Direct marketing channels in the French wine industry

Purpose – The paper's objective is to investigate the relation between direct and indirect marketing channels applied by French wine producers, and to identify the elements that can enhance the success of direct distribution methods. Design/methodology/approach – Secondary data collected though a questionnaire survey, and published in a study of Viniflhor was analysed in order to identify the distribution channels used by French wine producers. In the second part of the study, primary qualitative data obtained through face‐to‐face interviews with 17 wine producers was used to explore their direct marketing approach. Findings – The findings indicated that French wine producers use a large variety of both direct and indirect marketing channels, although the importance of these distribution methods varies with the size of the producer (defined in terms of vineyard area and wine production). An integrated distribution strategy is applied by more than a half of the respondents. Although the strategic planning process is applied informally and intuitively, a series of innovative elements are combined in order to enhance the value of the product offer and to develop long‐term relationships with satisfied customers. Research limitations/implications – The low response rate obtained in the application of data collection methods raises questions regarding the possibility to generalize the findings to the entire population of study. Originality/value – The paper applies a three layer analysis to the situation of the French wine producers from various regions, creatively combining focused investigation with an integrative perspective.