A few weeks ago, I posted an article introducing Enolytics, a new startup dedicated to bringing the power of big data to the wine industry. I wrote about big data as "the wine industry's elephant in the room," when massive amounts of data are generated, by-products of smart technologies like mobile apps and CRMs, but go untapped and un-analyzed in favor of more traditional qualitative methods of research like surveys and polls.
Surveys and polls have their place, without a doubt, in research about the wine industry. What surprised me, in my years of writing about the business of wine, was how infrequently the tools of quantitative analysis are used to derive insights and learnings from the mountains of data records at our disposal. If other industries, from manufacturing to financial services to healthcare, could benefit from big data, then why couldn't wine?
The answer is simple. Wine could, of course, benefit from analyzing its data, and today Enolytics releases its first report that demonstrates how.
The subject of the report is, "When is Wine O'Clock, and Why Should the Industry Care?" That is, what is the optimal time for wine businesses to reach consumers? When are wine consumers contextually primed to engage with wine content, and how can wine businesses put that information to use?
Hello Vino, the mobile wine recommendation app, was Enolytics' first data partner. Their mountain of data, with more than two million records, provided ample quantitative opportunity to dig into consumer behavior about the when of wine engagement as well as the where (thanks to geolocation tags) and the what (whether they're searching for food pairings or journaling a wine recommendation or searching by flavor).
We were surprised by what we learned. Hello Vino was too, we think.
Here's the thing. This first report worked with one partner, to ask one question, of one sample data set, recorded over the course of one calendar year. It's a modest beginning, which leads to a classic tip-of-the-iceberg scenario. Imagine what else will be revealed, once we aggregate additional data sources and piece together a truly unprecedented picture of wine consumer behavior.
There is a lot to learn. A lot of questions to ask. A lot of data to mine. And plenty more surprises, we're sure.
Like this: as I gathered responses to the announcement of Enolytics, I was surprised by what I heard. I was surprised to learn just how often some wine businesses mine their data, because I hadn't realized how smartly, and how deeply, some companies are utilizing the data they collect.
Tiny wineries are using data to prospect for new customers in markets where they already show a strong DTC presence. Larger, internet-driven wine companies are employing data scientists to run not only their sales and marketing organizations more efficiently, but their operations as well. Financial services companies are constantly vetting data analysts for their portfolio of winery clients. And distributors are drawn to the power of segmenting data by market -- one of the real strengths of analytical tools -- in order to reach sales outlets more effectively.
And and and. (Another tip of another iceberg.)
Today is the launch of Enolytics but Enolytics, I've come to understand, is joining a wave of momentum that's already moving forward. It's an exciting time, for wine, for data, and for the power of business intelligence.
Cathy Huyghe is the author of Hungry for Wine: Seeing the World through the Lens of a Wine Glass. Find her online at cathyhuyghe.com and, now, at enolytics.com as well.
