There is no doubt that COVID-19 has delivered a crushing blow to the South African wine industry but despite this, The TOPS at SPAR Wine Show is gearing up to get everyone back in the game in 2021.
The TOPS at SPAR Wine Show leans heavily on advanced digital marketing techniques to market events in seven of SA’s major metros and, whilst certainly encouraging the strategic development of alternate online sales platforms in addition to traditional retail channels, we still firmly believe that live ‘try and buy’ events continue to present the most effective opportunity for brands to connect with new and established wine consumers to build and maintain meaningful relationships.
In the wake of a series of unfortunate liquor bans and interrupted sales cycles many South African wine producers are reconsidering, recalibrating and in some cases, redirecting their sales and marketing strategies targeting a domestic audience to first survive - and ultimately thrive - in a brave new world. A flurry of new producer-managed Direct to Consumer (DTC) online sales platforms, which were until now arguably treated with a fair degree of scepticism, have quickly emerged as the standout local sales and marketing by-product of these tumultuous times.
“Now, more than ever before, the South African wine industry needs to get in front of the domestic wine consumer. Not figuratively or metaphorically… literally. Domestic consumers have rallied to the call and proven themselves to be more than empathetic to the plight of the SA wine producer during lockdown. 2021 will be a time to reconnect with these customers, tell your stories face-to-face and differentiate your brand.” says Andrew Douglas, owner of the TOPS at SPAR Wine Show.
Douglas goes on to say, “Like it or not, lockdown has adversely affected some medium-term gains made by industry such as the ‘fair price for fair value’ consumer agenda. The commodification of wine is indeed a risk for many producers post COVID-19 and we can’t expect things to improve if we stay in the Cape. It’s up to all of us to get out there, roll up our sleeves, get amongst it and fight our corners.”
As the rest of the world prepares to open its doors for events during/post the COVID-19 pandemic, from major sports leagues through to mixed use event arenas, the TOPS at SPAR Wine Show is also making plans to get the show back on the road in a safe and controlled manner. To this end we have appointed industry leaders in event safety, Alliance Safety, to work with our team to develop the COVID-19 management plan incorporating safety protocols that will include a tiered risk assessment process as well as safe working procedures for the event. These will be aligned with international best practice and South African law.
Managing Director of Alliance Safety and Interim-Chair of the Events Safety Council responsible for engaging government on re-opening events in South Africa, Mike Lord says “We have delivered COVID-19 event safety plans for a number of high profile events looking to go live during/post the pandemic including the South African Events Council proof of concept safe event hosted by the events industry earlier this year. Alliance Safety is currently working with a range of event owners and rights holders across many different genres to assist with the development of their COVID-19 event safety blueprints and standard operating procedures so that the event industry can get back to work safely. We look forward to working with Andrew and his team to develop guidelines that can not only be utilized by other wine tasting events but also the wine industry in general.”
Venues and dates for the 2021 TOPS at SPAR Wine Show tour have been confirmed. All exhibitor booking enquiries should be directed to Exhibition Sales Manager, Heinrich Von Wielligh at heinrich@wineshow.co.za.
For further information, visit the TOPS at SPAR Wine Show website.