Update: Social Media Users Like Wine
As far as I can remember, in my mere one and a half years of being able to purchase alcohol, Barefoot has always been a fairly popular wine brand amongst my peers and myself. This is probably because most of my friends are broke college students or just starting to figure out the real world (stating the obvious here). To be quite honest, Barefoot already gained my loyalty as a consumer due to their appealing price point and the fact that I can buy it pretty much everywhere I go. However, I didn’t figure out until recently that their social media is actually pretty impressive. Coming from a millennial woman, who seems to be their target consumer, I was immediately attracted to their social accounts due to the pretty pictures of wine, food, beaches, and fun parties. Going further, as a graduate student studying business and marketing, I took a better look at how Barefoot is leveraging their social media compared to other competitive wine brands.
The Pros of “Getting Barefoot”
How is Barefoot using their social media to reach out to consumers? My first thought was that they actually understand whom that consumer is, rather, they know their target audience and they know them really well.
“Almost half of all wine consumed last year was by millennials.”
-Jonathan Chew, “Millenials Are Drinking More Wine Than Boomers,” Fortune.com
This is a huge statistic for wine brands! Everyone knows that millennials are tech-savvy individuals who love to post about their life behind the comfort of a screen. Apprently, millenials also really love their wine. While I could have told you that myself, the numbers don’t lie. In a world full of young social media users, it is important for brands to use these accounts to create an image. It is also imperative that they are consistent with their brand image across all accounts. By just browsing through Barefoot Wine’s social pages, one can tell exactly what they are trying to achieve based on their target audience; Barefoot is showing you how much fun their products can be. You can have fun on a beach, at a concert, at a picnic, at a baseball game, etc. You get the idea… Their instagram is full of pretty pictures of events and gatherings that would just go even better with some bubbly. Plus, they are creating a source of two and three-way communication by re-posting others’ pictures of their products. They even have all of their “hashtags” listed in the bio section so that followers know what to post with their pictures of Barefoot.
Twitter is also a great use of communication nowadays. It’s Monday night and The Bachelorette is on, so you find yourself plopped on the couch with a glass of Barefoot in hand. What makes this experience even better is that your favorite wine brand is joining in on the conversation.
This type of communication is SO IMPORTANT. By using “#TheBachelorette,” Barefoot increased their target audience reach. From personal experience, I can relate to the use of this hashtag and know that viewers use it to communicate with others during the show. A simple post like this could create more traffic on their social media accounts and lead to increased views of their website as well. Barefoot is creating an interactive experience and making sure that the brand image is embedded in the mind of the consumer.
The Competition
Woodbridge Vineyards is another wine brand that has a comparative price point and can be found at all the same stores as Barefoot wines (that I know of). So what do they do wrong? The first thing I noticed about Woodbridge is that they do not have an instagram account. In my opinion, this is a shame. Instagram is one of the top forms of social media and when used appropriately, it can be a wonderful way for brands to communicate with customers.
Another detail that I noticed while glancing at their twitter account was that they fail to use hashtags. This is such an important tool on social accounts. Hashtags allow brands to connect with consumers and increase the reach of their message. Also, as of this moment, it has been over four months since their last tweet. Obviously we don’t want brands to blow up our timelines with twenty posts a day, but what is the point of having a twitter if the brand doesn’t take advantage of it?
As a whole, Woodbridge just seems to be a little behind on the social media game. Unlike Barefoot, they are not providing the customer with a consistent brand image across all accounts. Social media is a fascinating tool in that if it is used properly, it can be very beneficial for a brand. In order to increase brand loyalty among consumers, Woodbridge should take advantage of these types of communication. From my point of view, it’s really quite simple: people who use social media like to drink wine. What have you got to lose?
This post was created as part of the Global Luxury Management Program at the NC State Poole School of Management. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
