Portuguese Wines the next big thing?
Although most Portuguese wine makers are too busy making wine, to really care what’s happening online, latest news from at least one wine expert is, “it’s a great time to be a Portuguese wine maker”.
When the most influential voice in the wine industry says, “Portuguese wines are the next big thing”, maybe we should at least take notice. Maybe, just maybe, he hasn’t had to many glasses and he knows what he’s talking about.
Arguably, no one knows the “wine 2.0″ industry better than Gary Vaynerchuk – of “Wine Library”, with his gritty charm, and the power of social media, like twitter and video blogging, to successfully turn the families 4 million wine shop, into a 50 million a year business, in less than 3 years. Appearances on popular talk shows, plus invitations to speak at Google, Facebook and Internet Stardom, Gary Vaynerchuk seems to just be getting started.
Impressed by Portuguese wine quality and value, Gary has not been shy about touting our wines and loudly pronouncing “Portuguese wines are going to be big!” His reasoning – great quality and great value, or as he likes to call it “the thunder” – a bottle that costs $10, but really tastes like $50.
If he’s right, and he knows wines, the BIG question is “when”. So, when will Portuguese wines break into new markets? Well, at the moment one key challenge is lack of visibility and branding. Unfortunately, only a handful of Portuguese wine makers are currently using new marketing strategies, or the power of the web to build a competitive and effective web strategies and brands.
But things are changing – thanks to the likes of Ryan and Gaberiella Opaz from Catavino. This dynamic duo are certainly creating buzz in the Spanish and Portuguese wine scene, with their know-how of social media tools like blogging, twitter and social wine discovery sites, and slowly re-humanizing the world of “wine snob” into something more digestible.
Eddie and I finally got to meet the Opaz’s and excited to hear their efforts are starting to pay off with wine makers.
So this looks like a good opportunity to share a few ideas on how Portuguese Wine Producers can work towards bringing more attention to the country:
Continue reading the rest of this article…
In Control of your Brand?
Marketers want to feel they’re in control of their brands. But customers show us that’s not how the game is played anymore. Regardless on the volume of advertising and brand positioning, at the end of the day, customers will perceive your brand based on their own experience and world view.
Still think you’re in control? Then take a look at the Brand Tags Game – the basic idea of the game is that a brand exists entirely in people’s heads. Therefore, however you position your brand, other’s will perceive it differently.
Here are just five (5) of many interesting trends from Brand Tags:
- Twitter “useless”… but don’t tell that to Pistachio
- Taco Bell “diarrhea”
- Apple “innovation”
- Hilton Hotel “Paris Hilton”
- London 2012 Olympics “Ugly”
Here are more trends.
At the end of day, what we can learn from this, a brand can’t just own one, but according to Seth “there’s no reason why you can’t build a micro one, a local one, a brand that’s magical for a smaller group of people”.
solo’izing
Big Kudos to Stephanie Booth for a well organized Going-Solo Conference this past Friday- if you missed the event and are thinking about becoming a “Soloist” in the near future, you should definitely check out the joys and tribulations of being a freelancer with presentations by:
Martin Roell, Stowe Boyd, Suw Charman, Dennis Howlett, and a good panel discussion for setting your rates.
A lot has been written and captured about the conference – you can get caught up with all the day’s events, here.
Even our very own Chief Smarty Pants “Eddie” got caught on tape, along with our new friend Nuno.
Next conference we have our eyes on is reboot in Denmark. Hope to see you there.
going-solo conference
On May 15th, Eddie and I, along with Andre, we’ll be traveling north to Geneva for the one day Going-Solo conference – “focused on the new web” for freelancers and small business owners.
This will be the conference’s first year and is organized by Stephanie Booth, and promises to be a full day of meeting and interacting with interesting people like: Stowe Boyd, Laura (Pistachio), Nuno Barreto, Kevin Marks, and others.
