So, as the whole wine club thing increased in popularity, or at least became more mainstream one of the most important jobs any of us had, was to increase the size of our email lists. I grew mine to about 5k at one point, largely through simple opt in’s on my website.
Want to know who already had a massive email list AND declining revenue? Newspapers and other media companies.
From the New York Times, to the Wall Street Journal, to Martha Stewart and even Turner Classic Movies….all opened wine clubs largely backed by their gigantic email lists.
So the full disclosure, I came close to being the wine behind one of these type of clubs, so when I write about newspaper wine clubs, I’ll be largely focused not on the marketing arm…..but instead on who is actually fulfilling and picking the wine.
Do I LOVE this model? Not really. Too often, this is just going to be a spreadsheet number for a big corporation. But, I think especially some of the niche stuff could be fun. A classic movie that is tied to a wine and a recipe for Turner Classic Movies? Sounds fun.
Just a random ass case of wine with a newspaper logo on the top? Yeah, not as exciting.