We all know the effect of supply and demand on pricing. If something is in short supply you expect to pay more. If something is in great demand, you expect to pay more.

If there is great demand and very short supply – you will certainly pay more and I could say that item is scarce.

Fair enough.

But can you create scarcity? I think yes and here is how.

Step One: Get a Big List. The first step to create scarcity is to have a big audience. You need to have more people wanting your vintage. Let’s say you do a 2800 case run of wine.

You use distributors, ship from your web site and have pretty good restaurant demand. Each year you expect that batch to just about sell out. If you have a great year and the product is very strong you’ll sell through faster or if you work it really hard you can promote that vintage.

If you have 200 names on your email list, you can send out 200 emails pre-selling this release. You’ll get some calls and some orders. Let’s say 1% order from your email you can expect 2 orders. Not enough to really make a difference.

What if your list was 2000 names? That is 20 orders. A bit of an improvement.

What if your list is 20,000 names? That is 200 orders. That could make a big difference in a year.

20,000 people are more responsive than a list of 200. Enough said. This helps to create demand.

Step Two: Tell Why It is Scarce. Here are two ways to approach this. First, send an email and announce the 2004 Pinot Noir is coming soon. Send this to your list.
Make sure you have a great visual of the bottle in your announcement.

Or.

Prepare your list by sending an email with two components to it. One is an excellent description of the release. Make the reader visualize how great it will be.

Then you can tell one of two kinds of stories. One about how this is an insiders list and they will get a head start on your print list or general advertising. This makes your recipient more interested in taking action lest they miss the vintage because your print list or general advertising will sell it out.

A different message is to tell that this is a large list. You can say its 20,000 names and that last time you sent a pre-sale offer this good out to them, it sold out in 72 hours. (I believe this has to be true to say it. Never tell a story that is not true. It isn’t a viable long term marketing strategy.)

You then create a demand for a release that you can then send a follow up email telling of how this release sold out . . . but you will make it up to them with another special offer.

Maybe free shipping or 10% price reduction on another item.

There is no doubt that this two email strategy will generate more demand and sales than a simple release notice that I see so many wineries send out.

In winery marketing like in many things, perception is reality.