SALES AND MARKETING
Joh n M o
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In conversation... John Mobbs created Great British Wine – the goto website for the most concise and up to date information on English and Welsh wine – in 2015, the day after an epiphanous visit to the English Wine Producers annual trade and press tasting. What was the inspiration behind Great British Wine?
Which specialist retailers do you work with?
The website was born out of a growing passion for English wine. I was familiar with both Nyetimber’s Classic Cuvée and Chapel Down Bacchus – these two wines were my introduction, and both captivated me with their lively acidity and precise flavours. I was invited to the English Wine Producers (now WineGB) trade and press tasting, in 2015, on behalf of another publication, and I was taken aback by the breadth and quality of the wines I tasted - I sat down the next day and built the framework for the website!
We currently work with Grape Britannia, Hawkins Bros. and Corkk. These relationships have mostly been built over the years – and it’s great to support the independent specialists who have put tremendous effort into building fine and diverse English wine selections.
What is Great British Wine’s mission? Quite simply, the goal is to provide consumers with the most concise and up to date information on producers and their wines. The aim is to have a well-structured resource, designed to particularly help those new to English wine discover a local region, learn more about the range of wines and styles, and about the producers. So, there’s lots of dynamically created indexes and listings based on all of the site’s content.
Does your day job help?
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I still have a full-time career outside of Great British Wine, working in packaging design and branding in the foodservice and FMCG sectors, for some of the most recognised food brands. I think that this background has been hugely helpful in building a resource that looks aesthetically appealing. While Great British Wine remains a non-profit information resource, my visual and photographic flair has led me to do contracted photography work for various producers. Bottle shots have been my bread and butter, but I’ve also done some extensive on-site photoshoots for winemakers, including Denbies, Exton Park, Jenkyn Place and most recently Artelium. I’m looking to expand further into this field to commercialise my presence in the English wine industry – watch this space in the new year.
How do you use social media?
Twitter was initially the primary social media platform for Great British Wine to reach out to and link up with producers and engage with consumers directly. It has been a hugely useful resource, essentially free advertising space, to help generate interest and drive traffic through to the website before I developed a more SEO-friendly website. Instagram is probably my most active platform now. I’ve started engaging more directly, talking about wines and producers in short bursts for a Great British Wine weekly review. Instagram live has also been great to be involved with in the last year and a half. I would love to do a few more virtual tastings – getting the viewers to taste and share their thoughts on the wines in real-time is particularly engaging.
Who is your social media audience?
I would say our followers and audience fall into two categories: informed and curious consumers as well as people within the English wine industry and trade. Two-thirds of our audience are aged 18-35 – which is great as it shows a growing interest in wine and English wine amongst those in their twenties. Our audience gender split is around 54% male to 46% female. Ultimately what they all have in common is an interest in English wine! We have over 7,500 followers on Twitter and over 4,500 on Instagram. All of our followers have been acquired through organic growth and a lack of any sort of organised social media strategy.
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What is your advice to producers about the use of social media?
Embrace it however you can! My own journey into the industry would not have been possible without social media – I’ve connected with so many producers, consumers and like-minded people through both Twitter and Instagram. I think the thing that Instagram has is the ability to tell stories and bring the human element into play – often that is what consumers will remember even more than the wine inside the bottle!
Any achievement that you are really proud about?
Being involved in The Big English Wine Easter #BEWE this year. Initially born out of a tweet from Black Chalk’s Jacob Leadley, and now in its second year, I contributed by organising an English wine raffle, with a whole host of brilliant prizes donated by the very kind producers and supporters in the industry. We did a live prize draw on Instagram, which was a great deal of fun! The initiative collectively raised over £5000, which went to two great causes The Drinks Trust and Hospitality Action. Another achievement was being invited to Clarence House and meeting the Duchess of Cornwall as an ambassador of the English wine industry in celebration of fifty years of the UKVA (UK Vineyards Association).
How do you select the wines or vineyard you write about?
The primary motivation is the quality of the wines and secondly the story behind the winemaker. This growing industry is full of diverse people with so many fascinating stories. There’s a real human connection to be found, and that’s what continues to fuel my interest. At a quick rough count I have visited around 60 vineyards – and I expect that figure would have been significantly higher had it not been for a combination of parenthood and Covid-19. I’ve probably ‘visited’ another 20-30 virtually through Zoom over the last couple of years.
