Good Grape Wine Company

January 10 2009

News, Notes & Dusty Bottle Items Pt. III

With three miscellaneous item posts over the course of the last week or so, it is a little bit like cleaning out the mental refrigerator.

Social Media and the Derision Decision

I am going on a social media reference ban for the foreseeable future.  I am a little worn with the references to social media and how important it is, and, certainly, I don’t want to be that guy myself.  Not too mention the fact that many, many wineries seem to have a certain new year’s resolution to get into wine engagement online in a big way.  I am simply shutting off the spigot of commentary before the “Derision Decision” occurs.

The “Derision Decision” is a term I used in the mid 90’s (I’m not sure if I made it up, or subsumed it) when Hootie and the Blowfish went from being a bar band in South Carolina to sellers of 16M records in the span of 12 months.  I was an early fan and everybody loved Hootie and the Blowfish and then they became pariahs based on popularity.

There was a popular media tidal decision to knock Hootie because they became too populace-oriented.  The same is going to happen to social media in ’09.  You can feel the riptide in the backlash streaming as an undercurrent. 

And, to be honest, I see social media as an engagement tool(s) – nothing more, nothing less.  It may seem revolutionary now, but it is merely revolutionary for the times.  In hindsight, it will be viewed as an evolution. 

That said, before I go dark on the subject of social media, I do have to go on a bit of a rant because egregious activity may be the death knell of a lot of social media applications – this is not new wine into old wineskins, even if that is the way a lot of people are treating it.  It is new wine into new wineskins.  What do I mean by that?  Social media isn’t a translation of your same messaging from email into a different delivery vehicle.  Facebook isn’t another way for wineries to blast me about their events – I’m in freakin’ Indianapolis, IN.  I am not coming to your chocolate and wine pairing event for Valentine’s Day.  Therefore, do not send me the group blast thankyouverymuch.  You would think that people view social media as an email list, without bothering to learn from the segmentation progress that has been made in email marketing.

Likewise, LinkedIN groups shouldn’t be used to tell all 2700 members of the Wine Business Network that you have a new blog post up at your blog that is three weeks old – use Twitter for that.

Finally, don’t ask me questions about how your social media group, of which I am a member, can add value to me – YOU NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW YOU CAN ADD VALUE TO ME and I’ll reward you by engaging with your brand.

And, finally, to PR folks – if you cannot take the time to address your email to me by name and reference at least something on my site that gives me a shred of evidence that you’ve read it, if only fleetingly, why am I going to pay attention to your press release? 

I hate to sound like a complete grumble bunny on this, but I am going to be a grumble bunny on this …  last comment *ever* on social media – my wine enthusiasm commences now—without breathing the (bad) exhaust online. 

Good Grape in a Bottle

No, this isn’t about my taking Good Grape into a winemaking direction (don’t I wish) ... however, Google alerts can turn up some pretty cool things.  I knew that in the 1920’s and 30’s there was a Good Grape grape soda because I happened across it when I was doing a trademark search.  Then, lo and behold, Google alerts tells me there is a an old time Good Grape bottle for auction on eBay.  Kind of fun to have a little vestige of the past, related to my present.  I won it and it will now sit on my desk as an objet d’ art.

Offseason for Allergies

Mercifully, allergies are at their annual low point right now, but with seasonal allergies at epidemic proportions, anybody besides me ever give any thought that wine evaluators surely may be missing sensory components based on the devil ragweed?

Getting Rid of the Wine Snob

Alder at Vinography has an interesting post on wine and social class.  I am not sure I am buying what he is selling, not because I don’t believe what he says is essentially true within a small pocket, but because I believe out of the 100’s of wine blogs out there, I believe he may be the biggest progenitor of wine class distinctions in the wine blogosphere.  Now, this is not a knock on Alder, because surely I am guilty of something from a perception perspective it is just that you will have to tell me what that is because I can only see so far outside of myself.

To be sure, in my humble opinion, I believe so-called wine snobbery is, largely, urban myth and save for urban myth, I think it is relegated to the subscriber base of Wine Advocate and the eBob board.

I think largely Wine Spectator subscribers are either normal enthusiasts or luxury poseurs. 

Aside from these two affinity pockets – representing just a minute sliver of the wine consuming public where do these people exist?

While it is a fun, ongoing notion to point to the mythical wine snob, seen about as frequently as unicorns and Sasquatch, I think by and large, these people are not identifiable.

However, what we do have is a media society that likes to play into the mythical nature of the wine snob and it is not the actual consumer of wine that is engaged in wine snobbery it is the 100s, perhaps, 1000s of domestic WINERIES that think they want to appeal to the unicorn of the wine consuming public.

If the wineries get the picture, then the wine snob goes away, and, better yet, there is not any blood shed because these people do not know who they are.  It is all perception.

Just one man’s opinion …

Posted in, Free Run: Field Notes From a Wine Life. Permalink | Comments (5) |

Print

Comments