Artisan Public Relations: How to Get Your Artisinal Food and Beverage Creation the Attention They Deserve

Over the past twenty-five years, the world of artisan food and beverages has evolved from a few interesting point-of-sale items to huge sponsorships of everything from the Academy Awards and NASCAR to breast cancer research and public television. It used to be that a nice press kit and a smiling face could usually get you some coverage. Now we see celebrity chefs, podcasts, and concert tour logistics have all become part of the package. Artisan food and beverage has become big business, and at least some of the public relations programs have grown up alongside the industry. But for most producers, the challenges still remain, as they do for all small businesses: you don't have the dollars to compete on a national scale, and your only hope for success in the world of public relations is to be more costs effective, more targeted, and smarter than their competition. From wine producers and brewers to bakers and breakfast bar makers, smart, effective, and focused are the bywords of success. Making sure that's how you approach your public relations effort is what this book is all about.

Paul Wagner formed Balzac Communications & Marketing in 1991. He co-authored the book Wine Marketing & Sales, Strategies for a Saturated Market, which won the Gourmand International Award in 2008. He was a columnist for Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine for ten years and served on the board of directors of the Society of Wine Educators for many years. Wagner is a founding member of the Academy of Wine Communications, a member of the nominations committee of the Culinary Institute of America’s Vintner’s Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Spadarini della Castellania di Soave in 2005. In 2009 he was honored with a ＂Life Dedicated to Wine＂ award at the Feria Nacional del Vino in Spain.