If you had five minutes to share anything you wanted, what would you say? Ignite is a global phenomenon that sparks creativity and inspiration in each host city. Ignite was inspired by Pecha Kucha Nights, where speakers are given 20 slides, each shown for 15 seconds, giving each speaker 5 minutes of fame.  The first Ignite took place in Seattle in 2006, and since then the event has become an international event with gatherings in Helsinki, Finland; Paris, France; New York, New York; and many other locations.

Produced by perketing.com, Ignite was brought to Spokane by local business woman Margaret Croom of Nosey Parker guide books. The first Ignite Spokane was September 30 and 15 speakers lit up the Bing Crosby Theater with a range of creative, inspirational and motivational presentations.

Some stand out messages were a humorous look from author Deanna Davis on why “Children should Rule the World,” and an inspirational message of overcoming lymphoma from fiction author Tony Hines. Barb Chamberlain shared how bikes will save the world and news talk radio host Angela Monson talked about the power of faceless communicators. The most unique and humorous messages of the night was presented by Ashley Paulus, “Feminism & the Jersey Shore.” This unique look at the cast members of Jersey Shore and how they are empowering a new generation of women was creatively and eloquently presented.

The next Ignite will be in February. What would you say in 5 minutes?

I was honored to be among the presenters and chose to speak on something that I think is often overlooked in social media and marketing campaigns, listening. We live in a world that loves to talk in 140 bite size chunks, status updates, blog posts, and videos but is anyone really listening? How do you get heard among all the noise? Five minutes, 20 slides…here is what I had to say!

See how Long Island’s first winery is using social media to connect to customers and wine lovers. The goal of this series is to connect with wineries and wine business that use Social Media (Twitter and Facebook) effectively. These interviews can serve as a catalyst to help other wineries and wine businesses to see the benefits (and pitfalls) of joining the social revolution. See all sixteen interviews here.  

On the Web – On Twitter @borghesewine – On Facebook

Interview completed by Jen Ramsay, Borghese Coordinator for Social Networking and Electronic Marketing 

Interview Questions

How long have you been using Twitter?

We’re newbies!  We’ve only been on Twitter a couple of months now.  We’re very excited to be a part of a new community, though – we’ve been making some great connections rather quickly and look forward to continuing to build such connections with other wine professionals and wine lovers.

What prompted you to dive in?

We love finding new ways to connect and building relationships with our customers, wine lovers, and other professionals in the wine industry.  Being on Twitter helps us do so in a very “now” manner – it’s helping us connect to a very savvy, very cutting edge, and very spontaneous group of people, and we’re loving that.  It’s really helping us keep our finger on the pulse of wine conversations happening in the virtual world.

What type of strategy or approach do you use when posting content?

We strive for a few things with our content: 1.) To be consistent (we try to post several things every day!), 2.) To follow people who post good content so that we can RT that good content, 3.) To provide relevant content that also shows our personality.  The Borghese Vineyard personality (or brand) is about being refined and classy while at the same time having fun with wine.  We try to communicate that in all that we post.  One practical strategy we use, too, is to subscribe to Google Alerts relevant to the wine world – if we see an interesting link or story there, we post it on Twitter.  We try to balance posting about happenings at our vineyard with happenings in the wine world – we don’t want to limit our presence to only telling people about ourselves, because we are truly looking to build community and be a part of the  bigger conversation on wine.

What have been the benefits of using Twitter/Facebook? (increased traffic, increased brand awareness, customer connection, etc)

We have seen some increase in our website traffic since delving into social media outlets.  We are really hoping, though, that it will start to drive more foot traffic in to the vineyard.  We LOVE our established customers and are so grateful that they return week after week, event after event, and season after season, but we also want to bring in new folks to the vineyard.  We feel we have a lot to offer and want people to come get a taste of it.

Is there a single success story that you can point to with using Twitter/Facebook?

