Wine Marketing Plan
Wine Marketing Plan
1. Market
1.1. Domestic wine market
Greece has the 1.8% of the world wine production and the 3% of the European Union
(Food & Beverage, 1991). The distribution of the annual production appears as
follows: White wine (60%); Red & rose (30%); and Origin appellation (10%).
During 1994 the Greek consumers showed more preference to the inexpensive
unbolted wine and to the expensive wine origin appellation. Simultaneously the
consumption of medium price bottled wine decreased (ICAP, 1994). This is due to
income diminution. At the same time the need to acquire a higher social status led a
market segment to the consumption of more expensive wine. In general the market
was expanded. There was an increase of 18% during the period 1993/1994 compared
to the 1992/1993 period. According to the market indications, the consumption will
keep increasing, a trend already obvious in high quality wine.
The main problem of the wine industry is the decrease of the wine consumption in the
domestic market. According to a recent study (ICAP, 1994) concerning the wine
market; it seems that the consumers rediscover wine.
According to the same study, the domestic consumption is almost exclusively covered
by the national production. The country is self-sufficient in wine.
- National wine production (3,378 tones in 1994)2
Table wine 88.9%, V.Q.P.R.D. 7.8%, Other 3.3%
A detailed table & chart are presented in Appendix.
There is a stable proportion between white and red wine - white wine 67% and red
33% of the total production - and stable proportion between table wine and origin
appellation of higher quality (VQPRD), 91% and 9% correspondingly.
- National consumption
- Wine
314,000,000 lt
- Alcoholic drinks total 44,000,000 lt
The consumption of alcoholic drinks has decreased by 3.8% during 1994 (compared
to 1993), although it remains in a particularly high level.
During the spring and summer period the consumers have a preference to beer. Its
consumption, during the same year, was 4,850,000 lt, having as main characteristic
that 75% of the sales are accomplished in a six months' period, April to September.
Beer is therefore a seasonal beverage, and the most competitive to wine from the
point of view considered by the present paper. Greeks drink an average of 36 lt / year
and the north Europeans 100lt/year. Besides, according to a British survey (1995),
carried out in 12 countries visited by the British tourists, beer in Greece has the lowest
price.
(d) The domestic consumption is remaining in low level, because of the consumption
patterns of Greeks, imitating the north Europeans and placing whisky at the first place
of preference. In addition, beer - lager and premium - seems to expand its share in a
stagnant market (MAICH, 1993).
Market shares: The total consumption of bottled wine is 100 million lt.
2
The national wine production for 1995 was 60% white wine and 40% red wine
small-sized enterprises
low level of service
lack of professionalism
relatively high prices for food and higher for drinks.
Obviously, tourism is the most growing sector of Cretan economy and the island is the
No1 Greek destination. We believe that there are unexploited market opportunities for
the wine market and so far the wine producers haven't paid enough attention to this
segment of the market.
2. Characteristics - trends
The general characteristics and trends of the wine market are as follows.
The changes in the nutritional habits, the high selling prices of bottled wine, as well as
the lack of intensive marketing efforts to promote wine in the catering business have
contributed to a decrease in the wine consumption, which has just begun to regain its
market share. The developments in the market reinforce competition and marketing
expenses.
The wine producers have to deal with the hard competition with beer and alcoholic
drinks, which have established new patterns for the consumption habits, backed up by
their strong marketing efforts.
Table 1: The advertising expenses, years 1993 and 1994 (in billion GDR)
1993
1994
Whisky
3.60
5.6
Liquors
0.72
1.00
Brandy
0.16
0.31
Appetisers
1.30
1.80
Source: NIELSEN
Unfortunately, no data are available about the advertising expenses for the wine. Wine
industry can't allocate such amounts of money, and at the same time it hasn't applied
the appropriate marketing strategy to re-attract the consumer to wine.
Another reason explaining the small share of the wine is the behaviour of the
restaurant owners who sell bottled wine at a very high mark-up. Thus, the traditional
wine drinkers are decreasing, whilst the new consumers have less and less
stimulation.
