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If you’ve worked in wine & spirits for more than 90 days, you’ve probably noticed there’s a lot of plonk out there when it comes to events, “food and wine festivals” and even trade shows. There’s no shortage of suspect events clamoring for your marketing dollars and 20-case wine donation. While there are some that have knocked my socks off, I must admit that quality events (by quality I mean those that result in discernible sales or great networking opportunities for a wine brand) are few and far between. And know that the worthy ones are not necessarily in the obvious places! Never underestimate the power of the Florida Panhandle Food & Wine Extravaganza (note: not a real event).
Sponsorship managers can be an aggressive bunch – as they should be. At any given moment, there’s a deluge of sponsorship decks in my inbox, with all manner of pricey packages to pick from. The requests for “in-kind” wine donations can feel like an avalanche too. Participating in these events is mentally and financially costly. They’re labor intensive and require a huge amount of detail if they are to be fruitful for your client. There are a few ways however, to cut through the clutter and figure out how to get the most bang for your client’s buck.
In the past 8 years, I’ve dropped 50 pound cases of wine on my foot, lost my voice from saying “we don’t have Pinot Noir from Spain” 927 times and driven to Boston in a blizzard with 200 giftbags in my trunk. With these battle scars comes a bit of wisdom on the trade show and event sponsorship world that I hope will benefit all of you. Because spending thousands of precious marketing dollars to get people of dubious “trade” background (read: haven’t worked in a restaurant in over 5 years) drunk is never cool.
If the Deck Aint Nice, It Aint Right (for you): First things first, check out how well the proposal deck is designed. I can’t tell you have many shoddy PowerPoints I’ve received, full of grammar errors, typos and pixelated logos that were obviously thrown together at the last minute. A sponsorship proposal should be easy to read, (you should not have to dig through tons of text to get the numbers you need such as price, attendance, core demographics), it should convince you to participate in very few pages and it should be customized to your brand. If someone couldn’t bother to make their pitch to you look modern and fresh (and at least error-free) when they are trying to get your business, you can rest assured they’ll take the sloppy approach when managing your participation as well. So, if you get a less-than-pristine deck, move on. Better to say no now than find out later that it’s 85 degrees on event day and the production team forgot to buy enough ice for all the people pouring white wine.
Beware the Boozefest: Some of the big name shows with expensive tickets that “everyone” goes to may not be right for you. Some are just too big and unless you are a top-level sponsor, you get lost in the shuffle. While these events may seem glamorous, you want to make real connections with buyers, sommeliers and consumers that matter. Look for the events that will give you the opportunity to have thoughtful conversations with genuinely curious people. You should be able to spend a few minutes tasting someone through a flight and sharing your romantic brand narrative, as opposed to frantically dumping wine into glass after glass for people that don’t know Spain is in Europe. These events tend to have a lot of drunk people — I’ve been yelled at by attendees for not pouring a full restaurant-sized glass of wine, fought my way out of a bum-rush for the last bottle of rosé, witnessed people fight each other over a cheese tray and have caught people digging underneath my table trying to sneak closed bottles into their take-home bag. I’ve always likened these events to what I imagine shopping on Black Friday is like. Check it out the year before you participate if possible or look up the list of previous participants and ask them about their experience. A Google video search helps too. The event producers might be willing to share their guest list of wine buyers if you ask nicely enough. The people who will be there must align with your key objectives AND be interested in your wine (one or the other is not enough). Get what you need to ensure your experience is tasteful.
Make Sure You Can Customize Your Program: I tend to shy away from cookie-cutter deals and you should too. Know that a proposal is just that, a proposal. Nothing should be off the table in a true negotiation. Even (especially) the price. Don’t be afraid to take a deck apart, pick what parts are useful to you and add ideas that weren’t even mentioned. Sometimes, a sponsorship manager may not even tell you that a branded, private seminar away from the crowded show floor is available unless you request it, or that you can choose to pour only in a VIP area. If an event is worth your while, the producers will work with you to construct a program that is specific to your needs. If they don’t, take your budget elsewhere. Make a wish list of what you want, and be straight up about how much you’re willing to spend. You can usually get a lot more for your money than the deck tells you.
I wish I could tell you this is enough, but picking the right event is just 1/3 of the battle. If you want your post-event recap to shine and impress all the stakeholders involved, you’ll have to be strategic about everything… from how to get the right people to stop by your table, to who you hire to help you pour. See you next time for Part II!