The earliest evidence for wine dates back to 6000 BC, with the earliest record of viti-viniculture being found in what is now the nation of Georgia.
Since then it’s become a delicacy, craft, and sales powerhouse across the globe, with the USA, Australia, South Africa, Spain, Italy, Argentina, Portugal, and the rulers of the domain, France, all renowned winemaking countries.
With its global reach, wine has become one of the many products to take advantage of the worldwide sales potential offered by the online world.
Below I have looked at 4 wine brands that are killing it online and given a reason that their excellent websites are enabling them to do so.
Recommended reading: The Aging Process Behind a Bottle of Wine
Beringer
With the brand being born in 1876, this Californian company is, “the oldest continuously operating winery in the Napa Valley.”
Not only that, it is listed as a California Historical Landmark and features on the National Register of Historical Places.
With its Californian heritage playing such an important role in Beringer’s brand, you might think that they’d be closed off to the idea of globalizing their name. However, they have taken the opposite approach to their online strategy.
Why are they killing it?
Their website has options for Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UAE, United Kingdom, and United States.
They don’t just want the rest of the world to know about their name, they want each customer that visits their site to experience Beringer’s in a way that’s personal to their national identity.
What can you learn from this and how you can apply that lesson?
Think about all of your customers and how you can make your brand’s online offering uniquely personal to them. Using Google Analytics will help you to establish where your customers are based. Use this information to make your website truly global.
Hardys
Australian brand Hardy’s began with Thomas Hardy, AKA, the “Father of the South Australian Wine Industry.” The titular creator of this antipodean titan moved from the UK to Australia in 1850, planting his first Shiraz vines in 1856.
In modern times, Hardys is on sale in 150 countries, shipping 9 million cases of their wine, and was named the world’s second strongest wine brand in 2008. Despite their standing today, Hardy’s haven’t forgotten their past and it informs their online strategy.
Why are they killing it?
As soon as you visit their website you’re hit with their brand story. They drink in their history and you’ll find a glass of it poured and left to breathe for you everywhere that you look.
What can you learn from this and how you can apply that lesson?
Storytelling matters. Customers today aren’t just buying a product, their buying a brand. For that reason it’s important that you make them fall in love with you.
While your online store is a great place to start with this, don’t limit yourself; social media is another page on which you can write your brand story and Instagram stories is the perfect place to start. Check out the guide below for some top tips on how to get started.
Yellow Tail
Another great brand from the home of Uluru, AKA, Ayers Rock, Yellow Tail actually have their origins in Italy. Produced by Casella Family Brands, it was 1957 when husband and wife Filippo and Maria Casella departed their homeland for Australia.
However, it wouldn’t be until the beginning of the 21st century that Yellow Tail was born and it’s this brand’s youthful nature that’s informed it’s very modern success story, something apparent in it’s crisp and brilliantly simple online strategy.
Why are they killing it?
It’s simple really: Yellow Tail have taken their color branding name association and applied this liberally – visit their site and you’ll be under no illusion that when you think yellow it means Yellow Tail.
However, yellow isn’t the only color on display, with red, blue, green, and pink among the others. What unites every color is how unfussy they are treated, it’s all simple, and memorable tones.
What can you learn from this and how you can apply that lesson?
Simplicity can be everything in branding.
A long drawn out and complex brand might not be memorable, a simple and snappy one will be. This is something that you can apply from the outset by building your website to these specifications. You’ll find a host of simple and memorable stores on Shopify, making it a great choice to build your first wine store.
Barefoot
We end on the top ranked global wine brand of 2017: Californian titan, Barefoot.
It’s a millennial wine brand, having been introduced in 1986 under the moniker: “Get Barefoot and Have a Great Time!,” and as such you’ll be surprised to find that they play perfectly to the fun vibe associated with Generation Y customers.
Why are they killing it?
Their website is just fun, it plays on good time vibes and as such you immediately associate the brand with being able to help you to enjoy life even more. Just take a look at how they positively bounce their wine at you, teasing you to choose them.
What can you learn from this and how you can apply that lesson?
Taking yourself too seriously can hamper your brand, but making your brand a figure of fun will do you no good either. The important thing is that you understand your audience before you take too lighthearted a tone.
Once you know how to frame your fun wine side, give it to your customers and let your ecommerce store tame their desire for a wine that is right for their nature. This excellent article explains the value of fun in marketing.
So there you are, 4 top wine brands who are absolutely killing it online. Of course, online isn’t the only domain that you’ll find their wines.
For some, they treat the bricks and mortar store as their preferred domain and use their online strategy as a way to draw their customers in. For others they use their online presence as a further channel to their success.
While you may sell your wine face-to-face, or via your ecommerce site, the important thing is that you’re getting your online strategy right. So take the lessons of this article, then apply them to your own brand, and drink in your success.
This Guest post was written by Victoria Greene exclusively for Social Vignerons.
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