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How to open wine with a shoe video hits over 3 million viewers

Published:  14 January, 2014

You must have seen the shoe video by now. That's the one where Stephen Cronk, owner of Mirabeau Wines in Provence, demonstrates how to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew, using only a shoe. It has been viewed by 3.2 million people around the globe since it was posted last week.

The 50-second clip, which is Cronk's 222nd video for his Mirabeau site, has not only driven website traffic, but prompted dozens of calls from journalists around the world, as well as importers wondering whether he has distribution in certain countries.

The video on the Mirabeau site itself has attracted 1.8 million views, with a further 1.4 million on YouTube [to date], which brings it up to over the 3 million mark. 

Video:

Mirabeau's infamous shoe video

Speaking to harpers.co.uk, Cronk said he has been relying an "awful lot on social media to build the brand", and had been hoping one of his videos would go viral at some point. Before this clip, his highest viewing figure was 36,000.

Having read Gary Vaynerchuk's Crush It! book, Cronk was inspired to create his own brand with very little budget. "There are about 600 domaines in Provence and 70 negociants, each with multiple labels and brands. Using social media the way I do enables me to get noticed."

He said other producers consider him a "mad Englishman", having quit a City job in London to become a negociant in Provence in 2009. "I don't think they believe in investing in marketing the way I do," he said. But he is not treading on anyone's toes as most of his neighbours are aiming for the domestic market and he is targeting the Anglophone world with his products.

"Part of it is about wanting to be different. I bought a decent camera recently when I could have invested that money in taking a stand at ViniSud. But I'm trying not to go where everyone else is going, and I'm talking to consumers, not the trade."

Cronk says that having an interesting backstory, as well as a quality product and doing social media and marketing, makes for an easier sell to buyers. "It helps de-risk the purchase decision."

In August 2013 he enlisted former Marks & Spencer and Harrods buyer Jo Ahearne MW as winemaker and is making a new style of wine this year called Pure Mirabeau, an ultra pale rose aimed at the more premium market. He currently sells his wine in the UK to Waitrose and Matthew Clark, but is considering the independent route for the Pure brand.

He said the success of the latest video has given him confidence, as before he was "tilting at windmills and putting a lot of stuff out there with little interaction". kuyi

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