As I (swipe-)type this (on a cellphone in a hotel in Portugal), we’ve just finished up an extremely enlightening, successful, and engaging Wine Future 2023 conference in Coimbra.
You’ll be hearing much, much more about the various important messages that the conference keynote speeches and panel discussions had for those fortunate enough to attend this year’s WF, as well as my thoughts on the killer tastings to which the attendees and speakers were treated.
But right now, I want to talk about a central message from one of those keynote addresses: the one given by modern polymath Bruce Dickinson.
For those of you who’ve never met me, or have accidentally found themselves on this website for the first time ever, I’m a big fan of the music of Iron Maiden, the celebrated metal outfit which Dickinson has fronted as lead singer for the better part of four decades. So introducing him at WF2023 was a lifetime highlight for me.
I mean, holy f–king sh-t, we’re talking about Bruce f–king Dickinson here!
But after how gracious the guy was to all of us, and after experiencing his excellent keynote, I’m even more of a Maiden fan than ever (something that a week ago I’d have considered a logical impossibility), and a particular fan of Dickinson himself. He has strong views regarding ethical capitalism, and being consistently genuine in business, and he’s not at all afraid of sharing them.
Nearly every panel discussion and testing held at WF2023 after Dickinson’s keynote referenced his inspiring speech, all of them citing one aspect in particular above all else:
In Dickinson’s experienced view (as a serial entrepreneur and someone who has had a major creative drive behind one of metal’s most enduring and beloved brands), there’s an enormous difference between having a customer, and attracting a fan of your brand.
“You should hate [having] your customers!” according to him, because “a customer can walk away. What you want is a fan.” A fan being someone that truly cares about your brand, seeks it out, is willing to actually make reasonable personal sacrifices for your brand and is a cheerleader for your success, because they feel that they have a relationship with your brand, one built in you consistently demonstrating that you truly care about them in return. (You can experience Bruce’s entire speech soon for a modest fee on the WF2023 website, which I highly recommend that you do).
The main issue troubling the wine business is that we’ve been shedding customers—globally—at an alarming rate (more to come about this in subsequent WF2023 coverage here, stay tuned). Those customers are not true fans of wine, in part because we’ve failed to successfully engage them on their terms.
And they are most certainly walking away.
A lot of work needs to be done for the wine business to survive this grim scenario and engage younger consumers, but if we learned anything from WF2023, it’s that every wine brand that isn’t already thinking in terms of brand fans instead of brand customers needs to shift their approach. And they need to start doing it with the very next customer fan interaction that comes their way.
Cheers, and UP THE IRONS!!!