4/27/2014 Dusan Theodore's Notebook - Microsoft OneNote Web App

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Other examples of strategic alliances
What is a strategic alliance?
What's the difference between the commonly confused joint venture and strategic alliance
Case study - Starbucks and Barnes and Noble
Case study - Something similar to our situation
Our situation: Todovino does online retailing, La Carte de vin does traditional retailing (offline)
Traditional method of business VS New tech based method of business (retail)
Todovino - As a business entity
What do they do?
They educate customers, curate, and retail Spanish wines (exclusively)
How do they do it?
Online: They have reading material about wines
Starter kit for members - Basic tools needed for wine tasting
Offline: They hold exclusive wine tasting events for higher end club members
What is their mission/vision? - What is their ultimate goal?
To educate its customers about wine so that they have an acquired taste for good
(expensive / value added) wines. Ultimately for the purpose of making their customers
purchase good wines offered by the market (including Todovino)
How do they do it? (The important part) (What were the decisions Todovino had to make to make
their business viable) (What does the case discuss)
La Guia Todovino
Similar to the Michelin Guide (very similar even the rating scale)
The significance of the Michelin Guide is that it fits/complements (relatively) the
Michelin company's business. Michelin is a tire company. By creating a foodie
guide, it makes people want to travel to locations where they provide good
food. In the process people must use transportation whether it is private or
public, which stimulates the use of tires. Ultimately this leads to more tire wear,
thus more sales for the tire industry overall.
La Guia Todovino - Wants to become the opinion leader (they want everyone to
look at La Guia Todovino when they want to look up (Spanish) wines. It helps
Todovino build a reputation for their credibility in understanding wines.
Ultimately they're using a pull strategy to make wine producers (vineyard
owners, distributors) want to publish their wines on the magazine. (Actually
being listed in the guide will give their brand a certain prestige) This will help
Todovino host events, especially prestigious and exclusive ones for higher profit
margins. It's different from other magazines where they don't have
advertisements - reinforces in building credibility (very important in exclusive,
prestige markets)
Wine Clubs
What are wine clubs?
Wine clubs are designed to provide customers with a series of wine bottles on a
monthly or quarterly basis that they would otherwise have to find and purchase
on their own. Wine clubs often behave in a themed manner, providing
recipients with red wines, white wines, or a mixture of the two. Wine clubs are
most frequently offered by vineyards or specialty wine shops, but they can also
be found as independent bodies.
Todovino
Reader's Circle
Canal Cochina (Kitchen Channel)
Bankinter
Hoyvino (ABC)
Explora
These are offline locations where they can purchase wines or get wines
delivered to their homes
Benefits are that they aren't bounded by retail territories in comparison to
traditional wine distributors
Example - Walmart
Customer Experience
They hold exclusive events for their high end customers
La Cata de los Lacres
Event for customers that are willing to pay money to taste good wines
and have a good experience
Media Partnerships
Todovino makes several media partnerships. The relationship is a win/win because
for
Todovino: They can get a higher reach for acquiring new customers
Media channels: They get free contents to fill in their inventory (empty spaces)
Ronda Iberia
Canal Historia
Canal Cochina
ABC
Todovino.com
Online presence of Todovino:
They make sales 30% online
Their own media channel to educate their customers
Diageo
A multinational distributor of wines
Used the Reserve society to build a better reputation
La Carte de Vins
Is this a good choice or not?


Discussion Questions:
1. What do you think about Todovino's mission/vision
a. Targeting a smaller segment rather than making big money from targeting the masses?
i. My (Dusan's) thoughts: Because the owner likes control over his business as
mentioned in the case (it's his 3rd son and doesn't want VCs to come into the picture)
and to get into the mass market, it requires a lot of financial investment and
distribution of control to other industry players (suppliers: distributors and vineyard
owners, and more). With a smaller number of people in the company (less overhead)
the best way to have leverage is to tender to a smaller market with higher profits.
2. Do you think La Guia Todovino is a waste of their time and money?
a. Todovino doesn't have a lot of people in the company and it could be a waste of resources
i. My thoughts: It complements the business model that they have similar to the
Michelin guide and it allows Todovino to have access to different markets
3. Todovino made different wine clubs for each partner meaning that they have to make customized
recommendations for each channel (club). Is this a good choice?
4. In customer experience, Todovino takes a lot of risk by almost eliminating entry barriers for
customers (to become members) and even the risks of when customers change their mind of their
purchase. This brings a lot of financial risk to the company. What do you think is a better way for
Todovino?
a. Todovino also hosts La Cata de los Lacres. Some people who might have been loyal
members could be excluded (not invited) from the event which could lead to customers
leaving. User retention in a business like this is extremely crucial, what do you think are the
factors they should consider when choosing people to invite to the event?
5. Todovino made a lot of media partnerships which were in accord (aligned) to their business. What
do you think are better media channels that Todovino can choose from?
a. Who do you think wants to know about good wines and buy them?
b. Where are these types of customers and what do they do or watch?
i. Example - Top Gear the TV channel is an advertising channel targeted almost
exclusively at super rich people who can afford purchasing cars that they feature in
their series. It's all Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and other supercars (Despite the fact that
they have a bias towards British made cars) but it also attracts the attention of so
many other people. Is there a way to do something like this?
6. Was partnering with a multimedia distributor like Diageo a good idea? What could they have done
alternatively to gain a wider audience?
7. La Carte de Vins - Was this a good choice or not? And why?
[SM] Team Project
Saturday, April 26, 2014 1:18 PM
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