The consumers have higher quality requirements. The decrease of wine consumption
in the producing countries is due to the changes of lifestyle which results in the
evolution of nutrition habits and in the raise of the daily consumption of quality wine.
On the other hand, the slow increase of wine consumption in the Northern European
countries might be explained by the fact that the nutrition habits constitute basically a
part of their culture, and therefore there is no direct substitution of one drink by
another.
Quality for wine is a one way road; the worldwide consumption will keep decreasing,
although the demand for quality wine will constantly be increasing. The consumers'
preference is oriented to higher quality and, of course, to more expensive wines.
The decrease of consumption is mainly due to the modification of the nutrition habits,
the result of the new ideas about healthily nutrition - less fat, lower alcohol,
quantitative restrictions and the addiction of big part of the young people to the
substitutes of wine. This main change influences decisively the searching for superior
quality wine. One element we must never forget is that wine is consumed almost
exclusively at meal times. How can we convince a hard-to-please consumer to drink
red or white wine apart from that time? (INRA, 1991)
Wine is considered by scientists as the most innocent drink for people. Anglo-Saxons
introduced wine as an appetizer, the North Europeans are looking for other things by
consuming wine, it is a social status symbol, and in the south producing countries
there is a tradition - wine is a part of nutrition, a nutrition item. But nutrition is now
homogenized, standardized.
Once market characteristics and trends are identified, the buying patterns of
individuals within the market must be analyzed. A consumer market can be
characterized by knowledge of age factors, personal interests, and income levels,
among other things.
3. Market potential - Target group
We definitely believe that there is a big potential in the tourism market for wine. Our
target should be to make the foreign visitors wine consumers.
The market potential is defined as the total sales volume of all sellers of a specific
product in a specific market over a specified period of time, usually a year. This figure
can be stated in terms of either actual or potential sales (Cravens, 1987).
The wine market is a buyer's market - supply exceeds the demand. The tourism
market might offer the opportunities to find a balance in this situation. Our target
group is the tourists taking their holidays on Crete, and we expect to get the 35% of
them.
To develop and implement a successful marketing plan, it is essential that we know
the needs, characteristics and idiosyncrasies of the target market, in other words the
consumer's profile (Bagozzi, 1986).
4. Consumer's profile
4.1. Greek Consumer profile
According to a survey (Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, 1993) survey
we might determine a profile of the Greek wine consumer.
(a) Purchase points: The consumer buys wine from super markets 82% (mainly wine
of medium and low quality and at lower prices) and cellars 28% (better quality or for
a gift).
(b) Frequency of preferences: the majority prefers the white wine (76%).
(c) Consumption: The wine consumption is combined, almost exclusively, with food:
76.5% of the consumers drink wine during their meals at home, 44.5% at restaurants
and 30% at home with friends. The low consumption of wine at bars and other similar
enterprises is due to the consumers preference for alcoholic beverages.
(d) Factors influencing consumers to taste a wine for the first time is mainly the
environment influence (friends' suggestions) 25.6% and the bottle - package 23.1%.
What is remarkable is the low influence of the price (7.8%).
(e) The principal decisive feature of the package is the bottle design (66.2%).
(f) Age: The biggest share of wine consumption belongs to those aged between 31 to
40 years, they buy wine 2 or 3 times per week.
(g) The consumers believe that it is good for their health to drink 2 glasses of wine.
(h) Preference (in prices level): the consumers show a remarkable preference to the
unbolted wine (48%).
4.2. Visitor profile
We need a clear-cut definition of which our prospects really are. Let's present this
profile:
- Nationality: Europeans
- Age groups: 31 to 45 and 46 to 60 years
- Sex: male and female
- Family status: couples and couples with children
- Consumption behaviour: open to culinary experiences, participating in
organized tours, visits of historical and natural sites, buying souvenirs.
- Accommodation used: hotel and self catering accommodation.
