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Scurtarola Marketing Plan

Cece Wehrley Claire Sigler

Jessica Howard Molly Petrusich

TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents…………………………….………………….………….....….1 Executive Summary……………....……………………………….……….….….2 Situational Analysis ……………………………………….……….……….....…3 Opportunities and Objectives ……………………………………………..….…..4 Marketing Strategy …………………………………………………………..…...5 Marketing Mix ……………………………………………………………….…...7 Social Media Marketing Plan …………………………………….……………..10 Implementation ……………………………………………………………….....15 Source………………………………………………………………………...….19

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Scurtarola is a boutique winery located along the Apuan hills of the Italian coast. The smaller size of the winery allows the owner, Lorieri PierPaolo to cultivate each grape carefully to create authentic and unique wines. Lorieri’s main focus is to spend his time in the vineyards growing grapes and making the wine, which leaves little time for marketing the products or the winery. Even though it is a smaller winery, Scurtarola exports 20% of its wine internationally. Unfortunately, it lost two of its distributors in the United States and Canada during the economic crisis. From analyzing the room for growth and opportunities abroad, we have created the following marketing plan in hopes to gain those two locations back.

Market Opportunity

Scurtarola winery has great potential to reenter into the United States wine market, specifically in California or Oregon. Its previous ties with the United States were cut short during the economic crisis of 2008, but with proper marketing, Scurtarola can maintain stronger connections with consumers to avoid a repeat. Scurtarola is unique in its authenticity and heritage, setting it apart from others. It offers a true, Italian cultural experience where DTC (Direct to Consumer) sales to make a large percentage of their sales and profit. Highlights of the Plan

Scurtarola is an extremely unique small artisan winery that makes “raw” wines. They have not used chemical fertilizer or herbicides for the past 30 years, making their wines extremely natural and pure. Natural products from unique small wineries run by passionate people thrive in the US in more “hipster” areas such as Seattle, Portland, and Berkeley. Scurtarola could thrive in environments like these where people appreciate wholesome products. By targeting the consumer we want to reach, we can create a more direct approach to the marketing plan. For the first step of strengthening Scurtarola’s marketing, we suggest one name for the winery and its labels. Currently the winery goes between promoting themselves as Scurtarola and Lorieri. Scurtarola also has much room for improvement on their website and social media presences. Lorieri has someone who currently runs the Facebook and they could continue creating an Instagram, Twitter, and Yelp profile. It would be an inexpensive yet productive way to get the word out. The Scurtarola website itself also needs to be more organized and make the prices of the wines easier to find.

Benefits and Requirements

By having one primary name, it is more memorable from a consumer aspect. Coming to a consensus on the core name for Scurtarola, they will gain a larger consumer acknowledgement. Creating social media accounts for Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn in which they post regularly, Scurtarola will be able to get their name out to more distributors, companies, and consumers as well as raise awareness of their incredible products. Overall, this will help boost their sales. Once their social media and website accounts are updated, Scurtarola will have a

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more professional and organized image that will prepare them to present their wines to more international distributors and become a greater competitor in the wine industry where they choose to do business. An improvement on the website and online store will also make their products more accessible and draw in more customers.

SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS

Internal Strengths and Weaknesses/External Opportunities and Threats

Strengths: It has a website It has a Facebook page Variety of products including wines, olive oils, Tuscan products, and produce Eight unique different wines including two sparking grappa wines Offers wine tours and will host events Wine is grown naturally and organically Rich history and fascinating story behind the winery Customer service and personality of the workers

Weaknesses: It has a small internet presence Weak brand presence on multiple social media platforms The company’s track record on social media platforms is spotty Social media posts fall short of expected outcomes Lacks sufficient expertise on social media platforms Lacks the ability to fully monitor its SMM goals Unique wines require more explanation

Opportunities: Scurtarola has unique products and services that will satisfy the needs of social media users Facebook has the greatest concentration of the company’s target audience The target market can provide positive ratings on the Facebook page Scurtarola can become more consistent on the platforms they are already on as well as joining other platforms There are emerging targets on future platforms with needs that Scurtarola can satisfy Importing into the US and Canada More tours/events at the winery

Threats: Scurtarola has to compete in the premium Italian red wine business Competitors have a strong connection to their followers and engage with them more often Competitors that are more advanced in their use of technology Other organic wine companies with similar products Climate change affecting grapes Price competition Companies with better distribution Economic uncertainties in the European Union

