A recent white paper by Mastermind Consulting, a Sydney-based marketing consultancy that specialises in digital and social media, was titled The State of the Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry on Facebook and revealed some interesting insights. It is the first known paper of its kind, focusing specifically on the Australian and New Zealand wine industries to provide general trends and insights for wineries to consider as part of their broader marketing plan.
With 16 million Australians and New Zealanders spending more than eight hours a month on the platform (March 2015) and 46 per cent of all social sharing related to brands taking place, Facebook is certainly a platform on which wineries need to have a presence, at least to respond to consumer feedback.There are currently more than 30 million businesses on Facebook, with approximately two million advertisers competing for eyeballs. And yet, Australian and New Zealand Wineries have generally been slow to adopt the platform and use it to build strong communities for their brand.
One of New Zealand’s fastest growing and most innovative wine companies, Yealands Family Wines however, is bucking that trend. The company is taking its sustainability story to global markets via a leading edge, digital platform.
YealandsLive.co.nz features dynamic content captured via a series of live feeds, directly from the Yealands Estate Seaview Vineyard and Winery in Marlborough, New Zealand. The website aims to give consumers and the wine trade a unique, and authentic behind the scenes look at one of the world’s premier sustainable wine producers.
Site visitors can navigate each section for multiple live video feeds, a series of time lapse videos, an RSS media feed and the company’s global sales and distribution activity in real-time. Additional features include a climate data feed, up-to-the-minute energy generation data from one of New Zealand’s largest solar installations as well us updates from their winemaking team.
From the Cellar Door, to raising a glass in their own backyard, to events that Yealands Family Wines partner with; wine lovers can share their photos via the site’s live feed captured by the custom-developed app at the Yealands Cellar Door or by using the hashtag #yealandslive on social media.
General Manager of Marketing, Michael Wentworth says, “The purpose of YealandsLive is to connect consumers to the heart of the Yealands story through an immersive, visual and authentic experience. “
Yealands are encouraging consumers in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to virtually explore their vineyard via a social media campaign. They can then enter the draw to win a personalised YealandsLIVE Travel & Wine Experience including flights, luxury accommodation and spending money at www.yealandsLIVE.co.nz/Win.
