As the newly crowned NCAA basketball national champions make their media rounds, you might think that NIL is just about athletes getting paid to play. But NIL is a legal concept that encompasses an individual's right of publicity and allows all individuals, not just student-athletes, to control and profit from the commercial use of their identity NIL, short for Name, Image, and Likeness, has grown far beyond endorsement deals for athletes. It’s about the core pieces of your identity: your name, your face, your voice, and the ways you present yourself to the world. In a digital world where anyone can build an audience (or be impersonated by AI), those things have real value for everyone. On March 26, 2026, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched a new resource page that centralizes guidance on navigating name, image, and likeness in connection with trademarks and related intellectual property issues. This is a helpful first stop for understanding how branding an

Two years ago, I wrote an article on AI in the vineyard for WBM. Feel free to read that article here…if you want. Otherwise, my basic argument was that although AI will eventually play a role in how we farm grapes, it’s a long way off compared to other industries and even other crops. We who grow grapes are the last ones to see such innovation. And since then, AI has grown exponentially. If two years ago you were playing around with Chat GPT to create bizarrely distorted images and learn about tax loopholes, you can now go onto the likes of Claude and have it just create a website for you from a single prompt. Chatbots like this have essentially eliminated the need for entry-level coders. However Claude is a computer, so it makes sense that it’s gotten very good at writing code for other computers. Similarly Chat GPT has digested the entire internet, and curates any answer for you by plucking it from its vast network of information. Sometimes its correct, and other t

Ten Ways Wineries Can Evolve From Selling Bottles to Creating Experiences That Resonate With a New Generation. If I told you a winery just opened with no vineyard, no winemaker on staff, and no interest in talking about terroir… would you visit? What if I told you it had a silent disco in the barrel room, a drag brunch series, and a 3-month waitlist for a zero-proof pairing menu? Those wineries exist. And they’re thriving. Because for a new generation of visitors, the wine isn’t the reason—it’s the reward. It’s not about what you pour anymore. It’s about how you make people feel. And we used to excel at this. But then we woke up one day… and it wasn’t working like it used to. The same offers stopped converting. The same messages started falling flat. The same visitors didn’t come back. And it’s not because we got worse at what we do. It’s because the customer changed. What they want. How they behave. Where t

The labelling industry has always been at the intersection of engineering excellence and technological innovation. In 2025, advancements in labelling machinery are setting new benchmarks for efficiency, precision, and sustainability. These innovations are designed to meet the growing demands of modern businesses, from high-volume manufacturers to boutique brands looking for custom solutions. Let’s delve deeper into the groundbreaking developments shaping labelling machinery this year. 1. Fully Automated Systems Automation has been a driving force in manufacturing for years, but in 2025, labelling machinery is reaching new levels of sophistication. Fully automated systems, like Impresstik’s Webmaster 2100, offer seamless operation with minimal human intervention. Key features of automated systems: Twin-Roll Feeds: Allow for uninterrupted production by automatically switching rolls without downtime. Self-Diagnostic Tools: Advanced sensors monitor the machine’s performan

Combining the 80/20 rule with key data points from various online sources, wine and spirits brands can identify high-traffic accounts representing the best wine and spirits sales opportunities. Trust the data to guide your sales strategy! There is a perfect correlation between a restaurant or retailer's foot traffic and the amount of wine/spirits it purchases. Thanks to the internet, plenty of data can be mined to pursue the key accounts to target in any market.  Creating a key account target list should not be done “intuitively” or by asking around. By focusing on concrete, empirical data, anyone can identify the richest accounts. This is a fish-where-the-fish-are strategy; the data will tell you exactly where to fish. Understanding the 80/20 Rule in Sales Also known as the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 Rule states that 20% of the accounts will drive 80% of the sales. For this to work correctly, one must focus on the potential an account holds.  The

