Social media strategies in wine industry

Abstract

For centuries, wine has been perceived as a commodity. It was simply a drink to have alongside the meal and it was not important how it was produced nor its taste. In the last years wine has faced a transformation in terms of the social function it is now adopting: wine is now synonym of pleasure and sociability. This happened also thanks to globalization and internationalization of the wine product, which has increasingly become a tool of relationship between people. Wine brings people together and drives them to share their lives with one another. With the rapid adoption of social media by consumers, it is fundamental to investigate and consider the use of these tools wine company has and the way they interact to consumers through them. This might vary considering different product lines and geographical location. Thus, this work will offer a comparative analysis of the current level of digital preparation and some insights in digital strategies comparing some key areas of the European wine market. Italy (mainly the Prosecco region), Bordeaux and Strasbourg will be the focus of this analysis. A survey was developed and submitted to some wineries both in Italy and in France. The results coming from the survey have been combined together with the outcome of some visits conducted in the cellars with the people directly involved in the digital activities. This broad point of view will lead to an analysis of the current situation of the digitalization in these two countries and will point out the effect it produces in these key areas.