In the wine business, be it a producer or merchant, it is quite clear to me that PR no longer stands for public relationships, but "personal" ones. Get buddy-buddy with those who "get eyeballs" (as Vaynerchuck would say) and you can get your message across to the masses.
Is this unethical? Difficult to say: if one is doing PR for one's own estate/business, truly believing in one's work, then who is to criticize a person for wanting to share his or her passion? Agencies, however, who make a living off of "story-telling" are in it for the money. Otherwise, they would just be blogging about the stories. And those are the guys sending out sketchy propositions by email.
I completely agree with Alison that trade tastings are a different animal though. Especially the large, anonymous ones like the VDP. This is when the "only write about the good stuff" principle truly makes sense.
In reply to WINE PR by ALISON DILLON
PR: Personal Relationships?
In the wine business, be it a producer or merchant, it is quite clear to me that PR no longer stands for public relationships, but "personal" ones. Get buddy-buddy with those who "get eyeballs" (as Vaynerchuck would say) and you can get your message across to the masses.
Is this unethical? Difficult to say: if one is doing PR for one's own estate/business, truly believing in one's work, then who is to criticize a person for wanting to share his or her passion? Agencies, however, who make a living off of "story-telling" are in it for the money. Otherwise, they would just be blogging about the stories. And those are the guys sending out sketchy propositions by email.
I completely agree with Alison that trade tastings are a different animal though. Especially the large, anonymous ones like the VDP. This is when the "only write about the good stuff" principle truly makes sense.