- Average expenditure: 221,500 GDR for a 14days stay; meaning 15,820 GDR
per day (Sitia Development Organization, 1994. This survey confirmed the
conclusions/results of a similar study in 1995 by the Eastern Crete
Development Organization).
We may conclude that there is a market share to reach for wine of medium quality;
bouquet (aroma) very nice; and medium price.
We believe that inbound visitors offer an exceptional opportunity to transform a
favourable attitude-relationship to the Greek wine: there is an attitude of sympathy;
we might transform it into a relation of friendship.
5. Marketing plan
Marketing planning takes into account all the factors influencing a product's market
performance. In essence, planning can be viewed as one way of insuring that all
elements of the marketing mix combine in the most productive way. A marketing plan
is an integrating system (Kotler, 1991).
The success or the failure of a product in the marketplace depends on the manner in
which a number of marketing elements, called the marketing mix, are blended in
order to meet the needs of a specific market (Holloway & Plant, 1992). The elements
of the marketing mix are as follows:
- Product planning. This includes, but is not limited to, the physical attribute of
the product: packaging design, trademarks, branding, warranties, guarantees
- Distribution, involves everything from the physical aspects of getting the
product to the customer to the selection of appropriate channels. The channels
can include wholesalers, distributors and retailers. For Cretan wine is crucial
to get a distribution system add value, time and place utility. There is no
Only when all the elements of several different marketing mixes are studied as a
composite will it be possible to determine the best plan. We must consider both shortand long-term objectives (Kotler, 1991 and Middleton, 1994).
5.1. Objectives planning
Our objective is the acquisition of a specified larger segment of a market; this may be
stated as consumption of 2lt wine per foreign visitor during his stay on Crete.
That means that we'll try to attract tourists to
consume wine in different kind of business;
purchase wine from stores and cellars; and
buy a bottle of wine as a souvenir.
Long-term objective is that these consumers, when they get back home, be the future
customers of Cretan wine which is to be found at the super markets.
Concerning the quantified objectives, we may consider three scenarios, as shown in
Table 2.
SCENARIO
Optimistic
Reasonable
Pessimistic
We choose the reasonable scenario, 2,354,667 bottles, with an average price of 900
GDR, meaning a total targeted turnover of 2.12 billion GDR.
5.2. Strategy planning
The following step is to select appropriate strategies, once objectives are established;
the plan for their achievement is developed.
Pulling strategy: advertising and sales promotion are the essential elements of a
promotion approach called a pulling strategy. When this strategy is employed, a very
strong promotional effort is directed to the final consumers, temporarily bypassing
any of the intermediaries who might handle the product. The intention is to create
consumer demand so that the channels of distribution will respond to the potential of
pre-established demand and stock the product for resale. This strategy is especially
effective when there are already many products competing for the desired outlets, and
when the outlets are unwilling to take on a new product. This technique is used
frequently with such products as soap and foods.
Pushing strategy: depends less on advertising and more on personal selling. This
strategy puts a heavy emphasis on direct selling to the channels of distribution. The
thrust of the effort is directly to intermediaries who will buy and sell the product. In
this situation, the manufacturer depends on aggressive intermediaries selling to get the
product to the retail outlets. Normally, the manufacturer will help the retailer with
cooperative advertising allowances, trade discounts, and any other dealer aids.
What we suggest is to use the pushing and pulling strategies in a combination, and
place emphasis on the pushing. In order to be clearer we may put the four elements in
a scale of importance:
- sales promotion 10
- personal sales
8
- advertising
5
- public relations 3
5.3. Concept
The key idea that the promotion plan should be designed and planned to fill its
purpose and reach its target:
WINE, A WAY TO GET TO KNOW THE PLACE YOU VISIT BETTER.
5.4. Slogan
The basic slogans, communication messages of the promotion plan are
WITH A GLASS OF WINE WE MAKE MORE FRIENDS
A GLASS OF GOOD WINE ... COME TO DRINK IT TOGETHER
WE'LL KNOW EACH OTHER BETTER.
