The Internet marketing strategy of French wine producers from Languedoc-Roussillon region

Abstract

The structural changes in the global wine markets have created new challenges and opportunities for small wine producers. Forced to adopt an innovative marketing approach which offers enhanced consumer experience and value, many producers have implemented a combination of direct distribution, relationship marketing and wine tourism in order to develop a positive brand reputation and to become quality niche leaders. The development of the Internet has provided an unique possibility to combine and integrate these modern marketing techniques in a complex value proposition. Using this framework of analysis, this study attempts to identify and discuss the features used in the web sites of the French wine producers from the Languedoc-Roussillon region in order to improve the efficiency of combined marketing techniques. Based on the primary data collected through the survey of 102 web sites, the paper analyses the online marketing approach adopted by the small French wine producers, and proposes a synthetic model of value co-creation which integrates the complex interaction between the producer and the customer in the online environment.