If you’re planning to be there and like to connect, leave us a comment below. You can also connect with Eddie here and myself here.
See you there!
8 Green Marketing Ideas for Your Business
In the spirit of Earth day, we’re going to look at how small to med-size businesses can make a commitment to environment and create a competitive advantage in their market place.
Everywhere your turn, there’s talk about the environment and how businesses need to be socially responsible to minimize their impact on the environment. Finally, the earth we take so much from is going to be getting some payback.
So, can a business lower its negative impact, grow and think green all at once?
There’s plenty of skepticism, but there’s also proof that ‘Thinking Green’ in business is not only good for the environment, but for business as well. Here are some easy to implement green marketing ideas your business can embrace: Continue reading the rest of this article…
8 Examples of “Coming Soon Pages”
We have several new projects under the hood here at Chama, and since each are in development mode, we decided to put our own “coming soon pages” for a few of them, instead of the standard default domain “holding” pages.
There are many advantages to having a proper “coming soon page”, the main reason is for their search engine friendliness. Since a domain’s age is one of the many factors Google uses in its algorithms, a coming soon page is a good way to mark your presence early on, while you’re working on your site behind the scene. It also looks better and more professional than the cookie cutter holding page. (And note we’re not referring to the dot com under construction holding pages)
A few other reasons to use “coming soon pages”:
* builds trust with almighty Google
* creates buzz … i.e. in the case of silverbackapp.com
* gets volunteers to help you beta test the site/app
* allows early birds to sign up for an email alert when the project goes live
So now your convinced and ready to see some great examples of “coming soon” pages, right? Well not so fast, we did some digging and sorry to say, there isn’t a much out there. This may in part, be due to the fact there’s no place to archive these pages, so all this “coming soon” inspiration may just be falling into a digital black hole. But alas, necessity is the mother of invention so we’ve put together this starter post, and created a public Flickr Group to serve as creative juice for all, and in hopes designers and creative types will share their best examples.
Continue reading the rest of this article…
Kidzania Portugal – Future For Kids
When was the last time you asked a kid, “How’s School?” and gotten the answer, “Boring!” Although kids aren’t overly chatty at times, ask this question and one of two things will happen: either their eyes glaze over in a zombie like state, or they ramble on about how awful it is to sit in class listening to a teacher for hours on end.
I was a pre Xbox, facebook, ipod generation student, and can only imagine having those toys at home then having to sit in front of a mono toned teacher for what would seem like an eternity. I also feel for teachers, how can they possibly compete with all the interactive, high definition, multimedia, graphics and acoustics available today…seeesh! So how does a parent or teacher motivate a kid to think about their life and future in more creative ways?
Well one company, Kidzania seems to be on to something, by inspiring kids through old age “role pay”. But not just any old role play though, this kind of play provides kids with interactive “real life” jobs, money and everyday life scenarios. The project was originally started in Mexico city, by a group of young Mexican entrepreneurs, with a vision for a new kind of family entertainment. Kids receive their own currency the “KidZo” which they can spend, save in their “account”, or of course, work to earn more. The work environments stretch the gamut from hospitals to flipping burgers, and it all comes together and mode possible by brand promotion.
Continue reading the rest of this article…
Marketing “Green” in the Algarve
Marketing “Green”: can businesses succeed by being environmental friendly? That was the big question on the minds of some attendees at AmbienDura’s environmental workshop in Algarve, Portugal.
[update] You might also find “8 Green Marketing Ideas for your Business” interesting.
Chama, had the opportunity to present the concept of “Green Marketing” and the advantages businesses and organizations can leverage from being “Green”.
We presented our case by looking at the Algarve and its tourism industry. Our Portuguese readers will know:
Algarve’s economy is largely based on ‘Tourism’, and although lucrative what is its future? How will the region compete with other holiday destinations in the future? What will set the Algarve apart? How will it be sustained and what other opportunities could spill over from tourism?