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Competition One could argue that all Tuscan wineries are competitors because there are thousands of winemakers selling extremely similar products, specifically Chianti wines. Scurtarola does not make a Chianti wine but it does make a Vermentino wine, which sets them apart from majority of the wineries in Tuscany. What makes their wine especially unique is that Lorieri developed his own black Vermentino, which is such a rare type of wine that most people do not know it exists. Looking into it’s uniqueness, it is understood that his unusual wines are both a plus and a negative because many people enjoy consistency. This makes Scurtarola’s competition other unique small wineries in the area that provide a similar authentic family feel as well as sell higher end wines. Scurtarolas wine is more unique than its competitors, but their lack of exposure makes them less popular simply because people do not know who they are. People would pay a higher price for a wine as unique as Lorieri’s if it was advertised correctly.

Scurtarola also competes with other wineries that offer wine tours. There are several companies within Tuscany, such as, “Grape Tours,” that take private tours out to several small family owned wineries in one day. Most tourists will turn to these companies to plan a winery tour for them, which puts Scurtarola at a disadvantage because they do not have connections with any of these travel companies. They also do not come up on any travel websites for tourists who may be trying to plan their own wine tasting excursion. A strong social media presence is important in today’s marketing place because that gets the name of wineries and their stories out into the world, which helps them increase customers, especially millennials. Many wineries have beautifully designed websites as well as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts to keep their wineries relevant and on trend. Updated social media accounts would help Scurtarola gain more exposure within Tuscany and the rest of the world which support a plan to export to countries like the United States and Canada. It would also help them to become a more competitive winery in the Tuscan region. A well run marketing campaign can improve the brand equity and get customers to pay more for their products.

OPPORTUNITIES AND OBJECTIVES

Market Opportunity Scurtarola winery has great potential to reenter into the United States wine market, specifically in California and Oregon. Its previous ties with the United States were cut short during the economic crisis of 2008, but with proper marketing, Scurtarola can maintain stronger connections with consumers to avoid similar situations. Scurtarola is unique in its authenticity and heritage, setting it apart from others. It offers a true, Italian cultural experience found in few places which allow DTC (Direct to Consumer) sales to make a large percentage of their profit. Plan Goals The goal of this marketing plan is to grow sales and profits. Current customers are already very satisfied, the Scurtarola name just is not as widely known as it could be. By getting the word out

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about the unique history that goes into producing the wines, it would attract the millennials who put emphasis on authenticity. The marketing activities being recommended will accomplish a wider brand recognition by customers which would ultimately bring in more visitors to the winery to partake in the unique experience the winery has as well as make the name more known in the United States.

Market Objectives

All the marketing objectives for this plan are very specific and process towards achievement can be measured. The objectives are reasonable for Scurtarola’s marketing because most if it has to do with social media which costs no money and takes up little time. We also have a time frame for when we are doing each marketing and our goal of accomplishment for each.

MARKETING STRATEGY

Our marketing strategy has three components:

Direct to Consumer Sale

Use of social media to engage with customers and build the brand

Open US distribution in California and Oregon, later followed by Washington

Distribution

Annually around 30% of Scurtarola’s wine is DTC (Direct to Consumer) where buyers are coming to the winery and purchasing products there, 30% goes to local restaurants and wine shops. 20% is distributed some customers outside of Tuscany, and the remaining 20% of its wine is distributed internationally to countries to Germany, England, and China.

Customers

The majority of Scurtarola’s consumers are local and loyal customers not only buying the wine, but also the personal and organic aspect of the winery. They also receive a lot of business from visitors looking for an authentic experience in Italy who tend to only purchase the products when at the winery rather than online. Generally, the average Scurtarola consumer appreciates fine artisan wines, buys organic or health conscious food, and veers away from mainstream companies. The members of each market, older millennials and people 65+, represent each other with strong homogeneous geographical and behavioral characteristics, however, the sociodemographic is slightly heterogeneous because of the age difference. Millennials, the largest generation, continue to increase their wine consumption in contrast to baby boomers, who have reached a steady consumption rate because the consistency of their lives. Targeting three main cities in the Pacific Northwest allows for homogeneous national and regional trends because the specific location and shared psychographic. The majority of public Scurtarola interacts with are users with around 3% heavy users and 2% nonusers.