6. Promotion mix
Effective promotion relies on a careful blend of all the promotion mix elements:
advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, and public relations. In order to derive
maximum benefit from a promotional plan, we should place greater emphasis on the
elements that are most appropriate to the particular marketing plan and product
(Seaton, 1995). The main objective of the proposed promotion plan is to increase
wine demand. It is wise to try to position the product in an effort to gain an increased
market share, as described above.
6.1. Advertising
Advertising is, in general, a no personal sales presentation. We suggest that we should
make only minimal use of advertising and place more emphasis on the other elements
of promotional mix.
Out-of-home advertising, such as outdoor signs, transit displays, and point-ofpurchase devices, can be very effective to promote wine. When properly used, this
technique offers the advertiser the advantages of high impact advertising with
potentially widespread coverage at relatively low cost per exposure. The success of
such advertising is largely dependent on its being placed in the right spot. Unlike most
other advertising, which is delivered to a more-or-less captive audience, out-of-home
advertising is presented to an audience-at-large. The high impact nature of such
advertising requires short, to the point messages.
We can use this technique to get very extensive exposure at the most frequented
places: airports, harbours, museums, archaeological sites, and sights. In this way we
may be sure that this advertising would be viewed by the 85-90% of the target group.
The use of the other media - radio, TV, newspapers, etc - is not recommended because
we can't reach our target group.
6.2. Sales promotion
Any activity other than advertising, personal selling, and publicity is considered sales
promotion: in-store displays, brochures which describe the product, discount coupons,
and give-aways used to build store traffic are all sales promotion activities. We could
suggest the following promotional actions.
6.2.1. Issuing a brochure: a Cretan wine guide, an effort to promote wine, particularly
through the reinforcement of the Greek cuisine.
6.2.2. Information leaflet: an effort to initiate tourists to the quality, the correlation
between wine and nutrition, and the elements which will permit them to evaluate the
art and the enjoyment of drinking wine.
6.2.3 A multimedia presentation: image, sound and tasting wine. Use the new
technologies to promote our product. This is already done by the Peza Union, one of
the biggest wine producers on Crete.
6.2.4. Wine roads (paths): The purpose of this action is to take advantage of the
different elements related to the wine production and bottling and offer the tourists
some itineraries combined with gastronomy and knowledge about wine3. The basic
concept of this action is to offer the tourists an opportunity to
- visit the wine manufactures and wine-growers;
- learn about the secrets of wine;
- take a meal;
- taste and drink wine; and
- buy a bottle.
This visit might be offered in several forms:
- In organised tours by coach, in cooperation with the local travel agencies
- By motorcycle - groups of 15-20 persons
- By bike - groups of 10-15 persons
The crucial point of these itineraries is the well-conceived planning.
The idea is similar to "Routes du vin" and "Weinstrasse", already applied successfully in France and
Germany.
6.2.5 Offer a wine bottle and one glass of taste in a package: This offer may take
place in different occasions, for example International Tourism Day (27th September)
and to every 50th or 100th visitor to a wine manufacture or wine-grower.
6.3. Personal selling
Personal selling is done in a face-to-face situation and involves direct communication
between seller and the prospect.
6.3.1. Hotel & catering business: Criticism is often levelled at hoteliers and restaurant
owners, charging very high prices for the bottled wine. Their mark-up is extremely
high. An effort to change this attitude by several techniques:
- offer discount coupons
- cooperate to set appropriate prices for mutual interest
- set up happy hours for wine consumption.
- cooperative advertising for the wine lists.
6.3.2. Wine bars: Cooperate with already operating bars to create 4 wine bars, located
at the most popular resorts. At these places wine producers will have the occasion to
offer the tourists a different concept of wine and bar.
6.3.3. Training of the hotel & catering staff: Organise training programmes addressed
to selected hotel & catering staff. This staff will follow short and intensive seminars in
order to be more professional for the wine handling.
6.3.4. Cretan nights: The local travel agencies organise special Cretan nights for the
tourists in 4 locations, combining folklore dances with a dinner, while the price
includes unbolted low quality wine.
