Last weekend was a long and studious weekend for the gurus of digital communications in the world of wine. The Digital Wine Communications Conference is the occasion for the greatest experts in the world of wine and communications, such as Jancis Robinson, Etienne Hugel, Greg Lambrecht, Robert Joseph, Suzanne Mustacich, the #winelover Andre Ribeirinho and many others, to come together to talk about digital communications. This event takes on even greater importance in the light of the new challenge that is about to radically change the face of digital communications: #Newsjacking.
So why should #Newsjacking influence wine brands’ digital strategy? Because brands need to adapt to the new demand for interaction, and converse with their customers in real time, the famous #RealTimeStorytelling. To be able to continue diffusing their message and promoting their name, wine brands need to adopt a different mode of communication to reach a new generation of consumers who are mobile and hyper connected. They have to work at creating the buzz that will get them talked about around the world.
And what is Newsjacking? Basically it’s taking the hot topics of the day and using them to carry a message or a brand. It’s a technique that VitaBella Luxury Wine has used many times in the realisation of strategic brand objectives, such as the “La Vieille Ferme” campaign where the well-known ‘Chicken and Cockerel’* characters on the label express their opinions on hot news topics in cartoon speech bubbles. The most recent buzz was the memorable ‘Christmas Tree’ sculpture by the artist Paul McCarthy on the Place Vendôme in Paris. As you can see here, the chicken exclaimed “The grape harvest is barely over and they’ve already put up a Christmas tree on the Place Vendôme”, to which the cockerel replied “Ah, the seasons aren’t what they used to be!” VitaBella Luxury Wine had identified a hot topic (the highly controversial art piece) and used it for the purposes of brand promotion, diffusing the cartoon at the height of the exchanges on social media. The result: 1200 Likes, over 200 Shares and comments on the brand’s Facebook page in only a few days.
Today, digital creativity is essential. The world of digital communications for wine brands is at a turning point in history. Newsjacking is about to change habits.
(*Since 2003, Guillaume Jourdan has been advising more than 200 prestigious wine estates for their international Marketing & Communication strategy incl. Chapoutier, Hugel, Dr Loosen, Famille Perrin, Cos d’Estournel, Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie’s Miraval…Write to Guillaume info@vitabella.fr)
