I have a client, a winery/vineyard. They have great weekend traffic, it's just during the week that they really fall short, and I'm trying to come up with something that I can present to them. I don't want them to feel that I'm selling to them, but rather than I'm presenting them with an idea that they "need."
This vineyard/winery has a great ambiance, free wine tasting, an abundance of accessories to purchase along with your wine. They do not serve food, but customers are welcome to bring their own food in. The vineyard/winery has a banquet hall attached to its wine tasting room, as well as a huge tent (during the spring/summer/fall season) outside with tables and chairs and a patio overlooking a "million dollar view" of the Mississippi and the valley. Very Tuscan feel to it. The room is rented out for $250 for 4 hours. They do weddings but they do not advertise that they do them, as again they have a kitchen available but they do not serve food, as it is licensed to cook and serve (this is where you would prepare your own food if you brought it in). They have had birthday parties, bridal showers, baby showers, etc held there. The community surrounding the vineyard/winery is a small community, touristy and has lots of bed and breakfast facilities year round. The winery/vineyard is closed from just after New Years to the middle/end of March, though I believe when the son and daughter-in-law take this over, it will be open year round.
I could use any help with ideas to help them bring in more traffic during the week. I've thought of doing something like "Date Day at (the name of the client)" but have gotten to this point and am stuck as to where to build off of it from here. HELP????
I appreciate all ideas. Thank you in advance.
Karla Winnekins
WRDN-1430
I remember Lytle talking some sense about this. Why are you considering trying to get them business at their quiet times? Could they take more business at the weekends... as this seems to be the time when people are OUT there in the market.
Christ Lytle used to do a very graphic illustration with a radar.
If you fill the weekends to capacity... it will spill over into the rest of the week.
Would I go to a winery/vineyard on a Tuesday? No. Not even with the best offer in the world. I work on a Tuesday.
If you insist on doing something midweek... what is it that people need, not what the advertiser wants to say. What is need that they can meet during the week? Product launches? Business meetings? Student events?
My assumption is that they are out of the way, which makes them a tough sell for the weekdays. They might look into events and meeting through the week ... perhaps retreats, BUT they will need a food partner.
What would make a busy person drive miles from town to a place that does not serve food on a weeknight? Not much!
The only thing that comes to mind is focus on less busy consumers. Retired people. Stay at home moms with kids in school. What could you do to lure them in?
Another option. Hold an event on a day when most restaurants are closed (Monday?) and target people who run them. Try to get them to feature this wine. Liquor stores, too.
Every day is Wines-day....and be sure they offer "come back" coupons on weekends that are only good midweek
Try something like this.
Wine for celebration. For a toast.
As follows:
"Here’s to Friendship, Love and Life. Here’s a toast from The Historic Cantu-Galleano Winery. For nearly a century, the Galleano family has produced award-wining wines from a homesite that dates back to the Spanish land grants."
With the 65+ demographic big and growing, this is a very lucrative market. Seniors appreciate specific days set aside for them only, allowing them to meet and mingle with those of their generation, with similar interests. A specific day of the week (retired seniors can do things any day of the week), set aside as "Golden Years Day" would attract a demo that may be lacking.
Or, a Golden Single Seniors Day....would be a nice way for the older generation to meet others who have lost their spouses.
Any business would benefit by looking for ways to attract this big demographic, who have spendable income, and lots of free time. We have an annual Senior Citizen's Fair and Expo that attracts 4000+ seniors to a one day, 5 hour event.
Delores Wood
WRJW Radio
Picayune, MS
601-798-4835
Sans food, the only opening may be the special event weekday availability - for parties, showers, seminars, meetings, tour stops (seniors), etc. They can only book 2-3 per weekend ($750 to possibly $1000 per weekend is all) but have a substantial commitment to space and maintenance for the facility which sits empty during the week.
Your idea is to promote and establish the vineyard as a destination for these events weekdays. You could suggest they can build on this with their own 'events' along the line of what some farms do: do a 'maze' thru the vineyard or scarecrow event around Halloween, host a quilting or other handcrafty event, wine tastings that generate fundraising for local charities, horsedrawn wagon tours thru the vineyards - a possibility for area schools and churches if they can provide their own grape juice! They could host their own bridal show. If Mardi Gras events go on in your area there are weekday possibilities.
Your proposal could include some events like this with specifics - suggest tying in a local quilting organization for an event or designated charity for a fundraising event. A local cancer foundation here does a casino night on the 3rd Thursday in October every year. They could have a midweek event on cheese-making, bread making or other food items people think of with wine. Wine embellishes the tastes of certain foods - they could host a mid-week restaurant night, inviting local establishments and sampling appropriate wines with the foods provided. That would be a great charity thing. I went to an event like that - a Leinenkugel tasting, learned a lot about how beer can actually improve the taste of food and would attend something like that for wine if I had the opportunity.
Karla,
I would go down the lines of promoting the venue to a very targeted 'special' day. Anniversaries - everyone has an anniversary....
Commercial content of something like - everyone has an anniversary, flowers, card, dinner.... blah. An anniversary is something that your want to cherish and enjoy memories of forever..... (enter description of venue).... Memories are made at......
This way you are targeting everyone (first year together - 50 years married) which the client will be happy about, and anniversaries land on all days of the week! In the creative I would use "anniversaries are to be celebrated and memories are made at ....."
This is obviously only one angle but might be the idea that gets your foot in the door.
Good Luck. Owen