We really enjoyed being part of #Cabernet Day!  Big thanks to Rick Bakas and the St. Supery team for sparking the flame and fanning the fire on that one, as well as to Lindsay Ronga at Cork’d and Kristen Murphy at Wine Library for coordinating details with us to have Borghese Wine at their tasting event in NYC.  The people who tasted our Cabs both at the vineyard and at the NYC event had some great things to say about our wine, and everyone who participated that day got to see that.  We definitely mark that as an initial success and we look forward to continuing to participate in other events / collaborations like this!

What do you think is the single biggest barrier to why we don’t see more wineries actively using Social Media tools?

It’s still unfamiliar territory to a lot of people – particularly to a lot of people who are used to doing “business as usual, the way it’s always been done.”  There are whole different sets of rules and etiquette to learn and understand and play by in the virtual world and that can feel scary and daunting to people who haven’t yet jumped in.  Social Media tools change so quickly – a lot of people probably think, “what’s the point” in learning a new tool, because they think it will be obsolete soon enough.  A lot of people still see Social Media as a trend or a fad that will pass.  Really, though, Social Media almost presents a sort of “changing of the guard” so to speak when it comes to correspondence.  That said, people (like us!) are continuing to see the benefits and are taking the time to learn what the differences are all about and how to leverage the differences, and we’re beginning to see that the conversation will happen with or without us, so we are choosing to be a part of it.  Also, a lot of people think that if you join Twitter or Facebook (or any Social Media outlet, for that matter) today, that you will see a revenue increase tomorrow.  It’s just not the case.  You need to be patient, you need to slowly build, and you need to realize it’s not a magic pill.  You have to work just as hard in social media marketing as you did / do with “feet on the street” marketing.  It’s not a replacement – it’s a supplement, and it’s not magic – it still takes hard work.

What advice would you give to wineries joining the stream or getting back into the stream?

Jump in.  Don’t be afraid.  You will stumble as you learn, but you WILL learn.  Be genuine, be yourself.  Communicate your brand authentically.  Reach out to people in the Social Media stream – everyone who we’ve reached out to has been so helpful, so willing to help, and so generous – all of them have welcomed us with open arms.  Social Media can seem like an endless sea (which it is!), but take it one stroke at a time – you’ll get there!

Briefly tell us about your winery, a new release, or something unique about you?

We were Long Island’s first established vineyard and winery in 1973 (under the name Hargrave), and we are currently owned and operated by Marco and Ann Marie Borghese – two hardworking and amazingly generous people.  We’re located on Long Island’s North Fork, right in the heart of Wine Country, in a town called Cutchogue (which, research has shown, is the sunniest three miles in all of NY State!).  We are situated on about 80 acres, only 25 of which are under vine, so we are a small producer of high quality wines.  Our signature wines are Sauvignon Blanc (made from the very first vines planted on LI), Pinot Noir (one of only 3 producers of Pinot on LI), and Meritage (a beautiful Bordeaux-style blend).  Our wines have won many medals – most recently, our 09 Chard, 09 Sauv Blanc, and 08 Fleurette Rose took home Silver Medals at the NY Wine and Food Classic, and our 06 Cab Franc and 05 Merlot took home Bronze Medals at the same competition.

Something exciting for us in terms of new things happening is that are in the process of officially launching a Wine Club for the first time in about 5 years!  We hope that people will check it out: http://castellodiborghese.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/index.html.  More details and the ability to purchase memberships will be coming soon on our website, too!

What is your favorite rock band and why?

Ok, for this one, I had to default to asking co-owner Ann Marie Borghese.  Here was her answer: “Nirvana.  God, I loved Kurt Cobain.  And the Rolling Stones.  Who doesn’t love the Rolling Stones?”

CASTELLO di BORGHESE VINEYARD

• 17150 County Road 48, Cutchogue, NY 11935
• 631-734-5111 / info@castellodiborghese.com
• www.borghesevineyard.com
• Owners: Marco and Ann Marie Borghese
• Established: 1973, as Hargrave Vineyard (Long Island’s first)

The goal of this series is to connect with wineries and wine business that use Social Media (Twitter and Facebook) effectively. These interviews can serve as a catalyst to help other wineries and wine businesses to see the benefits (and pitfalls) of joining the social revolution.

How long have you been using Twitter?