The Solution: Differentiation + Branding + Sustainability + Green Ideas
Continue reading the rest of this article…
Top 6 Marketing Tips for Selling More Wine
With the vast selection of quality wines in Portugal, how can a small or lesser-known wine brand stand out from the pack, be visible and increase sales?
This was the “million” dollar question looming over the minds of the producers we met at the Lisbon Wine show in November. We’ve had these folks on our mind and thought we’d focus on a few key marketing points that could help this important industry.
The 6 Key Points:
First and foremost, two necessary ingredients must exist: You have to love what you do: making great wine. And second: You need to communicate and share the quality of your craft.
Since Portuguese wines have quality, uniqueness and diversity, they’re able to compete against many international brands, so quality is not the issue. Recognition however is another story, and this unfortunately comes down to lack of good marketing. So the real issue isn’t the product, but the right marketing and communication strategy for our new, highly informed and connected generation.
Once the first two ingredients are in place, here’s what’s next:
| 01: | Understanding your ideal customer |
| 02: | A creative name |
| 03: | Label design |
| 04: | Website |
| 05: | Blogging |
| 06: | Adegga.com |
Continue reading the rest of this article…
Toronto’s Coffee Houses
In the battle of the coffee shops, we take a look at three unique coffee houses who are winning the hearts of coffee lovers in Toronto, Canada. Proof positive: small specialty retailers can standout, be successful & proudly counted next to giants like Starbucks.
I love coming to Toronto – on each trip, I spend a chunk of my time exploring new funky shops and boutiques in one of my favorite areas in the city, the ever growing and ultra hip Queen Street. Year after year, from East to West, this once downtrodden street blossoms with an increasing number of truly unique and super creative retail spaces – filled with the latest in urban design, art galleries, great eateries, bars and hundreds of specialty shops. The creative vibe here is so strong that its also impacting off-shooting streets connecting directly to it, and becoming a hive of activity and adrenaline for the creative geeks of every genera.
On my recent visit, I noticed a big increase in specialty coffee houses – with the hundreds of Starbucks, Timothy’s and Second Cup’s around – I began to wonder how these small independent coffee shops survived? So I made it my mission to discover what was brewing. It quickly became obvious, each was uniquely different from the other, not only in aesthetics but the way they communicated and delivered their coffee culture, and how these elements related to their brand.
Let’s look at three of my newest favorite coffee shops in Toronto:
Cherry Bomb Café
Address: 79 Roncesvalles Avenue
Map: view here
KEY DIFFERENTIATION POINTS
– Retro design
- Friendly human service
- Huge selection of Teas
- Best Hot Chocolate in the city!
- Wide variety of specialty roasts from fair trade to organic
- See the making, and devour delicious freshly baked goodies
For more info on Cherry Bomb Coffee House, visit their website.
Tinto Coffee House
Address: 89 Roncesvalles Avenue
Map: view here
KEY DIFFERENTIATION POINTS
– Friendly atmosphere
- Free WiFi for all customers
- Cozy and comfortable setting to read and work
- High quality coffee at a fraction of Starbucks prices
Visit Tinto Coffee House website for more info.
La Merceria
Address: 506 Adelaide Street west.
Map: View here
{photo courtesy: decor8}
KEY DIFFERENTIATION POINTS
– Simple Menu
- Niche clientele
- Great use of sensory branding
- Yummy things for the belly & beautiful things to take home*
At La Merceria there is wonderful coffee and treats but also beautiful things to indulge for gift giving and life. From quality crisp linens and fine ceramics to writing papers and fragrances, the founders have nailed the idea: fill the belly, fill the senses. La Merceria is clearly a labor of love for the founders and couple, who’ve made their dream a reality of serving coffee in a cozy and comfortable atmosphere and seducing customers with unique treats for your home … total self indulgence.
Holly from blog “decor8″ has written a great post on La Merceria. Be sure to check out her blog for a virtual store tour : )
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