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Promotions and Partnerships

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Barrel Char Wood Products
I

IanB

NewBee
Registered Member
Sep 22, 2008
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Salem MA
www.isaaksofsalem.com
So, in the spirit of sharing and in the need for support (about support later) I think that partnerships and collaborations are the BEST way to move a small business forward. If you partner and collaborate with someone else, you are at the least splitting the risk you are taking on with another contributor, making whatever you are doing that much more likely to succeed.

Partnering with business that are similar, or who are participating in the same market as you, is an even better way to get the word out and hopefully draw in some more customers.

One such partnership I am trying to get going is with Taza Chocolate here in Boston. These guys make knock u on your arse weird chocolate like you have never tried before. They don't do it the European way, but the Mexican way with stone ground stuff...really really unique stuff. (like all the mead made on this site!)

So, if you want to help out and spread the word about honey wine and mead (and i will share the results around later in febuary) please go to their facebook page and see our HD Video Appeal to be a partner with us on Valentines Day 2011.

'Like' the company, then 'comment or like' the HD Video on their wall.
http://on.fb.me/fbYGYK

I'll report back on the progress and details as they come together.
 
Meeting with them today

I am meeting with the promotions team at Taza today. I'll report back here on how it went, but the facebook thing did 'work' and they thought the video was pretty cool.
 
Promotion update

Update, they went for the promotion. I had to make the decision a lot easier by 'buying' their chocolate at wholesale from them, but sometimes you need to spend money to reach customers.

It would be very difficult to get people to try a 25$+ wine, and make it a one-time purchase. So, I figure if we are offering free extra super premium chocolate, that will help them make the leap, then they will know what the 25-27$ got them.

Anyway, Taza was totally on-board, we got a small photo of the owner and I, and I will be back next week to pick up some promotional samplers (to hand out at the 5 events we will be offering the wine and the free chocolate. They get access to my customer base, and a recommendation from me, and I get access to their customer base and a recommendation from them. Win-Win. This is why people team up, 1+1 = 3 or even 4...if I was doing this alone, it would be 1+1 = 1.3 with taza it is a 3.4-4.5.

You effectively get more with the partnership than the sum of it's parts when broken down. And you might ask why would I pay 3-400$'s to cement this partnership?...why the hell would I pay that....they are a national company, with 3k facebook followers, and a huge brand identity locally and nationally. Do you have any idea what you need to pay to get that type of 'street credit' and good name with traditional 'buy your brand' advertising?.... try 30-40k minimum.

That is why you partner and do promotions, most effective way to build brand identity and to offer something special to your customers who decided to try your product. More details and follow up on the promotion as it takes place.

Ian
 
Partnership Video

So, we decided to do an HD video (you know I love video) and put it out into the Ethernet.

You can see the video here:
www.facebook.com/IsaaksofSalem

Please 'like' or comment the post, and friend the winery if you feel this information is helpful to you.

I should mention that the partnership is not 'resonating' as well as I would like, and that is probably because Taza doesn't have as much to gain as I do with the partnership. If they were going to open up a new market in Boston, it would be great, but because they are local and already here they aren't leveraging as much of what I am doing as I would like.

We shall see as we get closer to Valentines Day if they decide to help promote and get the word out as I would like, If they don't it is still great to offer some chocolate to our wine drinkers, and the participation with them has helped the winery, maybe not as much as I would like, but it has still helped.

A local newspaper has decided to do an interview and run a story, so hopefully that will help as well. I will report back on the results as I see them.
 
Comments and follow up

The partnership was a success, but the next one we do I will need to focus more on print media, and less on online content. SOOO many wine customers like/want printed material and posters, not online content.

I think the success was limited because I did not combine it with the print media/campaign. Everything costs money to be done right, and next time I collaborate through a partnership we will ensure there is MUCH MORE print media.

live and learn.
 
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