We continue to talk about people whose work is related to wine and wine culture. Before that, we wrote about, and today we’ll talk about a rather rare in our country, but very interesting profession- brand ambassador.
Brand ambassador, speaking more plain language, this is the official representative, "ambassador" of a brand. Many brands have brand ambassadors fashion clothes, watches, jewelry and other goods. Naturally, there are official representatives of wine brands. These are people whose task is to present the brand in a positive light, to make it known, recognizable and, ultimately, popular with customers.
Being an official representative of a wine brand is prestigious and financially beneficial, but quite difficult. A brand ambassador must be a specialist in several areas, have a certain set of personal qualities and even external data - only then can he be considered a successful brand representative, really contributing to the popularity and growth in sales of the drink.
Key Responsibilities of a Wine Brand Ambassador
Participation in events organized by the company that owns the brand or other companies where the advertised product can be presented. Conducting lectures, presentations, tastings, trainings for sommeliers, cavists, bartenders, managers and other professionals working with promoted wine. Not always, but often - work with trading networks and distributors. A brand ambassador can be a link between a wine producer and its distributors and perform the duties of a marketer.
Skills and Skills of a Brand Ambassador
- First of all, this person must know about the wine, the “face” of which he is, literally everything: the history of creation, how and where it is produced, where it is sold, at what temperature to serve, what dishes it suits - in a word, the brand ambassador must know the answer to any question about the product he is promoting. Moreover, he should know as much as possible not only about “his” brand, but also about similar products. The fact is that the ambassador cannot avoid questions about other wines or, for example, cognacs of the same manufacturer that owns the promoted brand. And if he cannot answer the question even about a “non-core” product, this can spoil the impression about him personally, and therefore about the brand.
- Knowledge of wine etiquette and serving. A brand ambassador should be ready, if necessary, to conduct an impeccable wine tasting, to properly serve the promoted wine.
- Knowledge of marketing techniques and strategies. A brand ambassador does not always develop a product promotion strategy by himself, but in any case he must know and understand it, know the company's goals and contribute to their achievement.
- Excellent command of oratory. The most important task brand ambassador - to make a good impression, to get people interested in promoted wine; make the product memorable and make you want to buy it. Without oratory skills, this is hardly possible.
- A huge plus is the knowledge of one or more foreign languages. This is not only an opportunity to bring more people to blame, but also an opportunity to connect with foreign colleagues and wine producers, to improve their professional level.
Personal qualities important for a brand ambassador
Qualities necessary for working with people: sociability, openness, sense of humor, psychological stability. It is important to be able to establish and maintain connections - a wide range of business and friendly contacts can be very useful for a brand ambassador. It is very important to be tactful: to be able to “get around” an unfortunate question, to let the participants of the event feel free, to unobtrusively hand over business cards and souvenirs with brand symbols.
Charm, artistry, visual appeal. A brand ambassador is not required to be a dazzling handsome man or a beauty, but stylish and tastefully chosen clothes and hairstyle, good skin, a white-toothed smile and impeccable manners are a must. A brand ambassador is the person with whom the wine will be associated. Naturally, associations should only be pleasant.
Endurance. A brand ambassador has to participate in events taking place in different cities and even countries, that is, a significant part of his work is related to traveling. Hotels, flights, jet lag, irregular working hours, participation in parties that sometimes take place long after midnight - a brand ambassador must be ready for all this.
Two more important nuances of the profession
First, a brand ambassador should promote the brand, not themselves. It’s good if the brand ambassador is remembered and invited to another event, or offered to come to the office and discuss the possibility of buying wine. But if the visitors of the tasting or presentation remember only the ambassador, but not the wine he represents, this is bad and means that the brand ambassador cannot cope with his work.
Of course, one can recall many examples when the ambassadors of various brands are celebrities, but this is a completely different matter. The celebrity already has a certain image that has developed in the mass consciousness, and the brand promoted by the celebrity also begins to be associated with this image. If the wine brand ambassador is not a celebrity, then he should try to make the wine famous first of all, and not himself.