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Target Market Focus:

Scurtarola believes in marketing directly from the winery to the consumer. Direct to consumer and word of mouth are the strongest tools they use for selling their product. Typically, tourists ages 65 and up visit the winery, accounting for the DTC numbers. The owner takes pride in his rich family history if the winery and believes that he is in a steady and good state of retailing his wine because the products are located internationally. He feels a new marketing plan to expand is not necessarily needed, but rather a plan to raise the prices of his wines. This marketing plan incorporates the use of social media to target a specific geographic, demographic, and psychographic market in order to increase purchases, leading to his and our goal of raising the wine prices.

Geographic

This marketing plan will heavily focus on connecting and marketing to the area surrounding the Winery itself. Seeing that 60% of sales originate from DTC and local customers, the focusing geographical area is largely the Tuscan region of Italy. We will reintroduce Scurtarola wines in the US in California and Oregon. These states are heavy wine regions, consuming and producing large amounts of the product. After distribution and sales in these states is up and running, we will expand distribution to Washington.

Demographic In our marketing plan we are targeting females and males of the US millennial population, ages 18 to 35, focusing strongly on ages 28 to 35. Millennials, the largest generation, now at 75.4 million people are rapidly surpassing the steady 74.9 million Baby boomers in the US. Marketing to this age group is a strong choice because their involvement with the wine market continues to grow each year. 42% of all wine drunk in 2015 was drunk by millennials with an average of 3.1 glasses a sitting. Ages 28 to 35 are beginning to create a consistent income, allowing more to be spent on indulging products such as wine. Statistics illustrate that56.7 percent of whites describe themselves as "current drinkers," compared to 42.8 percent of African Americans, 41.7 percent of Hispanics, 37.6 percent of Asians, and 47.6 percent of multiracial people (dailybest). Marketing to millennials will assist in the increase of sales because of their consistently high consumption of wine.

Psychographic

People in the target geographic tend to have an appreciation for wine, causing them to willingly purchasing slightly higher priced wines of higher quality. In the markets targeted, quality and uniqueness is crucial with products on the market because millennials take pride in a strong sense of uniqueness as well as pride of who they are. To them, the story matters in all products. Scurtarola concurs these values with its strong family story and drive to be low key but also the

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best. Millennials appreciate smaller, more local companies who offer organic products beneficial to health. Important tenets to them are family and their social communities, where communication heavily occurs on social media. 90% of this demographic are active on social media to communicate, consuming information worldwide (pewinternet). Fast lifestyles and short attention spans form a liking for good promotions and unique brands. 43% of millennials rank authenticity over content, demonstrating the importance of the brand history. Millennials are consuming more wine than all other generation, leading to a $200 billion annual purchasing power (forbes). Positioning and Differentiation Scurtalora’s owner, Lorieri PierPaolo produces wines that embody the authenticity and historical significance of his wines. The character behind Lorieri’s uniquely simple harvesting process ensures organic highquality wines, creating a distinctive experience with every bottle. Located in the "Candia" vineyards of Apuan hills. The wine represents the quality of the land in Tuscany,where it is grown and produced. Taking pride in the rich history, Scurtarola’s story makes for a convincing story first impression, attracting people in to connect with Lorieri’s wine. For those who seek a quality flavorful wine that balances price, the Vermentino White I.G.T. Toscana is perfect for any occasion. Older millennials with some extra cash to spend who are seeking a high quality organic Tuscan wine, full of history, Scurtarola is the market leader for just that compared to others in the Tuscan region. Scurtarola’s process of harvest and fermentation is done without separation of grape and juice, which is distinctive to Scurtarola. The smaller size and production have suppressed the winery from large recognition, which Lorieri does not mind because he hopes to stay small but well enjoyed. Visitors to the winery give outstanding ratings for a multitude of reasons: right history, rare harvest and fermentation process, hidden location with a view, high quality despite the IGT title, and most importantly, the unforgettable experience of feeling part of the Scurtarola family. Every staff member embraces the visitors. The winery does a great job at creating a company image of history, family, and authenticity. To promote the image as well as work towards higher sales leading to increased prices, it is essential to create a strong social media footprint. By creating an Instagram and Twitter, exposure to millennials in the targeted market will happen. Frequently engaging on these platforms will keep the market engaged with the winery, helping them to create connections and loyalty to Scurtarola.