When I start feeling optimistic, I imagine one or two people might read these blogs, (although I have a sneaking suspicion that they sit out on the internet equivalent of a doctors waiting room table between the large type Reader’s Digest and June 2004 People magazines). But I wouldn’t be able to legitimately pretend to be an industry expert if I didn’t do the obligatory “predictions” blog. I will stick to my lane: Marketing. Because it’s what I know and also there are many other excellent articles out there with overall market predictions. (But, then again, what do I know? My senior thesis at Boston University was an analysis of radio and TV media consumption patterns with the supposition that cable television would never take off because people wouldn’t pay for it.) So, I’ve been wrong. Like, really wrong. But assuming I get lucky sometimes, here are five things I believe will come to pass. 1) GENERATION X WILL DEMAND ATTENTION. We&rsq

DEC 14, 2023 TALKING TO THE QUEEN OF WINE INDUSTRY DIGITAL ENDEAVORS ABOUT HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR SMALL WINERY WEBSITE IN 2024… To round out 2023 on a high note, this week we have an interview with the incredible Susan DeMatei of WineGlass Marketing, talking about how small wineries can maximize their websites in 2024. Susan is the absolute guru when it comes to the unique challenges and opportunities that wineries have in the digital space, and I’m beyond thrilled that she has agreed to talk us. WHAT ARE SOME MISTAKES THAT YOU SEE SMALL WINERIES MAKING ON THEIR WEBSITES? Underestimating the impact of the internet. I get it. As a small winery you’re forced to deal with the fires right in front of you: The machinery that needs fixing, the staff that needs your attention, the utilities that need to get paid and the customers coming to your door. But while you’re doing those very important things, hundreds, if not thousands, of people will see your website this mon

Pulling the lower-the-price lever to gain market share in a highly competitive category such as adult beverages is tempting. But it is not a good idea for all of the following reasons: Erodes profit margins Provides short-term gains at the expense of long-term strategy Reduces ability to invest in innovation Lowers perceived value deterioration Dilutes brand image Puts you in an unsustainable price war Hinders your ability to raise prices later Puts too much pressure on the need to increase the volume So, what should you do instead? We’re so glad you asked! Keep reading. 1) Protect and strengthen your brand equity Brand equity is a brand's value and strength built over time. Preserving brand equity should be your top priority. Every spending decision must be weighed against the potential threat to brand equity.  Another way of thinking about brand equity is “pricing power on the shelf.”  Here are twelve practical ways to strengthen your brand equity: En

OUR FIVE TOP MARKETING PRIORITIES FOR 2024 TACKLE THE NEW YEAR LIKE A BOSS If you’re like most of us, the holiday marketing campaigns are well underway, and you’re now focusing on next year’s budgets and plans. Choosing your marketing priorities for 2024 is a bit like assembling IKEA furniture—you’re looking for simple, clean lines and straightforward instructions. But, you soon realize you are missing some tools to assemble the Järvfjället and wonder if you should have gone with the Ödmjuk instead. So grab your metaphorical Allen wrench, and let’s build a marketing strategy that’s as sturdy as it is stylish, with just the right amount of snarky commentary along the way. 1. KNOW THY CUSTOMER Your customers aren’t generic – they are unique and won’t be won over by vague, generic messages. If you write copy like everyone else and post the same boring stock bottle shots like everyone else, it’s like you&

The deal is part of a new corporate venture capital program launched by Fedrigoni to identify start-ups to accelerate its innovation process and acquire new technologies into the group. SharpEnd was founded in 2015 as the world's first Internet of Things (IoT) agency, with a mission to help brands evolve their products, packaging and customer engagement through connected solutions, leveraging a proprietary SaaS (software as a service) platform, launched in 2019, called io.tt that is now managing billions of touchpoints across packaging and retail. Marco Nespolo, CEO at the Fedrigoni Group: “The world of connected products is increasingly strategic for us, and this deal, strongly synergic with the recent acquisitions of Tageos and the Grenoble R&D Center, will enhance our solutions portfolio in the world of smart labels and papers”.  Milan, 11 January 2024 - The Fedrigoni Group, reference global player in the manufacture of high added value specialty paper