Secondly, it is highly desirable that the brand ambassador shares his philosophy, loves both the promoted wine and his work. When a person sincerely loves what he does, when he believes that he offers people a really great drink - it is always felt, and is always a huge advantage in brand promotion.
How to become a wine brand ambassador
Love wine, be interested in wine culture, preferably work in a wine-related environment. Companies often show interest in a good professional sommelier, cavist, taster, marketer and offer the position of an ambassador. For example, Jordan Andrieu, brand ambassador for Taittinger champagne, owner of a wine and delicatessen shop and bar, vineyard manager in France, specialist in oenology, a very famous person in the world of wine. Professional sommeliers are well-known Russian brand ambassadors Vitaly Gorbenko and Natalia Kosenko. Vitaliy is a former chief sommelier of the Abrau-Durso Wine Tourism Center, and now not only a sommelier, but also a brand ambassador of this brand. Natalia is the chef sommelier of the St. Petersburg restaurant "Makaronniki", the brand ambassador of the wine trading company L-wine.
If you are not professionally associated with wine, but have a desire to be an ambassador of a wine brand, then you can go the other way: become the author of a popular wine blog, often attend tastings and presentations, show yourself as a connoisseur of the drink. The likelihood that you will be noticed and offered cooperation is quite high. For example, wine critic, expert and editor-in-chief of the Russian Buyer's Wine Guide Dmitry Fedotov is the Gambero Rosso brand ambassador; popular wine blogger, critic and expert Denis Rudenko is the brand ambassador of Valdepeñas wineries.
As a last resort, you can try to contact the companies directly - however, it is advisable to prepare a resume in advance that characterizes you as a connoisseur of wines of a particular brand and the wine industry as a whole. There is a demand for representatives of wine brands, and a promising specialist has a high chance of realizing his desire to become a brand ambassador.
Last week we started a story about the options for cooperation with the brand and today we will continue this topic.
Press tour
Brands turn to bloggers when they want to draw attention to a place or product. This type of cooperation is based on the principle of barter: the brand organizes an interesting program for a blogger / group of bloggers, who, in turn, write or film objective reviews about this event on their blog.
A press tour for a blogger, contrary to popular belief, is not a vacation, but a way to get exclusive material and information occasion for a blog. Most often, press tours are organized by hotels, resorts, and even regional authorities (depending on the level of the blogger and the format of his platform), but organizers of exhibitions, festivals, seminars, manufacturers of equipment or beauty products also contact opinion leaders.
For many bloggers, blog monetization starts with banner ads. This is the easiest way that requires minimal body movements from the blogger. At the initial level, you can agree on pay-per-clicks, but more advanced bloggers charge a fixed price for placement depending on the place (site header, right or bottom of the page).
The theme of the banners is up to the blogger: some are attentive to everything that appears on their page, agreeing only to advertising messages that match the theme of the blog, while others will be happy with any suggestions.
Ambassador (ambassador) of the company
An ambassador is a person respected in the professional environment, whose opinion is listened to by the target audience of the brand. As a rule, company ambassadors are chosen from among reputable specialists, that is, people who are well versed in the topic and fully share the brand's values.
The brand ambassador has a responsible mission: to promote the company's values to the masses, participate in events on behalf of the brand, use this product or often mention it, organize seminars, communicate with consumers on the brand's social networks.
Previously, only premium-segment companies, whose ambassadors were celebrities, turned to ambassadors. Now this tool is actively used by brands of the mass market plus segment and they select well-known bloggers as ambassadors.
Branding
Branding is a rather expensive service, which is also provided by few bloggers. Imagine that you go to your site, and instead of the usual design, there is a logo or corporate brand symbols on the background of the blog. It turns out that every reader, entering the blog, sees the images of the brand, without even clicking on the links. For a brand, this is an effective image tool, provided that the blog is visited by several hundred thousand people a week. For a blogger, this is not only a cost-effective offer, but also an additional responsibility to readers, because many of them will want to know why the design of the blog has suddenly changed.
