More than 150 people were part of the successful digital event Forum Markt & Wine on April 22, 2021. The German Wine Institute (DWI) and the Weincampus Neustadt were very pleased with the great response and the high quality of the presentations, which could be followed via a live stream.
This year's forum addressed relevant and forward-looking topics. "Innovation management is exciting for the companies and the pandemic acts as a catalyst," emphasized Prof. Dr. Marc Dreßler from the Wine Campus. "In the forum, the latest market data was delivered and combined with insights to recommendations for action from practitioners and experts."
In his presentation, Alexander Proske of Nielsen IQ reported on how COVID-19 has changed purchasing behavior and how that affects the wine industry. Comparing the data from March 2020 to February 2021 with the same period last year, a clear trend can be seen: Fewer shopping trips per week, but more is being bought per purchase. In the case of wine, spending in the overall market (excluding food service) increased by 15%. German wines were slightly ahead of foreign wines here.
In the presentation by Wilhelm Lerner of Wine Intelligence on the topic of "Shopper Touchpoint Insights 2021", the participants* gained important insights into the identification and design of the contact points between customers and companies. Lerner identified the touchpoints close to the point of purchase as particularly important for binding German wine consumers to producers. It is important to identify, continuously process and maintain the touchpoints in the various target groups - both online and offline.
Heinz Grüne from the Rheingold Institute spoke on the topic of how young people find their way to wine. In his talk, he presented various findings from a survey conducted by the institute among people aged 20-29 and 30-39. Among other things, Grüne emphasized the important role of digital media, especially in addressing the younger target group. The topic of wine needs access points for this target group that are simple and appealing.
There is still great potential for the wine industry in professional touchpoint management. Under the moderation of Anika Kost from Weincampus Neustadt, Wilhelm Lerner, Hagen Rüdlin from Markgräfler Winzern e.G., Martin Kutscher from Scheck-In Center Achern and Prof. Dr. Laura Ehm from Weincampus Neustadt explained and discussed experiences from research and practice and offered suggestions for implementation.
Laura Ehm also draws a positive conclusion: "The Forum Markt & Wein DIGITAL was very exciting this year. Current data on consumer behavior and market developments were given, which clearly show the changes in purchasing behavior caused by Corona. Through the presentations, it was possible to show ways to respond to the changes and that, above all, it is necessary to think creatively about new ways to reach the customer."
"This was an enriching event, with many facts, new insights and valuable suggestions, from which all participants were able to take something away," summarizes Monika Reule, Managing Director of the DWI.
The next Forum Markt & wine is planned for April 28, 2022 at the wine campus.
About Weincampus Neustadt:
The Weincampus Neustadt is a scientific institution of the universities of Ludwigshafen, Bingen and Kaiserslautern, which together with the Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum (DLR) Rheinpfalz stands for practical teaching and application-oriented research.
More info at: www.weincampus-neustadt.de
