Considered as the wine business’ latest innovation in marketin, it lets wine drinkers buy their wines in advance in return for preferential prices, offering unknown winemakers a risk-free route to market through upfront cash flow and guaranteed sales.
It is based on the currently popular model of airline ticket booking where the earlier you buy an airline ticket, the less you pay. Their customers can do the same with wine – and pay less than they would at the cellar door or in retail.
The venture which would probably create uproar by the moral police in India because of its name, is the brainchild of Rowan Gormley, the right hand man of Richard Branson, who had set-up Virgin Money and Virgin Direct for Branson. He launched the wine sales online business barely a year and a half ago and is already turning the wine world on its head, as he had planned to.
Gormley says, ‘I love wines made by little guys, and I loathe wines made in factories,’ The model is also based on the principle that the most exciting wines in the world are made by small, low-production winemakers who don't have the financial muscle to market their products and are made by maverick, artisan winemakers who want to make wines their way, not the way the big retailers want them.
A group of 20,000 registered users get to buy wines from 22 winemakers at discounts that can be up to 33% with some schemes at 50%. The interesting feature of the online site is that it continuously displays like a stock market ticker tape on who has ordered what and who has got which wines on his or her wish list.
Other National Business Award finalists include Unilver, Camelot, Marks & Spencer, American Express, Coca Cola, The Co-Operative Group and Kwik Fit Insurance. The awards will be announced in September in London.
The site Naked Wines portal can be an interesting marketing tool for India provided the online sales are made legal- an unlikely event under today’s scenario unless someone proverbially bells the cat and seeks direction from the court of law.
The site is independent of another online website called the Naked Wine Show where every week the apparently naked hostess Susan Sterling gives you a quick rundown on a new wine in about a minute. From tasting notes, to price point, to food pairings, she gives you the score on a wide range of wines and gives you the info you need to make an informed purchase. For example in a recent Show (1084) last month she covered San Pedro’s Gato Negro Merlot 2009 from Central Valley, Chile. The episode 1058 covered Brancaia Tre 2006, the Super Tuscan being imported by Vishal Kadakia of The Wine Park Mumbai. |