Test Drive
Car dealers are also actively attracting bloggers to promote new car models. This option of cooperation may be of interest to bloggers who write at least in some form about cars (then they will have material for the blog), photo bloggers or car enthusiasts who will be pleased to drive a car and write about it at the same time.
A test drive often does not involve payment, that is, it is based on the same barter (post in exchange for impressions), but the trips take place in different countries and sometimes they represent a whole trip by car, the costs of which are covered by the organizer. But a lot is also required from a blogger: think over the script in advance, find unusual places for shooting, take care of safety, and remember that you need to return the car clean and with a full tank.
Choosing for yourself possible options cooperation with brands, remember that this is not a closed list and in each case you can come up with something unique. Advertising on blogs makes them more interesting and useful if what you are promoting appeals to you, fits into the blog format and can be useful to your readers.
Photo source: notyourstandard.com
August 18, 2018, 05:18 
Ambassador, friends of the House...
If at these words you, like me, have a certain tear in your head and for some reason a cup of coffee and the Godfather come to mind ..
Then this post is exclusively for you (well, for me a little too).
We'll figure out.
What it is?
Brand Ambassador(in Russian sometimes also use " brand ambassador" or " brand ambassador") is a person hired by an organization or company to present a brand in a positive light and thereby help increase brand awareness and increase sales.
The concept of “brand ambassador” has just recently begun to enter into the everyday life of Russian PR and marketers, while Western and European companies have long been using these mechanics to their full potential in their marketing activities.
On Russian market this trend has just begun to take its first, uncertain steps, and the first to climb into the embrasure are large international brands represented in Russia.
For example, Reebok has announced popular rapper Oxxxymiron as its ambassador.
These people may not be familiar to you personally, but believe me - they are the idols of millions of people who are the target audience of these brands and on whom these brands have decided to have a marketing impact.
Brand ambassador mission
Any self-respecting brand has corporate mission, its philosophy, values and other components of a highly spiritual personality-company. Thus, the brand automatically finds itself a similar in spirit loyal and ... target audience, which sees similarities in their views with the company. Due to this intersection, the audience's loyalty to the brand increases, it grows as a level of sales and, no less important, it becomes possible to turn this target audience into direct followers of the brand (albeit on a smaller scale), who will preach the company's principles to their friends and relatives.
To carry these same mission, values and philosophy to the masses only through the texts on the site and products is not so effective just because such a message remains impersonal and not alive for the reader. Another thing is a specific person (even not necessarily well-known), who just “breathes” with everything that was so carefully laid into the values of the company by the founders and skillful hands marketing departments.
Consider the same example, Oxxxymiron's ambassadors with Reebok. The mission of both of them is to promote urban culture to the masses, something new and special.
As part of this, close cooperation is planned between the brand and its representative: hidden and open promotion of products and Reebok brand among the huge crowd of fans of the artist (numbering about 3 million fans who want to be like their idol), as well as joint activities (collaborations) on the release of a limited series of sneakers for target audience.
Thus, the main goal and thought that should run like a red thread through all the actions and behavior of the ambassador is to bring to his fans the values, philosophy and, of course, the products or services of the brand with which he works. And this happens most effectively when the principles and values of the individual and the brand coincide as much as possible.
Relationship between ambassador and brand
Ambassadorship is, first of all, absolutely exclusive cooperation on both sides - the company entrusts a responsible role to a single representative, and the representative does not have the right to agree to a similar status for any other brands (even from another industry). And, as a rule, the brand ambassador is not on the staff of the company and does not participate in any way in operational processes and decision-making.
However, a formal contract is still concluded with the ambassador, fixing the rights and obligations on both sides. Including, the rules of behavior of the ambassador in front of the press, on the Internet, answers to the most popular questions and other subtleties related to the public life of the representative. The company, in turn, subscribes to bonuses, benefits and other compensation in favor of the ambassador.
Advantages and disadvantages for business
It is important to understand that the ambassador has a great responsibility to the brand, primarily for the reputation of the latter.
Being the prism through which the company brings its values to people, it can also become a catalyst for black PR, the consequences of which may not be easy to level out.
