Sustainable Video

In May, Colin West of WINERAM Productions was in the country getting an up close and personal view of what sustainability means to the New Zealand wine sector. Along with Robert Holmes and Angela Johnson from Lumaria Productions they visited each of the major regions gathering a mix of written, photographic and video material which will be used to create a media campaign, aimed initially at the US market.

NZW communications manager Sarah Szegota says despite the inroads our wine has made in the US, getting the sustainability message across can be difficult.

“The objective is to raise the profile of the New Zealand wine sustainability story in the US. It’s a market which is incredibly important to the industry, but one that is often quite hard to get noticed in.”

WINERAM Productions has already made a name for itself as a company producing wine related documentaries. (WINERAM is the acronym for Wine Region A Minute). It is the brainchild of West, who was born in America, studied wine in Italy, and completed his Masters in Wine Business at University of Adelaide, prior to coming to live in New Zealand. While working as a sommelier he saw the growing thirst (excuse the pun) for wine related videos that could be viewed by consumers either via online sources or via television networks. Unable to establish the company here in New Zealand, he headed back to America in 2011 to set up WINERAM. He quickly established contacts with a variety of media outlets, including the ABC’s international channels, (46 in all). He has already produced three documentaries, one on South Africa, one on Australia and the other on New Zealand. Admitting to having a love affair with this part of the world, his recent production will help tell the sustainable winegrowing story, as part of NZW’s Sustainability Communications Plan.

West says they are not focusing on what the word means, or trying to define why it is so important to the world.

“We are trying to reach viewers on a more personal level, which we think will drive engagement. People will watch it and understand why it is that these (wine growers in New Zealand) do what they do.”

The material gathered by West and his team will not only be used in the US. Szegota says the content will be offered to a variety of media outlets in important key markets, including publications, magazines both online and print, and television channels. Some of West’s contacts which have shown interest include; Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, Honest Cook Magazine -  which has a million unique viewers every month and 60,000 views online, Gourmet Traveller, Wine Channel TV in US, and Vine Pair in the US.

While the visit this year was focusing on the sustainability story, West said they were also laying the groundwork for a future film that will be based on wine regions throughout the world – although he says New Zealand will play a large part in it. It is a project he has big plans for. Likely to be between 60 and 90 minutes long, depending on the story being told, it will offered to the ABC’s 46 international channel, but will reach an even wider audience.

“We want to take it to international film festivals and to international theatrical release. We want to take the time to make sure that we teach a very large audience on an international level. It will be way past just the ABC audience.”

His goal is to produce something that will gain the exposure of the movie Somm, a movie released in 2013 and covering four men’s efforts to gain the qualification of Master Sommelier. Somm was produced by Jason Wise, an industry acquaintance of Colin’s.

“He did a really great job and it is an example of the success a feature film can have in the international film industry. We want to match that level, or hopefully exceed that.”  

Given Somm kick started the Master Sommelier qualification in terms of publicity, imagine what a feature film that covers the New Zealand wine industry could do for international sales.

NZWine Toolkit

Are you aware of the large volume of material available to NZW members that can help you tell your story?

A members only ‘Toolkit’ page has been published on nzwine.com to allow you to download a range of (primarily marketing and communications) resources to use as you wish. The Toolkit enables you to print files or ‘plug and play’ videos and presentations in a way that fits your business needs.

Resources available to date include maps, varietal guides, regional guides, videos, infographics, and presentations. More resources will be uploaded over time.

If a picture paints a thousand words then some of these presentations will leave you with little to add. The Sustainability message is strong throughout, but there are also a number of other important tools available. There is a map of each wine-growing region, presented as a fly over, showing sub regions and topography. The NZ Story is available for download, along with a wide range of consumer brochures that focus on individual regions along with varietals. These are a fantastic source of information if you are preparing a presentation outside of New Zealand.

And best of all they are all free. All you have to do is download them from the members “Toolkit” page at nzwine.com.