MARKETING MIX

Product Strategy

Scurtarola Winery currently produces wines and Tuscan products, specifically making six different wine varieties, three of which are IGT label. In addition to their wines, two sparkling grappa wines are also produced. Aside from wine, Scurtarola makes other Tuscan products including honey, honey mixtures, massesa, pandivino, and extra virgin olive oil. The benefit of this product offering is they can market themselves as a winery and specialty Tuscan foods store. There is pressure in this industry to increase the quality and range of products because there are

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http://www.scurtarola.com/en/sheet.php?idp=Vermentino%20Bianco

http://www.scurtarola.com/en/sheet.php?idp=Vermentino%20Bianco

so many wineries trying to sell the same variation of food products and wine. In order for a winery to set themselves apart in this competitive industry they must offer the best quality goods with the a variety of options. The name of the company is not very clear right now because they are undecided whether they want to go by Lorieri or Scurtarola, which can make it difficult for customers to distinguish their product.

Distribution Strategy

Scurtarola has been very successful in selling wines directly to customers, especially those who come to visit their winery. 30% of their sales are from direct consumer sales and 30% is from sales directly to restaurants. The next move for Scurtarola is to get an international distributor in the United States and Canada. These distributors can help get their products in the areas with the millennial market that will want to buy their wines. Their only distribution facility right now is the Scurtarola winery in Massa, but once they start selling in the United States their wine will be in distribution facilities in the targeted states. This demographic is all about convenience so it is essential that their wine is sold in convenient locations where the millennial market already goes to purchase wine. Customer satisfaction of each store that the wine is sold in is also important because their wines need to be in stores that have consistent customers that will come back to buy their products again. Promotion Strategy

The typical customer finds out about Scurtarola’s wines through word of mouth, seeing it on a restaurant menu, or seeing it in a store. The message that they give off from their label is that they are a local Tuscan winery (there is a map on the back of the label) and that it is “raw” wine that was made by hand which is suggested by the person holding grapes above their head on the logo. The logo is eye catching and is intended to intrigue the buyer to purchase it and become more interested in their winery. The well designed label is essential to attract the millennial demographic and get them to purchase this wine since they have so many other options. Their promotion efforts do not inform, persuade, educate, or remind customers about their products because they do not do any sort of promotions. Scurtarola rarely posts on Facebook and they are not active on any other social media platform. The only way people hear about their tastings is through various wine shows that Lorieri attends. They do not currently have a budget for promotional efforts because they do not do any promotions. By enhancing their social media presence and doing more promotional efforts, Scurtarola will come off as a more high end wine brand which will give them the opportunity to raise their prices. When people start recognizing their brand and their brand equity increases, their wine will have a higher demand and people will be willing to pay the higher price. 1. Social Media Summary The only media being used right now is their Facebook page and website. The Facebook page rarely posts and the website provides basic information about the winery and their wines. The firm has not chosen the correct forms of media to reach their target markets because they are not on Twitter or Instagram which some of the post common social media platforms used by millennials. They do have a Facebook page but it is not used correctly so it does not help them

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with their target market. The media being used does not contribute positively to the brand’s image. The Facebook page has blurry photos and does not respond to their customers comments or reviews. It is very plain and does not show the passion and expertise that goes into this amazing wine. The information that we want them to post will be posted during peak Facebook hours on Thursdays and Fridays from 13pm and we will be having them tweet on weekends and another time during the week. The company does not use an outside agency for their advertising and promotion, it is done by Lorieri’s assistant. For additional advertising, Scurtarola should improve their signage on the winery and see if they can get signs on the roads leading up to the vineyard so that visitors do not get lost. This will also create interest because people driving around will see the sign, wonder what it is, and look it up online. If this cannot be done due to city laws, they should get a sign on the outside of their property that can be seen from the street. 2. Public Relations Given the small size of Scurtarola, there has not been much need for a public relations policy thus far. There is very little publicity on Scurtarola currently with just a couple articles written up about the story and a few comments on Facebook pictures. Our new take on the Scurtarola public relations will be proactive yet conservative. With the new expansion of social media marketing, having a strict policy is essential. Ranya will most likely be the primary PR person. Whenever there is a positive review or positive comment on a post, we will always respond or like the post in order to show appreciation and engagement. On the rare occasion Scurtarola gets a negative review, we will respond with an apology and an explanation in order to avoid the problem from occurring again. 3. Personal Selling All of the sales for Scurtarola winery are completed by the owner, Lorieri Pierpaolo. With his knowledge of and involvement in Scurtarola, he feels best when he handles all sales. It is not necessary for Scurtarola to a sales force because of their size. Also, because most sales are done privately, or direct to consumer, they do not focus on hiring salespeople. 4. Direct to Consumer Strategy In order to increase the direct to consumer sales for Scurtarola, they will be enhancing their website to make it easier to purchase their wine online. Having a more user friendly interface will encourage more people to purchase their wine directly. Scurtarola can also set up a distribution system where US orders made on their website can be fulfilled by US distributors. The wine room where they sell wine on the Scurtarola vineyard is very small and does not have any interesting displays. A renovation or relocation of their sales room would help to them showcase all of their wine and tuscan products in a much more organized fashion. This would result in more sales from people who are visiting the vineyard. Another opportunity for Scurtarola is to create a wine club where members would receive a few wines delivered to their home every month. This would allow consumers to try out all the Scurtarola wines and in order to figure out which ones they really like.

