Jaime Araujo, founder of Terravina

What could be more contradictory and unwelcome than modern marketing in the traditional and conservative French wine industry? An American doing marketing for the French wine industry. Worse than that? An American woman doing marketing for the French wine industry. And yet, the current crisis has pushed the industry so far into hostile territory that what was once unthinkable is now considered a positive and creative solution.

Having lived in Europe for thirteen years, of which three have been spent in Paris, I decided to create Terravina after experiencing firsthand the rudimentary (or nonexistent) nature of the marketing services available to the majority of companies in the wine industry. My knowledge of wine marketing in the USA & UK, combined with my French industry experience meant that the connection, for me, was obvious. However, this is an industry in crisis, and the concept of consumer-driven marketing is in its infancy – not an easy state of affairs for a new company trying to make its mark and convince wineries that have been doing things the same way for generations, that perhaps it’s time to change the way they work.

Having worked and studied in France (at LVMH and INSEAD, respectively), I have plenty of experience with the culture shock of doing business in France, although the wine industry’s lack of consumer focus still came as quite a surprise! Much of my job consists of helping American wineries navigate the murky waters of the French market, and helping French wineries to adopt a more American approach to marketing, and to become more sensitive and responsive to their clients and consumers. Seeing the rush of clients I’ve had ever since the day I opened my doors, it is evident that the wine industries on both sides of the Atlantic are seeking out this kind of bi-cultural service, most especially in France, where American-style marketing techniques are in great demand.

Can it work? Absolutely! Mouton Rothschild is a great example of a French company that has embraced US style marketing techniques with huge success. With Mouton Cadet, their combination of brand building, publicity and PR (a large part of which is assured by the Baroness Philippine de Rothschild herself), has created one of the few successful French wine brands with international recognition, selling more than 75% of their 15 million bottles on the export market. In addition, Opus One – a California-based joint venture between Robert Mondavi and the Baroness – has proved that the combination of French and American business in the wine industry can provide the recipe for an astonishing success story.

Jaime Araujo founded Terravina, providing marketing and communications consulting for the wine industry, after working for Moët Hennessy in Austria, London and Paris. She started learning about wine at her family’s winery in California and has studied enology in Bordeaux, London and California. E-mail: info@terravina.fr