Capturing consumer interest with a bowl of pasta

Promoting food & wine products

Capturing consumer interest with a bowl of pasta

by Barbara Raffellini

In the crowded food and wine industry, it takes more than a bowl of pasta or a glass of red wine to capture consumer interest.

miraworld can help increase media attention, raise consumer awareness, and generate interest and sales for products and personalities alike.

 

For instance, food and wine tourism has exploded in popularity. Your brand can benefit greatly by taking advantage of this trend.

Let miraworld create a comprehensive marketing and brand campaign for you, including strategic alliances with industry partners.

We specialise in:

• cookbooks
• travel, food and wine authors
• culinary professionals
• foodies
• sommeliers
• celebrity chefs
• cooking schools
• premium food and beverage products
• wine

Case Study:

The Alta Società

Cooking School

Alta Società Cooking school is based in Perugia, Italy. 

They came to miraworld seeking to promote their school to an Australian audience. 

So,  we organised a media famil to the school for Josephine Agostino of Australia’s number one selling weekly magazine, Womans Day. 

Woman’s Day has a readership of over 2 million and reaches one in five Australian women. 

“I’m in gourmet heaven” wrote Josephine Agostino in her full page travel article which featured Italy's Umbria region and Alta Società - giving the school a positive endorsement and great introduction to the Australian market.

For more information on how miraworld can help you, visit our website or send us an email.

Selling your wine overseas

Is your brand exportable?

As grape-growers are preparing for another harvest, the tough economic climate around the world is making exporting even more challegning.   

Barbara Raffellini, director of PR agency miraworld, suggests some ways wines can be promoted internationally during these difficult times.

Selling your wine overseas

By Barbara Raffellini

In the current economic climate, and with growing competition from locally produced wines and alternative beverages, convincing foreign buyers to take a gamble on little known brands is challenging, to say the least.

To effectively target wine importers and distributors you need to understand what drives them.  Generally, they are influenced by factors such as the wine’s quality, price, availability, and, most importantly, its return on investment.

They are also swayed by consumer demand.  Without stating the blatantly obvious, the more popular the wine is with the general public the more appealing your wine becomes to importers and distributors.

Sales and marketing strategies like wine tastings, trade shows and cold calling all have their place.  But what is often overlooked by wineries are effective media strategies to build awareness, educate and excite consumers.

A well-planned public relations campaign doesn’t necessarily have to cost the earth, but if done well it can lift your wine’s profile and popularity and ultimately increase your sales.

Think about:

• reviewing  your media material ensuring both your hard copy media kits and online  newsrooms are ‘journo friendly’, accessible, interesting and easy-to-read. (Don’t forget to make the material available in the language of your target market);

• proactively pitching story ideas and pursuing editorial opportunities with the ‘right’ media;

• establishing  a Visiting Journalist Program. Host the most appropriate media, inviting them to visit your wineries and sample the product. Carefully planned and followed-up, the program ought to ensure positive media coverage.

Before you do anything, talk to existing customers and while you are at it, talk to your potential customers, too.  Ask about their needs. Determine their knowledge, awareness and perception of your labels.

Then, use this information to develop a successful PR campaign.

© Barbara Raffellini

Ex Chef and Restaurateur Barbara Raffellini is now director of miraworld - an international public relations and marketing consultancy specialising in Food & Beverage, Travel & Tourism, Hospitality and Lifestyle.