Milbrandt Vineyards has been using Twitter since August 2009. We started off updating the account once a week, now we make sure to update our status daily, sometimes more depending upon newsworthy items we have on a daily basis.

What prompted you to dive in?

We thought Twitter would be a great opportunity to extend the Milbrandt Vineyards experience beyond the tasting room and event pourings. Twitter gives us an opportunity to further develop relationships with consumers, trade and media. We also wanted to see what the rest of the wine industry is up to in real time.

What type of strategy or approach do you use when posting content?

Sometimes we will use twitter as avenue to inform people of special events or sales or maybe what we’re pouring in the Tasting Room that particular day. Mostly, it is just used to develop a rapport with fans of Milbrandt Vineyards wine, answer questions and keep our name in front of those enthusiasts.

What have been the benefits of using Twitter/Facebook? (increased traffic, increased brand awareness, customer connection, etc)

Our biggest benefit would be relationship building. We will have people message us through facebook or twitter and describe an experience they had involving Milbrandt Vineyards wine, such as a dinner or specific event. Often, it is first time tasters telling us how much they enjoyed the wine with dinner or at a party with a friend who introduced them to our wine. We think it is great that people who enjoy the wine so much that they want to share the experience with us. Increased awareness is a secondary benefit. It is the enthusiasts of our product who spread the word about us and that is how we are usually introduced to new consumers, by word of mouth.   

Is there a single success story that you can point to with using Twitter/Facebook?

Milbrandt Vineyards pours at various events throughout the Pacific Northwest and the country.  After maintaining conversations with several individuals, they make a point to stop by the Milbrandt Vineyards tables and will often retweet or repost our messages, further spreading what we have to say. There is no single success story, it is simply the overall shared experience of using social media.

What do you think is the single biggest barrier to why we don’t see more wineries actively using Social Media tools?

I see a lot of Washington wineries on twitter and I am sure that more and more are joining everyday. But if there is any single hurdle, I believe it is time. Maintaining a twitter account alone is a large time commitment. Many smaller wineries simply do not have the staff to keep up with daily postings, answering inquiries or just maintaining the page.

What advice would you give to wineries joining the stream or getting back into the stream?

Have a plan and have clear and concise message. Make social media a group effort. People like knowing what is going on with the owners, the winemakers, the tasting room, etc. People like feeling involved.

Briefly tell us about your winery, a new release, or something unique about you?

Butch and Jerry Milbrandt planted their first vineyard in 1997. In the ensuing decade, Milbrandt Vineyards earned a reputation for growing some of Washington State’s finest grapes. These grapes have found their way into many of Washington’s most sought-after wines and the Milbrandt name and vineyards are featured on many prestigious labels.

In 2006, under the talented direction of winemaker Gordon Hill, we began crafting signature wines using selected grapes from our reputable vineyards. Our first wines were released in June 2007 and have continued to create award-winning wines. The tradition for excellence established in our vineyards is inherent in every bottle of Milbrandt Vineyards wine and we hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

What is your favorite rock band and why?

We are a Frank Sinatra kind of tasting room. We keep it classy.

When is the last time you measured the return on investment of that $300 business card sized ad in the local rag mag? Does anyone measure the return on investment of the $8,000 web site you just developed? What is the ROI on a Tweet?

• Let me float this out there: If you’re not where the people are, you’ll sell fewer products. Period.
• If you’re a local restaurant and the local people follow a local weekly news magazine for all their local food news…you better bet your butt you should be in that magazine.
• If you notice that your customer base is friending you on Facebook, I guarantee that if you interact with them there, you’ll sell more product.
• If people in your community are holding odd things called tweet-ups and are walking around with their eyes glued to smart phones…send out some choice tweets and those birdies will flock to you.

I recently read this tweet, “So far, there’s been little proof that social networking sells wine.” To be honest, I think this is bull shit (forgive my mouth, Mother). Social networking is the main thing that sells wine! The only variable is WHERE and HOW you choose to be social. Some wineries and businesses network by joining local groups. Others are social by e-mailing their client list. Some choose to network at charity events while others get social on Twitter and Facebook. Wine is social and social networking is good business. He who has the most conversations sells the most products!

