Blogs are popular, savvy, fun and interesting. Not to mention, blogs are written about...everything (as mentioned in my last post)Researchers are now analyzing blogs, using content analysis, to look at the expressions, views and opinions of bloggers about whatever topics pique their interests. These blogs can help track trends in society, the economy, advertising, etc. Implications indicate that wine businesses should pay attention to blogs (just like other social media sites!)
I recently read a research article written by Liz Thach for the 5th International Academy of Wine Business Research Conference. Her article is the first of its kind that conducts a content analysis of 222 English language wine blogs. (Sadly, mine is not included...)
This being said, 9 major categories of wine blogs were discovered by the analysis of the blogs:
1)Wine reviews (the most popular)
2)Wine & Food
3)Wine Education
1)Wine reviews (the most popular)
2)Wine & Food
3)Wine Education
4)Specific Region
5)Wine & Culture
6)Winery Blog
7)Wine Business
8)Wine-making, viticulture
7)Wine Business
8)Wine-making, viticulture
9)Other
Interestingly enough, 813 different wine brands were mentioned within the 222 blogs. The most cited brands were:
In terms of advertising, only 47% of wine blogs analyzed included advertising. Personally, I thought that the blogs would include more advertising (to generate $, among many reasons) Though I can understand the annoyance of reading a blog plastered in crazy dancing monkeys advertising a new cell phone.
All of these random sample of wine blogs were taken from Vinography: A Wine Blog.
The more popular the blog however, the more public relations professionals for these top mentioned brands should take notice. If the blogs are well-written and thoughtful mullings- then the wineries should even consider sponsoring the bloggers. Depending on the number and range of readers, blogs could be golden untapped resources available for the wine indsutry to track and utilize.
According to the article, "The results of this study illustrate the varying types of wine blogs available to consumers on the Internet, with the most predominant type of blog providing author‐generated wine reviews and rating. In addition, this study shows that there are various types of wine blogs that provide useful information ranging from educational to entertainment."
So as public relations professionals, keep on viewing and monitoring blogs. What people have to say always DOES matter!!
On a side note, HAPPY HALLOWEEN to my fellow bloggers & readers.
Go grab a bottle of Vampire Wine at your local package store, I can guarantee that the wine is quite delicious!
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