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Price Strategy To establish a fair price of wine, the best method is to be demand oriented. Because Scurtarola produces high quality wines from a unique brand, they can charge more for their wines. The consumers of Scurtarola wine are not price sensitive. Our target audience is at the age where they have money to spend, and they are developing a more mature taste palate for wine. Also, for the direct from producer to consumer, if a customer has enough money to travel to Italy and go to a nice winery, they probably are willing to splurge and not too concerned with their spendings. If a price change is put into effect, we do not believe the number of customers will change much. People currently buy Scurtarola wine for its authenticity, so if the price goes up, it will not be easy to find another wine just like the one they love at Scurtarola. Given the increase in price and the steady consumer base, the total revenue would also then increase.

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING PLAN Observation of Social Media Analysis

Metric Sentiment Reach Company Posts

Feedback Average Response Time to Feedback

Facebook Page

Positive: 90% Neutral: 10% Negative: 0%

138 fans 2 monthly posts for 3 months in the past year

1 Comment and 13 likes on average

They do not respond to feedback or comments

Twitter Account

Not yet on this platform





LinkedIn page






Instagram Not yet on this platform





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Internal and External Environment SWOT

Strengths: Scurtarola has a website Scurtatola has a Facebook page Scurtarola has a small internet presence Scurtarola has a lot of room for growth and potential to have a strong social media presence

Weaknesses: Weak brand presence on multiple social media platforms The company’s track record on social media platforms is spotty Social media posts fall short of expected outcomes Lacks sufficient expertise on social media platforms Lacks the ability to fully monitor its SMM goals

Opportunities: Scurtarola has unique products and services that will satisfy the needs of social media users Facebook has the greatest concentration of the company’s target audience The target market can provide positive ratings on the Facebook page Scurtarola can become more consistent on the platforms they are already on as well as joining other platforms There are emerging targets on future platforms with needs that Scurtarola can satisfy Scurtarola has the opportunity to become active users on Twitter, LinkenIn, and Instagram Scurtarola can engage more often with their customers by responding to Facebook comments and tweets

Threats: Other Tuscan wine companies with marketing knowledge Tuscan wine companies with a strong fan base and following on their social media platforms Other companies have a strong connection to their followers and engage with them more often Other companies that are more advanced in their use of technology Capezzana is a larger winery with a lot of engagement on their Instagram geo location and strong interaction with users Colle Bereto winery only sells seven different types of wine but their website is well organized with high quality photos and easy to navigate.

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Competitor SWOTs Villa Trasqua:

Strengths: Website is easy to navigate and understand and is eyecatching Has an Instagram hashtag It has a Facebook page with over 700 likes Has been featured in many wine magazines Offers wine tours Pool on site restaurant on site

Weaknesses: No Instagram Lack of Facebook engagement No twitter Weak brand presence on multiple social media platforms, only uses Facebook Is not fully engaged on Facebook Lacks sufficient expertise on social media platforms

Opportunities: Create an Instagram and twitter because there is already an active hashtag for Villa Trasqua Begin to spread the name through other social media platforms Use the beautiful scenery to draw in customers to return for pool use Promote the Saturday night dinner and swim event Importing into the US and Canada

Threats: Wineries that accommodate more than only wine tasting Competing in the premium Italian red wine business Competitors have a strong connection to their followers and engage with them more often Other wineries with a bigger social media engagement Other wineries mentioned in the wine magazines Villa Trasqua appears in

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Antinori:

Strengths Very active on Facebook and Twitter Posts good visuals to make the content more intriguing Posts portray their long history Well laid out Pinterest board with good content.

