Don't forget consumers: Angela Mount

The UK Wine Industry is in turmoil; the UK Wine Industry has reached crisis point; we need to engage the consumer; we need to get them to trade up article after article that I read, and presentation after presentation that I attend, focus on the current conundrum facing our business.

Namely, wine growth has juddered to a halt, having enjoyed the heady rush of Formula one speed growth over recent years; participation has reached near saturation point, with 70% of the adult population now drinking wine; the average price point is rising, and has now teetered over 4, but has moved at a snail's pace; retailers are reducing their range count, and potentially interest, yet continue to grow their share of market; and the UK consumer has become a promotions junkie.

Add to that social responsibility, carbon footprint et al, and we have the classic marketing nightmare.

It didn't appear so at Excel, with many exhibitors stating that this was the best London International Wine and Spirit Fair (LIWSF) to date.

And it certainly looked great - huge, and impressive stands, vying for attention -..so much money invested in impressing trade customers, and yet, so many comments and apologies that there was little budget to invest in either consumer research, or consumer communication; this only serves to re-enforce my long-held view that there is not sufficient understanding of the needs and wants of the UK wine consumers.

I have to qualify this; many brand owners, large and small are exemplary in their focus on trying to understand the UK wine consumer, however far too many have no idea this year I experienced the wine fair from a totally new and broader perspective.

Instead of focussing solely on what I needed to achieve, from each back to back meeting, within my former world of retailing, I was able to look at the bigger picture.

As an ex marketer, I have always championed the cause of the consumer. Don't we all? No, clearly not. Of the 1250 exhibitors, how many have really explored and analysed what the UK consumer really wants, and how to inspire them to delve deeper into our complex world? A minority, I would suggest.

Amongst overseas producers exhibiting I would place fairly heavy odds that only a relatively small proportion really understood either the needs of the retailer, or, even more importantly the needs and behaviour of the wine consumer.

How much time have they spent learning to understand the consumer or even talking to them?

Communicating with the consumer is the most crucial factor, and in order to engage them, we need to understand them.

Of the 32 million wine drinkers in the UK, only around 10% have a broad knowledge of wine.

So there are around 29 million people out there who drink wine, but don't know a great deal.

And most of them buy their wine in supermarkets.. if we are to engage them, encourage them, and influence them, we need to understand them better.

As an Industry, we frequently lull ourselves into a false sense of security that consumers are more sophisticated and knowledgeable than they actually are. There are a few hard facts to face.

The UK mainstream' wine consumer is promiscuous in their wine purchasing habits; the UK wine consumer knows they are getting far better value and quality for their money at any given price point than they ever have, as reliable' brands dominate the market So why trade up, why explore, when time shopping is precious, and reliability and reassurance are key factors?

The reason they don't is that we, as an Industry, have not given them a sufficiently good reason to.

We overcomplicate, we expect consumers to know and understand more than they do.

Seth Godin's book, All marketers are liars', states: It's not about what people need, it's what they want'.

Consumers believe that BMWs are better than Fords, that Nike sports gear is better than a no name, and that Haagen Dazs and Ben & Jerry make ice cream, worth the extra pennies.

Look at the phenomenal rise of Innocent Smoothies - It's aspirational, it's lifestyle, it provides the consumer with all the right cues, to invest and move into this premium juice sector.

So why not wine? It occupies a similar, lifestyle and aspirational positioning because we have not yet given them a tangible and valid reason to trade up.

We did it 15 years ago, when Australian wine burst onto the scene, because the Industry delivered a clear, and simple message, that wine drinkers could understand, straightforward, believable, reliable.. and because an inspired lady called Hazel Murphy bothered to talk to wine drinkers and spent years at consumer events, getting them to try the wine.

But our Industry is now becoming overcomplicated, despite all of our efforts to communicate this message , consumers are still confused, want simplicity and therefore look for reliability and safety.

In my time as a buyer, I saw myriads of producers, who had a product to take to market, without really understanding what this market was.

Give the consumer a reason to trade up, and they willwe work within a rarified, and specialist sector of the consumer industry, which is high value and aspirational, yet at the moment, despite all our talk of education and information, we have not succeeded in connecting sufficiently well with our wine drinkers.

As an ex-retail buyer, my plea to those producers aspiring to the mainstream wine consumer, is that you spend more time talking to consumers, gaining their feedback and understanding their needs.

You will never force the consumer, you can only encourage and lead, and in order to do this you need to understand. It's no longer about gut reaction regarding a wine which might sell, it's about producer and agent getting true insight into the needs and desires of the wine buying public, by talking to them engaging with them, and also by working closely with the gatekeepers to the consumer.

Only then can we create the aspirational brands that are going to move our Industry forward again.

Oh, and as gatekeepers to the consumer, producers and agents need to understand the needs of retailers far more but that's a different article!