Will we still have a taste for online events once the lockdown’s over?
As pubs and restaurants remain closed, at least for now, Rosalind Erskine asks if the online social aspect of lockdown is here to stay
One of the main social aspects of lockdown has been conducted over an app that many of us hadn’t heard of six months ago. But now Zoom has become as synonymous with the ongoing pandemic as staying at home and washing our hands. most of us have found that this is the easiest way to keep in touch with friends and family. It has also been one of the most utilised ways for those in the drinks business to host group tasting events – but as lockdown slowly eases, will these virtual meetups, which have covered everything from whisky festivals to wine tours and craft gin tastings, continue?
The Scotsman wine columnist and master of wine, Rose Murray Brown has enjoyed sell-out success with her virtual wine tastings. Speaking of the shift to online, Rose says: “I find the reach of Zoom is fantastic – I now have new customers spread across the UK, and I have even had people joining from abroad as we can arrange to send the wine overseas.”
Edinburgh-based Wine Events Scotland, run by Diana Thompson, has also enjoyed success with regular, themed wine tastings including a recent collaboration with Lidl. Diana has had great feedback from customers who want her to continue with these after lockdown. “Having been thrown into a situation and come up with a format which I’d have never considered previously, people are getting used to communicating over the screen,” Diana explains. “I’ve found it works surprisingly better than we’d have expected.”
Janet Cathro and her daughter Lynzi, who own Jaro Design in Strathaven have suggested that they will continue to host their popular craft gin tastings until October, which has been met with support from customers with young children and those who don’t find it as easy to go out of a weekend. Not having to travel or pay for taxis, and being able to continue to enjoy drinks at home after the event are some of the reasons given as to why people are keen to keep things virtual.
Colin Mclean of Mclean’s Gin has found his online tastings, held in collaboration with Jaro Design, are keeping customers interested at a time when they’d normally be at gin festivals. Colin says: “Prior to the pandemic we regularly exhibited at gin festivals and other consumerfacing events, but we don’t expect these to return to normal for quite some time yet; we ourselves would be apprehensive about exhibiting at a large-scale event where social distancing just isn’t possible.” Euan Mcvicar of Biggar Gin has also found the transition to online a way to keep customer interest in their gins in the absence of summer festivals, inlcuding reaching an audience who may not have attended gin events.
Euan explains: “These events are a great way to both keep in touch with existing customers and reach out to new customers. People have been looking for entertainment during lockdown and there are only so many Zoom quizzes you can do per week. That has led to to people joining online tastings that might not normally go to physical tastings or gin festivals.”
Glenfiddich’s brand ambassador for Scotland, Mark Thomson, envisages video calls as an addition to future events. “As an ambassador, hosting events often, there can be large group sizes, but not all can make the date ot time available. I can see the benefit sending out tasting packs to those who can’t come, then have them join in the live tasting in the room.”
Co-founder of Ourwhisky, Becky Paskin agrees that online tastings will likely continue as part of business strategy, saying: “Their ability to unite consumers from across the world is powerful on a level we’ve not experienced before outside of major whisky festivals. ”