In a recent post called “Return on Investment and Social Media Marketing,” Tom Wark says, “There are other ways to spend one’s time and money that deliver a GREATER return on that investment. It is not a matter of jumping into the electronic pool and seeing profits mount, even if you make a big splash.” Again, I disagree. I think there is no greater potential to a return on investment than personal and real conversation and engagement with people through relationship marketing like Twitter and Facebook. If I could pick up the phone and engage with hundreds of my fans / followers / likers simultaneously…imaging the power. If I could reach out and share my product or business development with thousands of people daily through email…imagine the power. If I could connect with people while they shop, dine, lounge and live their lives…imagine the power. Social networking (relationship marketing) is the cost of entry to good business just like the web site was 10 years ago. He who does it well has an intrinsic advantage over their competitor.

Let’s Talk ROI

Return on investment can be essentially measured in two ways: increased revenue or decreased expenses. Any investment of your money for your business should ask these basic questions:

• What is the desired outcome
• What metric will I measure
• How will I measure it

If all you are interested in is brand awareness…how will you measure it? Can you track mentions in the online space through Google? Will advertising in publication X result in the same results as advertizing in publications Y and Z at a reduced cost? What is the value of 5000 Facebook fans? Interacting online may require time (and yes teacher, time = money), but zero conversations results in zero revenue. There are “other ways to spend ones time that deliver a greater return on investment” for the SHORT term but long term success is built on long term relationships and there fewer ways to develop relationships than with today’s social tools.

Plans and Requirements

Lately I’ve been building a lot of Business Requirement Documents (BRD’s) and Communication Plans at work. At the beginning of each of these documents are sections for Critical to Quality Specifications (CTQ’s) and Success Measures. With CTQ’s we’re required to outline the current baseline, projected target and how we are going to measure it. Do you know the current baseline of your advertising results? How much business does that weekly newspaper ad generate? Don’t know? Ditch it. Whatever the program, make sure you know what your success measure is, how you’re going to measure it and what result is considered successful. Do you want to measure social media? Establish a baseline of sales or mentions or interaction (with your web site). Pick the metric you are going to measure (sales, visitor count, web page views). Develop a campaign to drive the results. This should be true with any marketing expense your business has. Is your yellow pages ad worth it? Does your regional magazine ad call people to action? Develop your marketing campaigns with purpose (including social media) and you’ll see tangible results.

Social networking (currently through Twitter, Facebook and Four Square) is the business model of the near term future. The quickest way to reduce cost is to build a network of brand ambassadors who will help spread the word about the business. This efforts results in a social currency that can be redeemed for direct sales.

You want a specific example of ROI on social platforms? Friday I was travelling to Yakima, WA and I tweeted “Where Am I Now?” from a local winery. A neighboring winery said, “Looks like you’re at one of our Red Mountain neighbors, you should stop by.” Shocked that they were so close, I made a brief detour, visited their winery and BOUGHT a $50 red wine blend for later that night. The value of that tweet $50. Repeat this scenario several times over as your follower / fan base grows.

Social media isn’t going anywhere (even if it changes popular platforms). We have entered the “new world” where everyone is hyper-connected to each other. Quality Social connections on Facebook and Twitter are infinitely more valuable than some of your basic collateral (magazine ads, print ads, web banners). Wark concludes his post with, “It’s critical to put in place a marketing plan that utilizes the most efficient tools that are most likely to deliver the greatest return on investment.” I agree here only to say that over time the greatest return on investment will be your social currency in places like Facebook, Twitter, You tube, and wherever your customers are.

“If you do what you always do, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten” (A. Robbins). In an ever changing world of economics, customer attention deficit disorder, and perceptions this quote doesn’t quite ring 100% true. Just because you’ve always been successful selling your wine the moment you open your doors, doesn’t mean you always will be. In today’s world it’s not even about having the highest quality product, or the slickest advertising. Success comes from one word…engagement. The more engaging you or your brand is, the more attractive you will be. The more people attracted to you…well, then you just have a windfall of success.  

