post-wine fair

May 25, 2007

[One of the designs for the new Stormhoek wine labels.]
So that’s the London International Wine & Spirit Fair over for another year. Yowza. Three days of intensity etc.
Looks like both the cartoon labels and Stormhoek Couture were big hits. Good news.
I was thinking this for the last couple of days: None of Stormhoek’s success came overnight. There was no “one big thing” that pushed us over the top. It was just little things, one after another, till one day we reached some sort of tipping point in the market. A bit like writing a blog, really. I think there are some interesting parallels there.
More later…

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John Wesley

17 years ago

I agree with the tipping point phenomenon. I’ve been blogging about 6 months, and for most of the time it seemed like I’d be stuck in oblivion forever. I kept making gradual progress, and now the growth is really starting to accelerate.

Paul Ding

17 years ago

Want more clarity in your work life? Talk to your bosses at the winery.
Tell them that if I’m fixing a snack during a commercial break, I can grab an unopened bottle of beer, stick it in my back pocket, and open it when I’m back at the television.
To have wine, I have to pull a bottle out of the fridge, find a corkscrew, open the bottle, find a glass, pour a glass, figure out how to reseal the bottle, and then struggle to carry a dagwood sandwich in one hand, a bowl of cheese doodles in the other hand, and a glass of wine in yet a third hand. And with the extra time I spent fiddling with the wine, I’ve missed the sexy girl in the wet towel by the time I get back to the TV.
Individual servings, Hugh. They sell wine cooler that way. Why not real wine? If you want your life to make complete sense, you need to convince the winery to market 6-packs, 12-packs, and 24-packs of everyday-quality (as opposed to celebration-quality) wine.
Because until you do, wine is too much of a hassle to grab on the spur of the moment.

Duncan Drennan

17 years ago

It really goes back to Jim Collins flywheel — continuous small movements in a single direction.
I think the thing that kills it for most people/companies is that they either want a big bang moment, or all the little actions are not in a consistent direction, i.e. working against each other.
The more consistent the small actions are the faster momentum can be built.

John Dodds

17 years ago

Drinking a single glass of wine? Hmm I’m not sure that should be encouraged.

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