WSET initiates 'make time for wine' campaign

National Wine Month is an initiative to recruit trade support and drive consumer communications under the creative platform ‘Make Time for Wine’.
It is being co-ordinated by the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, which has made a significant financial contribution to kick-start the project.  Ian Harris, CEO of WSET, says:  “The aim of National Wine Month is to bring the trade together under one promotional umbrella to create a peak of awareness for wine.  It is an opportunity for the trade to support the initiative so we can together take consumers beyond their normal wine boundaries and drive greater trial by encouraging them to explore and discover new wines, thereby creating improved understanding and enjoyment.”

National Wine Month will run during May 2011 which is the start of the summer wine-drinking period and also the month of the LIWTF, when the world’s best wine makers are gathered in the UK.
 
From January 2011, a programme of consumer PR will target the national and regional media.  Print features and radio interviews during May will involve some of the industry’s key players with a ‘Make Time for Wine’ studio put in place by Brintex at the LIWTF.  Money-can’t-buy competition prizes donated by wine producers will help to secure high profile competitions in broadcast and print media.

WSET is hosting a ‘Make Time for Wine’ consumer roadshow with bespoke tastings in key regions around the country during May and it will launch a tailored ‘Make Time for Wine’ course at part of its education programme.
 
Work has begun on a trade website which will include an online toolkit that can be accessed by businesses wishing to participate in National Wine Month. Materials such as the logo, posters, banners, tent cards and stickers will all be downloadable direct from the website.  This will be followed up with a consumer website that will engage wine-drinkers, both present and future, with National Wine Month.

“It is vital that National Wine Month is on the radar of those involved in producing and selling wine as it will take a joint effort to successfully raise the profile of wine during May,” adds Ian Harris.  “We are asking people to contribute to the central budget and to organise activities during the month.  There is a really strong business benefit for individual companies who can shout about their wines from the platform that ‘Make Time for Wine’ creates and the value of this has already been recognised by retailers such as Laithwaites, ASDA and Tesco, plus Riedel and many other companies involved at all levels of the industry, ” adds Ian Harris.

1 November 2010 - Felicity Murray