Weaknesses Can’t find social media platforms on their website Very little customer interaction No Instagram presence Not very active on Pinterest or Youtube

Opportunities Increase social media following Create Instagram Tie all social media platforms together Increase response rate

Threats Could potentially receive negative views Social media trends are constantly shifting Competitors may have more social media presence and engagement Unhappy customers

Marketing Objectives Increase social media presence by posting three posts per week on Facebook from August 1, 2016August 1, 2017. Increase social media presence by posting three posts per week on Instagram from August 1, 2016August 1, 2017. Increase social media presence by posting once per week on LinkedIn from August 1, 2016August 1, 2017. Increase social media presence by posting three posts per week on Twitter from August 1, 2016August 1, 2017. The company website should be improved by fixing the English translation by August 31, 2016. Full website redesign to make it easier to navigate and order products by December 31, 2016. Have Ranya post weekly on all social media accounts in order to increase their online presence. Key Issues The biggest challenge for Scurtarola is promoting the company while staying true to their core values, which is being a small family owned winery. Lorieri wants to increase his prices and export to the United States and Canada, but he has no desire to become a large winery. He takes pride in all the work that he does himself and does not want to become too much larger. Target Markets Scurtarola believes in marketing directly from the winery to the consumer. Direct to consumer and word of mouth are the strongest tools they use for selling their product. Social media has little to no role in their marketing. A minimal website with difficult navigation and a marginally active Facebook add minute advantages because the way they are run. Our marketing objective is

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to create a strong social media footprint to enhance the winery’s appeal to the millennial generation. Instagram is used by more than 90% of millennial, which explains our push to create an Instagram and twitter for Scurtarola. Typically, tourists ages 65 and up visit the winery, accounting for the DTC numbers. Because the wines here are DTC, no social media is used. The baby boomer generation may use Facebook and the website to gain information on the winner, however because these platforms are minimal, inclination to purchase from the platform is little. The owner takes pride in his rich family history if the winery and believes that he is in a steady and good state of retailing his wine because the products are located internationally. He feels a new marketing plan to expand is not necessarily needed, but rather a plan to raise the prices of his wines would be ideal. This marketing plan incorporates the use of social media to target a specific geographic, demographic, and psychographic market in order to increase purchases, leading to his and our goal of raising the wine prices. Positioning Scurtalora’s owner, Lorieri PierPaolo produces wines that embody the authenticity and historical significance of his wines. The character behind Lorieri’s uniquely simple harvesting process ensures organic highquality wines, creating a distinctive experience with every bottle. Located in the "Candia" vineyards of Apuan hills. The wine represents the quality of the land in Tuscany, where it is grown and produced. Taking pride in the rich history, Scurtarola’s story makes for a convincing story first impression, attracting people in to connect with Lorieri’s wine. Platform Selection The platforms that will be used are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Assignment Roles: Ranya will be taking over all of the social media platforms. She is 21 years old and already uses social media for her own personal use. Included in the budget is purchasing a nice camera so that Ranya can take quality photos for the social media platforms. It would be a good investment for Lorieri to hire a professional photographer to come to the vineyard one day to take some photos so that they can use professional photos for their profile pictures and cover photos. Tracking, Measuring, and Evaluating: The performance toward the stated objective will be tracked measured and evaluated based on how many likes, comments, and shares that each post gets. If the posts are not improving and getting closest to the goal, the social media platform will have to experiment with different kinds of posts and do evaluations to see what is the most successful. It is crucial that the different types of posts(photos, informational, sharing of articles, promotional,etc) are measured and evaluated carefully so that each social media platform can be tailored to post things that will get the most interaction from their followers.

