News

July 2020: Wineries are re-opening post-Covid, many with new elements they offer to customers. DTC modes of communication remain important too!

Best Public Relations Provider

August 30, 2019:

Most of my winery clients are getting ready to harvest or have begun harvesting whites.

Stay tuned!

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The March-April 2016 issue of Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine features the results of their fourth annual Best Wine Industry Suppliers survey.

Knowing I was in the running….I made a conscious decision not to campaign, not to ask clients or colleagues to vote for me. And with that, I imagined that I wouldn’t have a chance to be chosen, not being a big agency with lots of employees, lots of bodies, lots of “muscle.”

And then, surprise! I was chosen as the Best Public Relations Agency/Provider.

Here’s what the editors had to say:

Julie Ann Kodmur founded her marketing and publicity consulting service in 1997. Based in St. Helena, Calif., she’s created multiple successful campaigns for wineries large and small. Clients appreciate her “attention to detail, reasonable pricing and incredible results,” “strong industry knowledge, innovation and excellent, timely service” as well as the fact she’s “connected,” “gets it done,” “knows the realities of our business” and “always has great and fresh ideas and goes above and beyond.

And so, long live the “little” practitioners, those of us who practice this craft as one-man shops, focusing on being creative, staying close to our clients and the media, up early, stopping late….

My thanks to Vineyard & Winery Management Magazine for the hard work that went into the survey.

And, not least in any way, my enormous thanks to my ‘family’ of clients who are my source of inspiration.

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An article I wrote on how wine PR has changed, from the April 2014 Wine Business Monthly,  WBM has kindly allowed me to share it on this site (download PDF of article).

Here is a guest post I wrote for Tom Wark’s blog Fermentation suggesting how wineries can be effective marketers while traveling.

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Veteran wine publicists Julie Ann Kodmur and Tom Wark have launched SWIG, a publication in a blog format focusing on an area rarely covered in an editorial format: wine public and media relations. SWIG will feature posts and articles addressing the practice of wine public relations, wine media trends, marketing ethics and news commentary.

SWIG is located on the web at www.SwigPR.com.

“SWIG gives us a chance to ruminate and reflect on public relations issues in the wine world, provide the industry with insights into the practice and perhaps influence a movement toward responsible and productive marketing,” said Wark.

Wark and Kodmur have separate PR consulting practices located in Napa Valley which service the wine industry. Together they have more than 50 years of experience working in the field of wine-related public and media relations (and marketing consulting).

“With the rise of social media and the attention it rightly attracts in marketing circles, Tom and I both noted a decline in the discussion of the theory and practice of wine public relations even as online information on all subjects has exploded,” said Kodmur. “With SWIG, we hope to deliver some thoughtful ideas and sober commentary based on the experience we’ve garnered,” she adds.

Kodmur has worked in the field of wine public relations since 1988 and opened her consultancy in 1997. She is the recipient of numerous awards in her field as well as the author of several articles in mainstream and trade publications. Her websites include JulieAnnKodmur, WinePRTuneup and NapaValleyValentine.

Wark began his career in wine public relations in 1990 and opened his consultancy in 1994. He is the founder of the award-winning wine blog FERMENTATION: The Daily Wine Blog, The Cider Journal and the founder of The Wine Consumer Coalition.

 

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I proposed a pro bono ad in The Scout Guide for three St. Helena non-profit associations…and it’s happened:

Cameo Nimbus Sunrise in Scout Guide

Look for this in an upcoming issue of this stylish magazine.

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