Scandalous events are always good for the growth of the popularity of individual characters, but if the ambassador is caught using a competitor’s product, or, even worse, committing any criminal acts, the company will surely lose part of its audience and, accordingly, profits.
Therefore, it is necessary to pay great attention to the reputation and responsibility of the person who will take on such an important role.
Where to find and how to choose an ambassador?
The surest way is to start from the existing audience and try to understand its interests: who do they consider to be their authority, who is revered and respected?
The brand ambassador should be an example for them. As a rule, these are well-known popular personalities - musicians, singers, actors, models.
How Western companies choose ambassadors
European and American companies have been actively using ambassadorship for about 10 years. IN Lately they are creative in the selection of bloggers and are not afraid of experiments.
Case: Non-standard choice of a fashion blogger for the role of an ambassador
For example, blogger Anna O’Brien has become the brand ambassador for Academy Sports and Outdoors this year. The company produces clothing for sports and tourism, but chose a woman weighing ... 150 kg as its representative in social networks! A bold, but at the same time logical and justified decision - Anna will represent the BCG Plus clothing line, designed specifically for large women.
In the video, Anna dances easily and unexpectedly (for her figure) plastically.
She is wearing clothes from Akademi, and in the description there is a link to the account of the company itself. Coverage - 345 thousand subscribers. There are many overweight women among the subscribers, for whom Anna is an example of a relaxed and ironic attitude to her weight. Original, creative presentation of advertising information by a blogger.
The company, of course, does not disclose the results of cooperation with the blogger. But, I think, the company managed to find a very successful advertising solution. The competent choice of the blogger, the exact hit in the target audience, and the nativeness of the advertising format played a role in the success.
It is important that Anna's statements coincide with the positioning of the company itself, they sound in unison with the mission of the brand and its general concept. This strengthens the position of the company - now brand mentions are perceived not as paid advertising, but as the position of the blogger himself.
“I have spent 25 years waiting for the moment when I can become active. Now I will spend another 25 years helping people of all sizes. And I will show them the benefits of movement. The emergence of special sportswear for fat people is a big step to help those who are overweight become more active.”
Case: How to use blogger's creative not only in social networks
American menswear brand Brooks Brothers found no less interesting option promotion. His ambassador was the popular Instagram blogger Mike Mellia, who became famous for his famous "looped videos". In these videos (actually gifs), Mike posts a static picture with a single moving element: a fire is burning in the fireplace, a book is being flipped, a tennis racket is spinning. Such videos attract the eye, hold attention well. In addition, they look great on digital signage, which is what the firm used to conduct an advertising campaign in New York.
In the video, Mike pets a sheep wearing a Brooks Brothers sweater.
The sheep here is a symbol, an emotional anchor, which, like the company's woolen sweaters, is associated with softness, comfort and warmth. The number of Instagram subscribers from Mike is small, only about 3 thousand, but the audience of Mellia's account and personal website was the target audience for Brooks Brothers both in composition and geographically. The company deliberately chose a small but very precisely positioned account. Adding to this offline advertising on electronic information displays on the streets of New York, Brooks Brothers expanded its reach and significantly increased brand awareness.
A non-standard move, a clearly consistent style, the ability to use other digital channels are the components of the success of this unusual advertising campaign. Apparently, the brand was pleased with the results.
How they work with ambassadors Russian brands
But we also come across some very unexpected solutions.
Case: The choice of an ambassador is, first of all, the choice of his audience
For example Nike.
One of the most outrageous and creative Instagram and YouTube bloggers, St. Petersburg fairy Lena Sheidlina, was chosen as the face of Nike in Russia.
Perhaps we, gossips, will remember her from this recent photo from Shnur's Instagram
The company's marketers undoubtedly did a very serious preparatory work. We studied the structure of subscribers of various accounts, the subject and positioning of bloggers, style, the coincidence of the blogger's audience with the planned target audience.
In the video, Lena runs around the city in Nike gear.