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Projected Budget

Things to Pay For Cost

Hire Social Media Coordinator(Ranya) (Ranya’s current salary)

Hire professional photographer for one photo shoot

400 €

Purchase high quality DSLR camera for future social media postings

600 €

Web designer 3,000 €

IMPLEMENTATION

Campaign and Implementation The current lack of social media has the potential to connect with current and future customers to create a brand that is more current and easily identifiable. Two platforms, Facebook and their website, are currently not being used to their full potential. Raising the social media presence will strongly target the millennial generation due to their high use of social media. Scurtarola wine is ideal for older millennials with some extra cash to spend who are seeking a high quality organic Tuscan wine, full of history. Facebook: Facebook is going to be used to share information about their wines, advertize their wine tastings, encourage reviews and comments from customers, as well as post pictures of their winery and the process of creating their wine. The purpose of the Facebook page is so that Scurtarola customers can have an understanding of all aspects of their company which is intended to impress them so that they buy more wine. The Facebook page will display all aspects of the company from the growing, selling, and drinking of the wine. The more that people know about Scurtarola’s unique history and passion for their wines, it will make them want to try wine from a winery with such an interesting story. Scurtarola will post on Facebook three times a week. A milestone for Facebook will be getting 300 likes on their page and to be getting 30% more interaction on their posts. These milestones do not cost any money and if the Facebook is used successfully, it should take 6 months after the account starts posting consistently. Increase social media presence by posting three posts per week on Facebook from August 1, 2016August 1, 2017. ∙ Posts will be done by Lorieri’s assistant Ranya

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∙ Post status updates about new wine and food releases, what is going on at the winery, upcoming events, harvest season updates, news in the family, holiday posts, or sales and tasting promotions ∙ Post photos with captions of the family working in the winery, people at their vineyard enjoying wine tastings, products they are selling, pictures of the winemaking process, photos of the staff or photos promoting upcoming events ∙ Respond to comments and ratings thoughtfully within one day of the comment or rating Instagram: Instagram is going to be used to attract the millennial market in the United States and Canada. The account will post pictures that focus on the authenticity of this wine which should entice them to purchase it. The Instagram will be posting their best photos that highlight how this family owned winery is different than other large wineries that millennials often purchase from. The goal will be to set Scurtarola apart from other wineries that millennials usually enjoy in order to attract more customers. Scurtarola will post on Instagram three times a week. A milestone for Instagram will be getting their first 100 followers and getting an average of over 25 likes per photo. This should happen in the first six months after the account is created. Increase social media presence by posting three posts per week on Instagram from August 1, 2016August 1, 2017. ∙ Posts will be done by Lorieri’s assistant Ranya ∙ Create an Instagram account ∙ Set up a location tag so that people who visit the winery can tag their location on photos they may post at tastings ∙ Use the hashtag #Scurtarola on all photos ∙ Follow relevant people the wine industry and people who have visited the winery ∙ Post photos of the family working in the winery, people at their vineyard enjoying wine tastings, products they are selling, pictures of the winemaking process, photos of the staff or photos promoting upcoming events with a mixture of informative and promotional captions LinkedIn: LinkedIn will be used to give the company a more professional feel and allow Lorieri to connect with his clients and restaurants that purchase his products. It will be used to post about new products being sold and where they can be purchased as well as for sharing articles from blogs or magazines that may have written about him. Creating these LinkedIn connections will make Lorieri look professional and allow him to communicate with his client base. Scurtarola will post on LinkedIn once a week. A milestone for Linkedin will be getting their first 75 connections and getting at least five reviews on their winery. This should happen within the first six months after they create their LinkedIn profile. Increase social media presence by posting once per week on LinkedIn from August 1, 2016August 1, 2017. ∙ Posts will be done by Lorieri’s assistant Ranya ∙ Create a LinkedIn account ∙ Connect with past and current staff, their distributors, restaurants managers who purchase their wine, and others in the industry ∙ Make an informative summary of their company for their page

