WINERIES GET wired for China

Social media and online purchasing is significantly influencing wine sales in mainland China, and to a lesser degree in Hong Kong, reports Stephen Quinn

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AS THE wine business matures, its China crucially on the number of active users, Feature findings and Hong Kong players are embracing can be difficult to extrapolate. social media to sell to an increasingly As of mid-June Yesmywine’s i-Cellar sophisticated audience. had more than 100,000 members. “All of 4Facebook and Twitter are banned Thomas Jullien, Asia representative for them give comments about our wines, in mainland China, but the the Bordeaux Wine Council says: “We are and discuss wine news and the wine country has its local equivalents: seeing a boom in social networking in world in general,” says Pedrol. Renren and Sina Weibo. China.” He adopted a web 2.0 focus last Yesmywine.com was established in the 4Wine consumption in China is set year because of the ability to measure country in 2008, with the help of US to rise because of its growing results in a more powerful way than with venture capital funding. middle class. traditional advertising. The company also has My Cellar, a 4An online wine-selling platform Facebook and Twitter are banned in Twitter-like service for wine lovers, on the such as yesmywine.com, the most mainland China, but the country has its Yesmywine platform. Events are held in successful online platform on the local equivalents: Renren and Sina Weibo, more than 40 mainland cities, with an mainland, with more than 5.2 respectively. average of 15 wine parties each week. million members, is selling 15,000 Jullien set up a Sina Weibo account in “This approach gives us the chance to bottles daily. the middle of 2011. In six months it had deliver news [about wine] all over China. 4Social networking in China is gathered 40,000 followers. “It is a direct It makes us one of the strongest marketing strong as trusting friends and channel to talk to people about Bordeaux platforms and helps to establish wine word-of-mouth recommendations wine,” he says. brands in China,” adds Pedrol. are important, so this is key for Every year, the Bordeaux Wine Council The company also uses Facebook to sharing wine knowledge. runs seminars in at least 20 Chinese cities announce events in Hong Kong. 4Producers and marketers such as for people in the trade. Jullien uses Sina “Facebook is small to us because we are Beaucastel and Wines of Brasil had Weibo to publicise these events: “At the still growing in Hong Kong. Yesmywine strong presences in social media seminars we always check where people only launched in Hong Kong earlier this and apps at Vinexpo Hong Kong. found out about them. A very high year. It is working very well for our proportion found out through someone promotions.” ‘re-tweeting’ Sina Weibo. It is so useful to Pedrol notes: “Because our company has sources of information but little clarity. be able to measure feedback by 70 per cent of market share in China for People go online for information. They monitoring social networks.” the internet wine business we can say that know brands, but they want more According to Jullien, Bordeaux sales in we decide a lot about the wine market in information.” China have doubled every year for the China.” Joshua Rubenstein, Hong Kong director past six years. He attributes recent sales Wine consumption in China is only set of private client sales for the Italian Wine success to engaging with people curious to rise because of its growing middle Merchants describes the region as a about wine. class. A survey by International Wine and competitive one where wine marketers Spirit Research (IWSR) in London forecast need to find ways to stand out. Social WINE’S OWN NETWORKS that Chinese people would be drinking media is a “sensational ” way to be David Pedrol is Shanghai and Hong Kong more than 1 billion bottles a year by 2015, educated by customers; “the people we product director for yesmywine.com, the or an average of 1.9 litres a head – almost trust,” he says. most successful online platform on the double the current figure of about 1 litre Rubenstein thinks that wine merchants mainland with more than 5.2 million per person. could continue to deepen relationships members, which sells 15,000 bottles daily. Wine import sales in China were worth with clients via social networks, but adds When people buy wine they see how 22 billion yuan last year (HK$26.8bn). a caveat that the information on the many bottles have already been sold of Earlier this year Decanter surveyed internet and blogosphere is varied and that wine. For example, as of mid-June 70,000 Chinese wine consumers in 30 much of it pure opinion. the company has sold 121,066 bottles of cities. Decanter.com editor John Abbott “We don’t just want to be telling people La Bastide Laurent red. The internet says: ”Chinese consumers have many what’s great, but rather we want to accounts for 70% of all wine sold in interact,” says Rubenstein. “We China, according to Pedrol. His is also the want our clients to help us only company in China with its own discover too because we’re just wine-focused social network: i-Cellar. With more than 5.2 million as crazy about wine as they are.” However like the Bordeaux Wine Council, readers, yesmywine.com sells it uses the big Chinese social networks. Sina Weibo has about 300 million 15,000 bottles of wine daily registered users, Renren roughly 100 million users, though accurate data, 4

79 Twitter and Facebook, and his company launched an iPad app three days before Vinexpo: “It is vital for our family to continue our traditions in terms of winemaking, but also to use technology like Twitter to create markets. That’s quite a challenge for wine people,”says Perrin. Wines of Brasil were also active on Facebook during Vinexpo, posting regular updates on their page. Barbara Ruppel, promotions assistant, said the organisation had been using Facebook since April 2011, along with Twitter and YouTube: “We always try to keep our page on Facebook updated with the events we are doing and all the interesting information about Brazilian wines, along with pictures of events and relevant facts,” she says. The company posts videos of journalists who have visited the wine regions plus clips of wine fairs where Wines of Brasil is Major wine companies can sell wine in The series and its social networking links involved. large quantities online because of their boosted appreciation of wine more than Moët Hennessy in Hong Kong created brand name and track record. But for any other publication in Asia. Wine sales an iPad app called Flavours Asia, based single bottles or small quantities, people in Japan increased by 130% in 2008, and on its book of the same name, which prefer to buy from friends via social the wines featured in the series launched in June 2012. It focuses on wine networking sites. skyrocketed in value. and food pairing for regional cuisine, and The seven-part series follows a young is updated every three months. Jane Dee, THE ‘DROPS OF GOD’ EFFECT man’s quest to identify 12 wines his late the company’s regional brand manager Andy Chow, an accountant in Hong father, a famous wine critic, identified as said: “We are in summer so the app’s Kong, has a deep passion for wine. He the world’s greatest wines, with the focus is on wines appropriate for this uses Facebook and Sina Weibo to sell “drops of God” referring to a 13th wine. kind of weather.” wine to a small group of friends: “In my The English translation appeared in Access to the internet in Hong Kong case, people buy from me purely on trust September 2011. means wine prices are transparent. Social and [my] recommendations. Plus the networking via smartphones also lets SPREADING THE WORD people compare notes on prices. A major reason for the success People soon learn what is good value, It is vital for our family to of social networking in China is and shun venues where wines are a cultural tendency to trust overpriced. The city has a limited BYO continue our winemaking friends and word-of-mouth culture due to prohibitive corkage fees traditions, but also use recommendations, and distrust of at least HK$1,000 (£82). As a result, what official media say. people eat out cheaply, then enjoy wine technology like Twitter to Alberto Fernandez, managing with friends in clubs where membership partner for Torres China agrees fees subsidise wine prices, or drink at create markets. That’s quite that social networking was home. a challenge for wine people vital for marketing wine on the It all points to nothing short of a mainland because of the consumer-led revolution using social importance of word of mouth. networks. db Social networking also played wines I sell are not exactly expensive, a major role during Vinexpo in Hong so people generally say ‘yes’ to me.” Kong at the end of May. As a hobby Andy Chow collects the Pierre Perrin, winemaker for the “Apostles” – 12 wines featuring in a Beaucastel estate in the Rh ône, has been Japanese manga comic series about wine, in charge of the Asian market for the past Drops of God, that first appeared in 2004. dozen years. He has been active on

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