Strategy has purpose. If you are in the Wine industry right now, chances are your strategy is having a vintage problem. The execution problem. Chances are, especially if you are in Wine Tourism right now, you are grabbing on to almost anything, and acting from a survival, rather than a growth mindset. It is perfectly justifiable.
But, (and this is a particularly good “but”!), there are businesses that are thriving (legally!). What are the lessons we can learn from those wine businesses during this important time of learning from the past to set the future?
- Positivity beats Negativity. Always.
Positive leadership, positive messages, positive campaigns, and positive people always beat its counterpart. Inherently, people are attracted to what seems good, honest, and positive. Your business should portray that. If you get knocked down, get back up immediately. If there is bad news, absorb and reflect, but don’t forget the good news. Do not get sucked into the storm – become the storm…
2. Short term tactics and Long-term strategies need to balance
Short term tactics are crucial. But equally so are long-term strategies. Do not compromise on any long-term brand objectives – if it is possible to avoid at all. Incredible damage can be done in times of panic and disaster, with the opposite also being true. One could gain incredible sustainable strategic momentum through display of handling short term crisis.
- The Experience (Hybrid acceleration)
Some things change faster than others. The 4th Industrial revolution is hardly new but accelerated quicker than what was predicted due to Covid-19. However, principles are timeless and (usually) stay the same. Wine and Tourism businesses who embraced the advantages technology brought, were undoubtedly a mile ahead of the pack. But (and this is an important but!), don’t get sucked into the technology trend fads either. Evaluate what fits your brand, don’t jump onto every technology that’s available, and ensure you understand the purpose of the experience economy and how Hybrid systems can link both personal, tangible real and digital experiences.
- Brand Integrity
Times of amplified anxiety and stress (and times of amplified growth and prosperity!) brings out the best and the worst in people and systems. Wineries and wine tourism businesses who realise that and amplify brand integrity, comes out on top. Always.
Its unprecedent times. If any consultant, specialist, technology expert or researcher tells you they know exactly what to do right now, and that they can predict or proof the future, it’s probably not true.
What is true, is that in your wine and tourism business right now, you should find what is certain (facts and stats rather than opinion), measure as much as possible, be as open-minded and agile as possible, and surround yourself with positivity. That is how you save brands. That is how you build brands.
