, many more. But that takes megabucks and is only for the large companies.
So what really are the marketing options for a new and relatively small winery in India?
First of all, have an adequate budget - if you've spent, say, two years and Rs 5 crore setting up a winery, plan to spend as much time and money establishing distribution and brand awareness. This is problematic: people understand fixed assets (land, building, plant & machinery) and working capital (raw material, packaging material) and can get financing for those assets, but sales and marketing expenses have to come from equity or unsecured loans and so, tend to be given the short shrift - a big mistake, one that's led to many a winery being closed down for lack of sales.
Retail distribution also requires investments as modern trade chains demand entry charges, while stand-alone outlets want discounts since wines have a relatively high turnaround time and, hence, lower returns (than either beer or spirits).
So, it's essential to take people down the AIDA (awareness, interest, desire, and action) route to trying your wine (and hopefully buying more than once) in parallel: use PR, the Internet and social media, expert endorsements, on-premise trials and tastings, and society events to promote the brand and your quality. There's nothing like the winemaker or winery owner personally going round the market and conducting tastings and meeting consumers - a tried and tested model that works wonders for the brand, although you should go down this road with quality wines, not brands that are fighting on price with discounts.
And then wait and hope and pray that your wines do well while the money lasts.
Wines I've been drinking: The improbably-named Dog Point Vineyards from the Marlborough region of New Zealand had an impromptu tasting at the Taj West End recently. The winery was set up in 2002 by ex-Cloudy Bay winery veterans, Ivan Sutherland and James Healy, in the Marlborough region and produces only about 28,000 cases (336,000 bottles) annually, now sold in 30 countries worldwide. Their wines were just fantastic: the Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2012 had classic gooseberry (we recognise it as ripe guava) and lime aromas and a minerally, chalky, lime juice palate that was very attractive - it's rated at 89 points by Wine Spectator and listed at $20 in the US. The Dog Point Pinot Noir Marlborough 2011 was also exquisite: berries and earth on the nose, carrying through to the palate, with smooth tannins and a terrific finish. Also rated at 89 pints by WS and listed at $41 in the US. I would be surprised if you didn't find this wine in India soon.
Alok Chandra is a Bangalore-based wine consultant