Export experiences shared at China-Australia Wine Marketing Summit

Ways to better promote and sell Australian wine in the important Chinese market have been outlined at an industry event in Sydney.

The China-Australia Wine Marketing Summit, hosted by Wine Communicators of Australia, was held late last week. The forum heard from a range of speakers from across the wine sector as well as a number of China experts who shared their experiences of doing business in the Asian country.

University of South Australia professor of wine marketing Larry Lockshin told the gathering the most substantial growth in wine adoption among Chinese consumers has been occurring in the country’s larger cities.

He said when it came to the consumption of imported wine, including that from Australia, there’s a greater concentration of drinkers in older age groups.

“We’ve done a pretty good job at getting those 45-year-old and over people to think about Australian wine when they’re purchasing, but we haven’t done the best job with the younger consumers,” he said, adding that the major opportunities moving forward for Australian exporters exist in targeting that younger demographic.

Speakers at the China-Australia Wine Marketing Summit in Sydney discussed a range of topics including key market demographics and protecting intellectual property.

 

Taylors Wine company director and export manager Justin Taylor spoke of his company’s business success in China, which he described as an “exciting, dynamic market”.

Taylor said the Chinese market did offer unique challenges for Australian wine companies and he offered advice for those wanting to enter the constantly evolving market.

“Be organised, have a plan, read and research and once you think you know what you’re doing, be ready for it to all change overnight. It’s like no market I’ve ever seen – the potential of the market is so invigorating and so exciting for all of us.”

He said he was delighted with how the Australian wine industry as a whole has been promoting Australian wine to the Chinese market.

“The work that Wine Australia are doing at keeping our regional focus, our personality […] it’s beautifully executed.

“The China road shows […] Taylors Wines are 100% involved. They’re getting good crowds of people there: the right people that we want to be speaking to, be that press or key retailers or consumers. I’ve been in the industry 22 years and the work that’s being done now [to market Australian wine] is probably the best I’ve seen.”

However, Taylor offered some words of caution for companies approaching business in China.

“Just be intelligent about it. Do the little things well, get all your brand registrations just right. Get the brand translations for your products just right.

“When you’ve got an importer, suggest that they pay cash up front for the first couple of years that you do business and then extend trading terms. Do all those things in a measured, cautious way that will protect yourself.

“As you grow [your] relationship with that key importer or key customers […] they’ll respect that as well and they’ll understand that it’s a new, growing relationship. A level of caution there is just to not leave yourself vulnerable.

“It’s not that China is any worse than any other part of the world; just be careful that you don’t make any of those mistakes along the way.”
Other speakers at the summit spoke of the opportunities that exist in using digital marketing and social media to enhance a brand’s profile among different Chinese market segments.

 

 

A panel discussion that included senior winemaker Mark Woods from the Hunter Valley’s Leogate Estate Wines and CEO Richard Dolan from McLaren Vale’s Wines by Geoff Hardy, examined the intricacies of doing business in China from the perspective of small and medium sized wine businesses.

More detailed coverage of the China-Australia Wine Marketing Summit will be published in forthcoming issues of Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker. Click here to subscribe.