The 1st D.O. Navarra Communication and Wine Congress brought together virtually and in person, at the Faculty of Communication of the University of Navarra, around one hundred attendees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attendees were able to learn from some of the best professionals in both sectors how communication complements the wine industry and how wineries can develop their full potential outside the vineyard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#WineCom, the 1st International Congress on Communication and Wine, organized by the D.O. Navarra, was launched in style both in person and virtually. The Faculty of Communication of the University of Navarra, a partner organization of this ambitious project, hosted the opening day focused on the influence of communication in the wine sector and its post-pandemic situation. To learn more about these keys, the Appellation of Origin has relied on the best professionals from four blocks<\/strong>The main topics of this report are: content creation, influencer marketing, online sales communication and branding as a communication element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Palacios, president of the Control Board of the D.O. Navarra, and Charo S\u00e1bada, dean of the School of Communication of the University of Navarra, welcomed the attendees present and also those behind the screen. The president was very enthusiastic about the project and has already warned that there will surely be more congresses. He also considered the objective of the conference to be essential: \"it is not enough to make good wine if we do not know how to communicate it\".<\/strong>. After them, Pedro Blanco, deputy director and presenter of Cadena SER's \"Hoy por hoy\", was the master of ceremonies to kick off the congress and lead the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the first block, by Ram\u00f3n Piqu\u00e9, storyteller, creativity and content for communication and advertising, he pointed out the importance of having a good relationship with the public. \"The key to success is to create a relationship beyond the product.<\/strong>. Respect and personal chemistry is required and turn our brand into an experience<\/strong>\"he said. Then, in the second block, Jamie Goode, renowned wine columnist, through his personal experience, showed the digital revolution of social networks. \"They are tools at our fingertips that, without copying others, we must adapt to our needs in order to reinforce our brand identity<\/strong>\"said the English author.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For her part, in the second part of this second block, Patricia San Miguel, academic coordinator of the Executive Master in Fashion Business Management at ISEM Fashion Business School, discovered to the attendees how to influence. \"The business model has changed<\/strong>. Previously, brands focused on their product, but this has changed. We must be obsessed with the consumer, we make that product for him.<\/strong>. Therefore, we need to know their buying process and their own experience,\" he said. On this experience, he exemplified how wine tourism can help to go beyond the product itself. \"More and more wineries are opening their own hotel or carrying out activities that serve to to impregnate in the consumer's mind<\/strong>. In this way, they have the memory of having lived an experience around our product\". San Miguel, after showing the democratization of the networks and the possibility for a small winery to have the same reach as a large one, concluded his presentation with advice on how to influence networks, based on the example of different benchmark wineries: \"teach less grapes and make people fall in love more.\"<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the first two blocks, the round table (Impact of communication on the pandemic), led by Jos\u00e9 Luis Orihuela, PhD in Information Sciences and professor in the Faculty of Communication at the University of Navarra, together with Patricia San Miguel and Ram\u00f3n Piqu\u00e9, was held. One of the main points of the round table was the figure of the influencer. For Piqu\u00e9, they should serve as a filter for the consumer, as they provide trust. This trust stems from their power of communication which, according to San Miguel, \"is a great responsibility\". Regarding the mistakes a brand makes or the criticisms it receives, both agree that they must be assumed and always have answers. Piqu\u00e9 has assured that some criticisms are ephemeral, but they do not solve themselves, transparency and trust are required<\/strong>. According to San Miguel, it is a good symptom when people talk badly about us because it means that we are doing something: \"we must not be afraid of being spoken ill of, we just have to have a kinder and stronger voice\".<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the debate, the \"Communication in online sales\" was discussed. Heini Zachariassen, founder of Vivino, and Mar\u00eda Iba\u00f1ez, creator of Alfombras \u00c9tnicas, presented the development of communication in web portals and how to adapt to commercial communication. Zachariassen contextualized his presentation from the complexity of wine and bringing it closer to everyone. \"At Vivino we currently have 99%'s opinion of the wines of the world<\/strong>\". This fact, he said, has been extremely important for the development of the app, which grew exponentially during the pandemic. \"The world moves at a very fast pace and patience is a virtue. With hard work you can reach your goal.\"<\/strong>he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the second part of this block, Mar\u00eda Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez, a former student of the Faculty, agreed with some of the ideas discussed above and pointed out the problem of some brands saying what they want and not what their audience wants to hear. \"We must be empathetic and make people fall in love. Transmit all our work and illusion\".<\/strong>. He wanted to share examples of influencers and wineries about how the basis of their work is in their day to day and not in the brand. He ended his presentation by inviting wineries to innovate and take the leap because \"there is a space on Instagram\".<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, the day was brought to a close by Marc Morillas, CEO of Morillas Brand Design, and Daniel Morales and Javier Euba, founders of Moruba Graphic Design. Morillas presented his 8 commandments to put into practice the value of the brand, \"which goes beyond the logo\". For Morillas, it is \"a business-generating asset in which it is necessary to invest and do it in the long term, as it takes time and care to build brand value\". To build it, he commented, \"you have to know the customer, get down in the mud, listen to him\".<\/strong>. He also wanted to draw the profile of the Z, \"a much more connected generation\" and that this is a new type of audience that needs different inputs than the rest of the adult generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For their part, the couple from Moruba Graphic showed through different dishes how brands should always work with a very clear base: \"brands must listen, understand and give what the customer asks for and always in the best possible way\". To exemplify this, they have put the comparative of a fried egg and how if a customer asks for it, you should just do that, \"you should not overdo it. \"No project should be minimized\".<\/strong>they have assured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Undoubtedly, #WineCom has highlighted a tool that can be used by wineries of all types for to revalue and add value to your wines and to your brand<\/strong>. The rest of the presentations have served the general public to learn about the future of the wine industry and communication through people outside the wine world who provide a different vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, the Regional Minister of Rural Development and Environment of the Government of Navarra, Itziar G\u00f3mez, closed the 1st D.O. Navarra Communication and Wine Congress by congratulating the D.O. Navarra and the Faculty of Communication of the University of Navarra for organizing and collaborating in this project. \"We have the strength of being able to link wine with quality tourism, gastronomy or the Camino de Santiago. Our strategic position between Bordeaux and Rioja and our five regions recognized in the Appellation of Origin provide us with a wide diversity of products and services.<\/strong> which gives us the power that brings great wealth to the sector with the possibility of producing a wide variety of wines,\" he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In reference to the need to communicate in the sector, \"we start from a great base, with a great asset such as our D.O. Navarra wines, rooted in the territory that give it its unique character. The winemaking tradition, our different varieties in addition to the oldest ones, and our commitment to innovation, which is carried out in the EVENA wineries where the Viticulture and Oenology Section of the Government of Navarra, has already counted more than 60 local vine varieties recovered, 32 of which predate 1850.<\/strong>\"she concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n