Today I am going to talk about wineries and restaurants. Or specifically, how some wineries and restaurants are utilizing new marketing tactics to continue business during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A winery in Napa Valley initiated a trial virtual wine tasting. Although the customers were not able to access the winery’s tasting room and could not interact in person, the winery found a new way to connect. The winery capitalized on the fact that being able to sit and drink wine with the vintner is a very valuable opportunity. In order to participate, anyone who was interested had to follow the winery on Instagram and then order a three-wine tasting package. Customers would then enjoy their wine while listening to the vintner’s winery stories and participating in a live question and answer interaction.
This winery was able to create a connection with new customers and deepen its relationship with existing customers. This was a social event that was necessary in these quarantined times and was also an event that can be easily shared through the Internet, in addition to increasing the winery’s Instagram followers. This may be a future revenue stream well worth considering by selling more virtual wine tastings and three-wine tasting packages.
Similarly, restaurants had to quickly adjust to new takeout and delivery practices due to the pandemic. Particularly, an increasing number of restaurants are now offering DIY pasta kits for at-home preparation. This is understandable for businesses because pasta is seen as a food that is popular with the majority of the population and easy to prepare.
For Addo, the Seattle restaurant introduced at-home pasta packages that include five freshly made pastas and five sauces for 55 dollars. The restaurant is capitalizing on the consumers desire to cook exceptional pasta in their own homes, especially now that the majority of their time is at home. The restaurant was able to succeed with such an easy move and is now producing 20 times more than before the pandemic. This success not only made the restaurant consider maintaining this pasta practice, but to also improve the program by adding more home preparation goods such as meat and fresh seafood packages.
Many other restaurants also have decided to continue at-home meal programs even when regular restaurant service begins. These packages are an additional revenue stream which helps with the restaurant closures during the pandemic.
Both wineries and restaurants are industries that depend on face to face customer interactions. But as seen with aforementioned examples, by being creative and acknowledging customer needs, they were able to continue to sell their product and expand their businesses in such a tough time. Not only that, these new tactics are viable in the future. As states are now reopening, business practices and consumer interactions would not be the same for at least some time, if not changed forever. Why not try a new tactic?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
My name is Sharon, and I am GMS's Vice President. I grew up in NYC and I came back from my study abroad in Sydney, Australia due to the pandemic. I enjoy learning about Marketing and Management Information Systems, especially how it plays out and affects the society we live in. I'd love to talk more about it with you! Reach out to me at the next Guerrilla Marketing Society meeting or add me on LinkedIn :)