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∙ Post once a week about upcoming events going on at the winery or new products that have just become available, announcements of new stores or restaurants carrying their wine, or relevant articles about the wine industry Twitter:Twitter is going to be used so share announcements about new shipments of wine, ideas for meal pairings, occasional photos of things going on at the winery, and promoting their wine and tastings. Twitter will give information about all aspects of their company but will not go into much detail because of the character limit. It will be meant for people who want to see updates on the company and get quick information on what is going on at the vineyard. It will serve as a reminder for their followers that Scurtarola is always working and trying to create the best quality wines which should encourage more buyers. Scurtarola will tweet three times a week. A milestone for Twitter will be reaching their first one hundred followers and getting at least one or more favorite, retweet, or comment on 50% of their posts in six months after the creation of the account. Increase social media presence by posting three posts per week on Twitter from August 1, 2016August 1, 2017. ∙ Posts will be done by Lorieri’s assistant Ranya ∙ Create a Twitter account ∙ Follow relevant people, customers, companies, and distributors in the wine industry ∙ Retweet tweets relevant to their winery or trends in the industry ∙ Favorite and retweet tweets that speak highly of Scurtarola ∙ Respond to all tweets that speak highly of Scurtarola ∙ Respond carefully to all tweets that give suggestions to Scurtarola ∙ Tweet three times a week about new wine and food releases, what is going on at the winery, upcoming events, harvest season updates, meal pairing ideas, news in the family, holiday posts, or sales and tasting promotions ∙ Incorporate photos into at least one post a week of the family working in the winery, people at their vineyard enjoying wine tastings, products they are selling, pictures of the winemaking process, photos of the staff or photos promoting upcoming events with a mixture of informative and promotional captions Website: The company website should be improved by fixing the English translation by August 31, 2016. ∙ Hire an English writer by August 11, 2016 to look over the website and revise it by August 31, 2016 as well as assist the graphic designer until the website is completed with English help he/she needs Full website redesign to make it easier to navigate and order products, as well as redesigning the logo by December 31, 2016.

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∙ Hire a graphic designer to begin work on September 1, 2016 and complete it by December 31, 2016. Evaluation: If this marketing plan is implemented, the projected annual income will increase by $20,000. This assumes the performance stays up to date and consistent. Due to an increase in social media, an increase in price, and an easier website design, Scurtarola will gain public acknowledgement and be able to promote wine sales better. If the plan is not implemented, the annual revenue will maintain as is because without an internal marketing plan, the winery is so off the beaten track that it will not get a wide acknowledgement by doing nothing. Control: Three days after a post on any social media platform, the number of likes, comments, shares, or any relevant type of interaction on that specific platform needs to be recorded. This will allow for easy evaluation of the different types of posts in order to see what types of posts are the most successful. The firm is not doing too much because it is important to be on all of these social media platforms to be considered a competitive business. The core marketing strategies for achieving the objectives are sound and it will not be clear which strategies are the most successful until they start posting, evaluating, and gaining followers. The objectives are appropriate and not overly ambitious, they are created to get the social media platforms started in order to start attracting followers. We know that they are not going to get hundreds of followers immediately, but with the proper strategic posts, the followers will begin to accumulate. Enough resources are budgeted for this project because Ranya has already told us that she is ready to take on more social media accounts such as Instagram and purchasing the new camera will allow her to take beautiful high quality photos.

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Sources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2015/01/20/10newfindingsaboutthemillennialconsumer/#35cb901128a8 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/12/29/drinkingstatswhodrinksthemostalcohol.html http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/08/socialnetworkingusage20052015/

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http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2015/01/20/10-new-findings-about-the-millennial-consumer/#35cb901128a8

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2015/01/20/10-new-findings-about-the-millennial-consumer/#35cb901128a8

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/12/29/drinking-stats-who-drinks-the-most-alcohol.html

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/12/29/drinking-stats-who-drinks-the-most-alcohol.html

http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/10/08/social-networking-usage-2005-2015/

August 2016

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4 5 6 Create Instagram,

LinkedIn, and Twitter pages

LinkedIn Instagram Facebook Twitter

Instagram Facebook Twitter

7 8 9 10 11 12 13



Last Day to Hire Website Writer


14 Assumption (Italy) 15 16 17 18 19 20 Instagram

Facebook Twitter



21 22 23 24 25 26 27



Last Day to Hire Photographer


Community Wine Tasting Event @ Scurtarola

28 29 30 31 Instagram

Facebook Twitter


EVENTS

FUTURE:

-Website re-design by December 2016 -Harvest Season -One event held at Scurtarola per month

HARVEST SEASON September 2016


1 2 3 Instagram

Facebook Twitter

Labor Day (U.S.)

4 5 6 7 8 9 10




Harvest Tasting Event/Tour @Scurtarola

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Instagram

Facebook Twitter


Last Day to Hire Website Designer


18 19 20 21 22 23 24





25 26 27 28 29 30 Instagram

Facebook Twitter


EVENTS

FUTURE:

-Website re-design by December 2016 -Harvest Season

HARVEST SEASON October 2016


1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8





9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Instagram

Facebook Twitter



16 17 18 19 20 21 22





23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Instagram

Facebook Twitter


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Halloween (U.S.) 31 Instagram Facebook Twitter

EVENTS

FUTURE:

-Website re-design by December 2016.

merged final

Documents