The first action is to improve the quality of offered wine, with a back up of wine
producers. Afterwards we suggest using the loss leader technique: the loss leader
would be the unbolted wine - medium quality - served in this occasion. The product
will be priced low in order to attract customers, and make them know the Cretan
wine.
6.3.5. Wine festivals: In some villages of the island wine festivals have been organized
for many years. It's wise to take advantage of these events, make them more attractive
and promote Cretan wine.
6.3.6. Retailing Outlets: Because of the accommodation used - a big part stay at self
catering accommodation - we should promote wine into the stores close to apartments
or rented rooms for their daily meal. Besides in these stores the consumer could find
good quality wine at reasonable prices. The supermarkets are not often visited by
tourists, so we don't suggest using this distribution channel.
6.3.7. Cellars: Cellars located in the resorts are appropriate to promote the wine as a
souvenir of the island. The wine producers should back up the cellar owners by using
the cooperative advertising. These outlets offered a distribution system add value,
time and place utility.
6.3.8. Set-up wood kiosks - points of sales to the tourists: The most appropriate places
for this purpose are the main arriving and departing points of the island: Iraklion
airport, Chania airport, and Iraklion harbour, in order to reach the cruises travellers.
6.3.9. Place the wine in the duty free shops: Make an effort to get Cretan wine into the
list of airport duty free shops.
6.4. Public relations
Public relations are any kind of communication with customers, dealers, and others
involved in the marketing mix for the purpose of enhancing the image of a product.
6.4.1. Invitation to WINE WRITERS: Address an invitation to some well known wine
writers to visit the island and give them the opportunity to know the features of Cretan
wine. A well organised visit should incite some favourable newspaper and magazine
articles, and will improve the Cretan wine's image.
6.4.2. Organise wine evenings in the big hotels: An event the purpose of which is to
give the opportunity to the hotels' clientele to taste Cretan wines, combined with some
other happenings and music.
6.4.3. Create a SOMMELIERS (WINE STEWARDS) SCHOOL: The establishment of a
sommeliers school would contribute to the improvement of knowledge about wine
and the image of Cretan wine.
6.5. Time planning - campaign
DAY - D: March 1996 - beginning of tourism season
Schedule of promotional actions on monthly basis.
(See Appendix)
6.6. Estimated Budget
The following table presents our estimations for the marketing plan.
Table 3: Estimated Budget per Action and Year (in million GDR)
Promotional actions
Estimated budget for
Estimated budget for
1996
1997
1. Out-of-home advertising
4
4.5
2. Brochure
4.5
3
3. Information leaflet
2
1.5
4. Multimedia presentation
5
---5. Wine roads
3
3
6. Gift package
1.5
1.5
7. Hotel & catering business
2
2.5
8. Wine bars
7
6
9. Training
1
1
10. Cretan nights
3
3
11. Wine festivals
2
2
12. Retailing outlets
1.5
2
13. Cellars
1
1
14. Kiosks
5
3
15. Duty free shops
1
1
16. Wine writers
1
1
2
1.5
48
2
1
39
The proposed promotion plan concerns wine as a product. Therefore, the promotion
expenses should be shared by the wine producers of the island, since they are all
interested. Volume of wine producers is as follows:
- Private manufacturers 20
- Co-operative wineries 13.
That means a promotion charge of 2.64 million GDR in average per wine producer.
Bibliography / References
PROMOTIONAL ACTIONS
TIME PLANNING
MONTHS
ACTIONS
1. Out-of-home advertising
2. Brochure
3. Information Leaflet
4. Multimedia presentation
5. Wine roads
6. Gift package
7. Hotel -catering business
8. Wine bars
9. Training
10. Cretan nights
11. Wine festivals
12. Retailing outlets
13. Cellars
14. Kiosks
15. Duty free shops
Mar.96
Apr.96
May96
June96
July96
Aug96
Sept96
Oct96
Nov.96
Dec.96
Jan.97
Febr.97 Mar.97
Apr.97
May97
June97
July97
Aug.97