Can a winery use social media to create engagement that leads to real sales? Many are still skeptical, but I present to you exhibit A: Old Spice body wash. Old Spice is not a super sexy product, in fact they were getting beat up in the market by a hip and aggressive ad blitz from Axe body sprays and washes. Enter a quirky Super Bowl commercial featuring Portland, OR born former NFL wide receiver (go Seahawks) Isaiah Mustafa. From February through June, a string of commercials brought brand awareness but generated minimal engagement. In fact, sales were down about 7% (ref. SymphonyIRI). A stroke of creative brilliance emerged from the marketing firm of Wieden + Kennedy. The calculated risk of using viral media like Twitter, Facebook and Social media created a firestorm of engagement that propelled the Facebook fan page to 725,000 “likes” and over 110 million video views. The brief campaign of 180 recorded video responses to “fans” set traditional marketing on its ear. The results, a one month sales gain of 107% (Nielson Research).

New World, Old Spice Lessons for Engagement

Be Creative with Your Story

What’s the message of Old Spice? The body wash will make you a sexy manly man that can rip the head off a lion while wearing only a towel. What is the story of your winery? Is it “get 20% off of Sauvignon Blanc through Thursday?” While Old Spice’s message was a crazy, quirky message, it was the creativity of telling it that engaged new customers. Once you have an engaged customer base, they’ll respond to your sales pitch. Your story doesn’t have to be crazy and quirky but it does need to be creative. One very positive example that I see in Washington State is small producer Hard Row to Hoe. They have tied their creative play on words into their label, wine names, marketing copy, tasting room, and even their bathroom wallpaper. Ben Simons of Vinotology recently did a great job summarizing their creative approach in his post “Good Wine, Prostitutes and Capitalism.” Hard Row has positioned themselves for a viral media campaign that could quickly send them to the next level in wine sales.

Be Consistent (and patient) with Your Message

Old Spice didn’t jump out of the gate with this campaign just yesterday. We were first introduced to Old Spice Guy in February 2010 during the Super Bowl. The kitschy message continued for several months and we developed a trust and acceptance of it. Chances are if the July campaign came out in February, it may have fallen flat. Introduce your creative campaign and build acceptance of it. You’ve got a wine in barrel right now. What is it going to become? It won’t be released for several months, but the right creative message can build a buzz for that barrel that when it’s released, you’ll have built in demand.

Engage Influencers in your Industry

It’s no accident that Old Spice engaged Kevin Rose, Ellen DeGeneres, Ashton Kutcher, Demi Moore and Alyssa Milano. These celebrities are active on Twitter and helped their message go viral. Answering a question from Josh at DrinkNectar may have been fun, but chances are Old Spice Guy would have had better success in the wine world with Gary Vaynerchuk. When considering your message, look for the influential people in your area of wine. Sean Sullivan of www.wawinereport.com has a way different area of influence than Dezel Quillen of www.myvinespot.com.  Rick Bakas says, “This is a tip you hear from social media marketers across the board.  You have to find and engage with people in social media who can amplify your message quickly.”

You’ve got your creative story, you’ve been consistent and patient with the message, now it’s time to engage people who can help you get the word out. If it’s creative and they trust you, they’ll be happy to help!

Think Viral

A key to the Old Spice campaign was that it was viral in its creation. It was easy to share and easy to consume. The use of YouTube videos that were less than 60 seconds ensured that people would watch them and share them. Throw out your two page press releases and five minute winery feature videos and create something short, fun (or meaningful) and engaging. Tell a story and make a connection. Greg Harrington of Gramercy Cellars created a fun video (Sommelier Starts a Winery) that went viral with over 20,000 views (pretty significant in the wine community). Personally, I think Gramercy could have capitalized on this momentum that could have led to a really cool and engaging campaign.

Leah Hennessy of Millennier.com (wine for millennials) wraps it up nicely in her latest post, “Go be creative and awesome. If you’re not creative and awesome, find someone who is. A few months from now I want to be writing about a video like this (not referring to Old Spice, but could be) for a wine. And you know what? I will. Maybe I’ll just make it myself. If you want in, let me know.”