The video is looped and scrolls endlessly. It is made in characteristic style, filled with allegories, subtexts. The audio track, by the way, was written specifically for the clip. As a result - 3 million views. Even constant references to Nike do not spoil the impressions from the video. Please note: here, too, the blogger’s statements coincide with the brand’s position, complement it and enrich it. This greatly enhances the effect of emotional impact on the audience.
“Now I am fulfilling my dream and learning to run again. I've been running with a professional trainer for a month now and now I'm running several kilometers calmly! I don't want to justify myself, it's time to break laziness and stereotypes"
As in the case of Mike Mellia, the work of the blogger-ambassador was not limited to social networks. Lena Sheidlina took part in the opening of the Nike store in Moscow and the store was decorated with banners and posters with her photos.
After these photos appeared on social networks, many of Lena's fans were eager to visit the store to see these installations live. As a result, the brand received a high-quality involvement of a young, active, mobile audience in the orbit of its interests.
Conclusion
Of course, a brand ambassador is a very powerful tool for building communication directly with your audience. It is extremely important to use it correctly and responsibly approach the choice of a person who will broadcast the philosophy of your brand, because it is thanks to them that large and not so large companies are increasingly beginning to acquire human properties and traits, becoming even closer to their own. potential buyers and target audience.
Choosing a representative for this purpose is a complex and extraordinary task. It is necessary to take into account the structure of its audience, the personality of the person himself, the message that the brand wants to convey and other factors.
On this moment Maison Christian Dior launched the "Perfume Connoisseurs" campaign.
As the name suggests, Dior ambassadors and muses talk about their favorite fragrances.
A total of nine videos were released, including those with Lou Doillon, Charlotte Le Bon and Sophie Vuzlo.
9 close friends of the house of Dior in Russia also took part in the filming. Among them are Yana Rudkovskaya, Renata Litvinova, Snezhana Georgieva, Polina Kitsenko, Natalia Osmann and Svetlana Ustinova.
A real ambassador is a person who leads a socially active life and whose opinion is listened to. This is a person who brings the values of a certain brand to the world.
You can become an ambassador if you sign a contract with a manufacturer. Brand management selects a person for this position according to various criteria. Here, an ambassador is a person who is passionate about the values of the company and can fully work as its special distributor.
Ambassador: simple about the complex
Modern Ambassador in simple terms is the official face of the company. He draws maximum attention to the brand, holds conferences in honor of the release of a new product, talks about the brand to his surroundings.The brand ambassador must use the brand's products himself. He must appreciate the brand's products, advertise them. The idea of a brand should captivate him and correspond to his interests. After all, the target audience of the person chosen by the ambassador automatically becomes the audience of the company.
Which companies attract ambassadors?
Previously, only luxury brands could afford to hire a company person. Usually, the choice fell on a celebrity or model.Today, consumer goods companies also have their own ambassadors. They are socialites, popular bloggers or people who actively use the brand's products.
What criteria are used to select brand ambassadors?
Any brand ambassador should have the following skills and qualities:- To be known in certain circles;
- Use the brand's products;
- Possess the skills of a good speaker;
- Have an attractive appearance;
- Know everything about the advertised product;
- Be able to present products and brand idea in a favorable light;
- Have a high need for communication;
- Have an understanding of marketing and presentation.
Ambassadors help shape public opinion around a company's product. Over time, they themselves become living "logos" of the company.
Being an ambassador is a big responsibility and constant public attention. The person who plays this role cannot be involved in scandals. His decent behavior is no less important than his professional quality. There are cases when, after the loss of a good reputation, people lost their contract with the brand.
Today, married couples are also becoming brand ambassadors. Athletes, TV presenters, coaches and even doctors can work as ambassadors. The main thing is that the personality of the ambassador and his lifestyle do not contradict the values of the company.
Brand and ambassador: cooperation agreement
Ambassadors, as a rule, are not enrolled in the staff of the company; they conclude exclusive contracts with them. Mandatory item in such an agreement it is prescribed that the ambassador works with this particular brand, and does not provide similar services to other companies.
The contract also specifies the rights and obligations of the parties. It takes into account bonuses, payment, working hours and other subtleties of cooperation. And there are usually a lot of them.
