jamie goode's wine blog: Meeting Jason Korman, the Stormhoek dude

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Meeting Jason Korman, the Stormhoek dude

Had a really interesting conversation yesterday evening with Jason Korman, who is one of the dudes who devised the Stormhoek wine brand, with its emphasis on making use of novel 'Web 2.0' marketing. It was Jason who linked Stormhoek up with leading blogger Hugh MacLeod, whose cartoons (example, right) have since become firmly established with the Stormhoek brand. Together, they adopted initiatives such as sending free bottles to 85 leading tech bloggers, and then a well publicized 40% offer with Thresher that went 'viral'.

But then things went a bit 'sideways' with Stormhoek as they ran out of money (cashflow issues) and went into administration. The brand was bought by Origin Wines, and now they are back in business, with Jason and Hugh on board once again.

Our discussion this evening was wide-ranging and provocative. I learned great deal: Jason is an entrepreneurial guy who has some interesting ideas about how to sell wine and engage consumers. It's really helpful to be exposed to fresh thinking like this. I came away thinking 'why not?'

Labels: ,

2 Comments:

At 12:29 AM, Anonymous Gavin said...

It's an interesting case study. I think in the end they were let down by the quality of the wine. Let's face it, it aint up to much.

They've written the book on Web 2.0 wine marketing and the US is leading the way - helped by the fact that the tech community is in California.

I'm working on an interesting venture at the moment that will put this approach to the test here.

It says something when the most progressive online brand in the UK is also the oldest and most venerable - Berry Bros.

Love the blog by the way.

Gavin
http://wineoftheweek.co.uk

 
At 12:08 PM, Blogger Cat said...

Gavin, it's strange that Bernard is selling 500 000 cases of Stormhoek here in the UK - the wine can't be "that bad"......

 

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home