US winemakers revive sales with SMS marketing, sustainability and innovation

Evading the broad structural decline in wine sales completely may not be possible for every brand all the time, but winemakers are finding incredible success in certain pockets of the wine industry writes Kathleen Willcox. Notably, as seemingly unrelated as these pockets may be, they all share one thing in common: they reflect a changing marketplace, a transformation in the way we buy and consume things, and a growing desire for more environmentally responsible products.  Bring the Wine to the People As prices of bottles and tasting fees rise across wine country—but especially in premium regions like Napa Valley—winemakers are finding ways to offset declining sales and visits by bringing their wares to their most likely customers.  SMS marketing tops the list of tactics, but is by no means the only one brand managers are deploying.  “We need to make winemakers where they are,” says Sandra DeMaria, director of sales and market at Ehlers Estate in St. Helena. “Our industry is way behind others when it comes to SMS marketing. No one opens emails anymore, and while it was very difficult to find a texting platform for highly regulated projects like wine, we were able to become one of RedChirp’s beta clients.” The team conducted their first trial SMS blast in April, offering bottles of their US$160 1886 to the people on their email list who didn’t open their email. They rang up US$25,000 worth of sales that same day. That initial foray inspired several subsequent campaigns, including one that