Advantages and disadvantages of attracting an ambassador
The brand ambassador communicates the values of the company to the audience. And if he commits an offense, uses similar products of another brand, or gets involved in a scandal, then the brand will suffer significant losses and the company's reputation will be damaged. This can be attributed to the disadvantages of attracting a brand ambassador.The advantages of working with the face of the company are that when signing a contract with a famous person, the brand automatically receives the loyalty of his fans. In addition, the ambassador is able to provide maximum feedback With potential clients brand.
Famous Ambassadors
The Chanel brand has had several bright and non-trivial ambassadors throughout its history. So in 2016, the daughter of Will Smith became the brand ambassador. And her perky dreadlocks on her head did not prevent her from being a representative of the most sophisticated brand.
IN different time the choice of the head of "Chanel" Karl Lagerfeld fell on such stars as:
- Nicole Kidman;
- Diane Kruger;
- Marilyn Monroe;
- Blake Lively.
Using the example of the history of a well-known brand, one can also understand what the ambassador risks if his behavior discredits the brand's reputation. So Kate Moss did not stay long as the ambassador of Chanel. Due to the cocaine scandal, in the center of which was the model, after three years of cooperation, the contract with her was terminated.
But her successor Keira Knightley did an excellent job with her duties. Later, Karl chose Vanessa Paradis for the role of ambassador, and years later, her daughter Lily-Rose Depp.
Christine Stewart was also among the ambassadors of Chanel. All brand ambassadors have one thing in common: they are a bit like the creator of the brand, Coco Chanel.
The well-known automobile company Jaguar is collaborating with Benedict Cumberbatch. The actor has starred in commercials brand, and also directly declared his love for the cars of this brand.
Adidas has worked with Beckham, Pogba and Messi at various times. For quite a long time, it was football players who were chosen for the role of brand ambassadors.
In the marketing environment, there is such a position as an ambassador-driver. Even taxi companies want to have their own representatives. In addition to the generally accepted requirements for company ambassadors, such drivers must have an impeccable driving experience, as well as promote their company by actively communicating with customers.
Conclusion
Today, an ambassador is a person who in his own way represents the culture of a single brand. A modern ambassador has the right to cooperate with only one brand; working contacts with other companies are not desirable for such a person.The position of an ambassador involves a lot of responsibility and discipline. But, in general, this position is quite interesting, prestigious and attractive.
Question for readers
What brand ambassador would you like to become if given the opportunity? Ambassador (brand ambassador, brand ambassador) in marketing is a brand ambassador, messenger, a leading official representative of the brand's interests among the target audience.Ambassador– a well-known, popular and authoritative person among the target group.
The task and function of the ambassador is the representation of interests and protection of the interests of the brand it represents, the promotion of the brand name, its ideas.
The Ambassador, in relation to the brand, has a number of rights and obligations stipulated by the contract. So the main right of the ambassador is the right to speak on behalf of the brand and enjoy the privileges stipulated by the contract. Among the main responsibilities: participation in promotion programs, public activities in the interests of the brand, one or another participation in numerous events organized on behalf of the brand.
Such phenomena as brand ambassador distributed widely in premium and luxury segments. However, companies in other price segments often use ambassadors to contact the target audience. Such a popular promotion mechanism as "word of mouth" uses brand ambassadors - people who independently and with deep knowledge, talk about the brand wherever they are and actively promote the brand.
In FMCG and HoReCa, the brand ambassador organizes seminars for dealer and distributor managers; master classes for active representatives of the consumer community; acts as an expert, speaker and brand communicator in the media and social networks.
In B2B, FMCG, in commercial medicine, the fashion industry and in other segments, the role of a brand ambassador is a certain specially hired specialist who is famous and respected among the target audience, often having a scientific degree. Such a specialist organizes presentations, round tables, seminars, etc. for leading clients sales representatives, sales consultants, etc. Tasks of this brand ambassador:
- share experience, practice of using brand products;
- form an opinion about the product;
- organize a professional community around you;
- lobby for the brand.
