By Chris Deliso
Among the most promising Macedonian industries, when it comes to branding opportunities, is wine (and wine-related tourism opportunities). Macedonia’s long history of winemaking has made it one of the most distinctive and culturally significant aspects of the local economy, though there is clearly much more potential to be tapped in terms of making Macedonian wine more visible on the shelves of foreign supermarkets- and, crucially, in the minds of wine lovers worldwide.
The operative challenges, of course, are shared by other, lesser-known wine-producing countries also afflicted by low international visibility. But the challenge is even more difficult – and more unique – in the case of Macedonia, the very name of which is chronically contested by Greece, with its own province called Macedonia. With wine, as with other objects of economic and ideological production, Greece’s tacit determination to monopolize use of the name has made it even more difficult for Macedonia to compete on an even playing field. The dilemma affects everything from ambiguous Google search results to complex international arbitrations, this unhappy state of affairs is still contributing to Macedonia’s inability to get beyond the initial stages of product branding.
Macedonian vintners and leaders are aware of the need for concerted action to make global wine lovers aware of what everyone who lives in, or visits the country already knows- that Macedonia makes some really good wine. “The government’s policy is to create a national brand for Macedonian wine as ‘Macedonian’, not merely as brands of individual companies,” says Aleksandar Panov, mayor of Kavadarci, one of Macedonia’s major producers of wine. Nevertheless, much remains to be done in terms of public-private sector cooperation. With an abundance of sometimes dueling strategies, leadership uncertainty, and technical and legislative issues, the challenges are numerous.
“Putting Macedonia on the map is the challenge of our generation,” says Jordan Trajkov, CEO of Popova Kula Winery in Demir Kapija. During former Yugoslav times, the majority of Macedonian wines was shipped out in bulk or, when bottled for export, branded as a ‘Yugoslav’ product. Trajkov echoes other local vintners in saying that it’s time for winemakers to work together to develop the brand. One of his ideas – creating a unique-looking bottle that would become instantly recognizable as ‘Macedonian’ – exemplifies the sort of practice by which a strength-in-numbers approach could work.
“Research shows that when shoppers decide to purchase a bottle of wine, their decision-making process is informed by the question: ‘which country is it from?” says Trajkov, who points to the hearty red Vranec varietal as an ideal candidate for building international awareness. “It is thus very important that we build the name-brand recognition of Macedonian wines.”
One difficulty so far has been a lack of know-how in terms of global marketing and branding strategies. It is true that some visionaries, like former banker Trajkov, can speak rapturously of visiting Napa Valley and compare it to plans for Macedonia. Indeed, global viewers witnessed just this during CNN International’s groundbreaking recent segment on Popova Kula. “This exposure resulted in a 300 percent increase in unique visitors to our website in the first week,” he notes. But few Macedonian wineries have reached such levels of sophistication for collecting the relevant data and analyzing what it means for their marketing and branding efforts. Many do not even have websites, let alone staff who can enlighten foreign visitors and customers about their wines in flawless English.
To be sure, industry leaders such as Tikveš – the largest winery in the Balkans – are actively engaged with their marketing and branding activities. Yet it is not necessarily the oldest or largest wineries that are capable of achieving results. For example, Tristo Winery, located in the village of Sujaklari near Veles, is only a few years old and does not even export at present. Yet it has developed a very good reputation among consumers and is consciously shaping its branding efforts to fit its product.
“Our target is for our winery to be famous as a small winery with premium brand wines,” says Uroš Tašev, Tristo’s financial manager. “Our activities for increasing our brand recognition are print campaigns, promotions, face-to-face marketing and the organizing of various events.” The courteous Tašev can be found explaining the intricacies of Tristo’s wines at specially organized tastings at the winery.
For other smaller wineries, branding remains an issue to be tackled, but one within a larger context. Efrem Ristov, general manager of the Negotino-area Disan Hills Winery, notes how difficult it is to get Macedonian winemakers divided by personal interests, political affiliation and differing views to work together. “The question I always asked myself is: how did Chile create a strong brand for itself in only 20 years? How did Australia, California, and the others develop their brand? An important part of the answer is that they all had strong support from their governments.”
Even in a small country like Macedonia, understanding the extent to which official support exists is complicated by numerous factors. Party affiliation can make or break an enterprise, a risk that can partially be mitigated by having the indirect diplomatic “protection” of a foreign investor. Clear leadership and follow-through later down the line are often lacking.
Other factors are more mundane but equally vital. Kavadarci mayor Panov notes that increasing government subventions for crops such as tobacco, as well as chronic failures to pay grape farmers, mean that fewer acres may be devoted to grapes in future. And fewer grapes, he suggests, will mean higher wine prices down the line- as well as the diminishing of an activity that is at the very heart of the history and culture of a whole region.
The mayor notes that Macedonian exporters currently do not have a strong presence on the EU market. “We are trying hard to expand our exports to Russia.” This vast market alone would end the current state of grape “hyper-production” and surplus, says Panov. However, associated costs such as transport are significantly higher than those encountered by neighboring countries like Serbia, which has more advanced relations with Russia. Thus, “our bilateral relations have to improve in the area of customs and transport agreements,” the mayor concludes.
While hoping for such knotty issues to be resolved, Macedonian winemakers must remain determined to focus on their branding activities. “Everything is brilliant (with the government’s recent CNN advertising and segment on Popova Kula),” says Efrem Ristov. “And I would very much like to see Vranec be a Macedonian-branded wine. But who will get the different wineries to work together? Who will give the order, and how will it be coordinated?”
For now, this remains the key underlying question in a small, yet all too often divided country. Fostering a spirit of common action for the common good is always prudent but, when it comes to wine, can be profitable as well.
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This article was originally published in the American-Macedonian Chamber of Commerce’s magazine, Emerging Macedonia, in June 2010.