Flinders University Wine Business Professor Roberta Crouch has had her research into online wine marketing brought to the forefront by Wine Australia, to address cellar doors closing across Australia due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Professor Crouch led a three-year project funded by Wine Australia that investigated the use of online, live-streaming video technology as a consumer engagement strategy – and now Wine Australia has realised this research can provide a solution to wine companies who have been dislocated from their customers due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Wine Australia supported Wine Communicators of Australia to host a free webinar on 7 April that had Professor Crouch providing information about the benefits of building an online community to sell wine and magnify their wine brand.

For wine businesses facing marketing and sales difficulties, Professor Crouch’s study proved that it is possible to closely replicate the cellar door experience online and even enhance it. The research found live streaming events were an effective, low cost way to engage with customers, grow a brand and build a virtual following – and that they substantially enhanced customers’ willingness to purchase, willingness to pay, and provide positive word of mouth about the winery involved.

“Over the next few months, people are going to be spending a LOT of time on the Internet,” says Professor Crouch. “If this quiet time is used wisely by brands and regions, attachments and relationships can be built that will remain long after things get back to normal.”