Wine_World_E

Issue

5 | 2015

Th e s t a f f m a g a z i n e o f W I V We i n I n t e r n a t i o n a l AG

In love, engaged, married: The teams at Pierre Laforest and Ferdinand Pieroth (France) celebrate their „wedding“

Product range with a future

Concept with a future

Together into the future

Read why the new own brands are set to bring enjoyment and pleasure when they‘re sold on page 10-11

Check out how we‘ll be impressing customers and wine consultants with tablets and mobile sales on page 12-13

We report on the boom in weddings in Direct Sales on pages, 16,17 and 19

Contents Company news

4 6 10 12 15 16

Foreword from Andres Ruff

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A successful start: Direct Sales Germany

Central purchasing – how WIV reduces costs, improves planning and improves quality Effective sales support served on a tablet Yes, they do

Wine Consultant Service: support for German Sales

In France, Pierre Laforest and Ferdinand Pieroth say „I do“

A marriage made in heaven in the UK

20 18 Asia-Pacific region working on the future 22 Vino up for restructuring 23 mac further expands its market position 24 Hallgarten goes for smart growth This is what winners look like: World Champions 2014

top: Logistics services from one source 25 People

14 3 questions for …Peter Schneider 22 Axel Henschke is the new managing director at Vino

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Products

27 Innovations and success stories News from the world of WIV

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News, projects and campaigns

Legal information: Publisher:

WIV Wein International AG, Burg Layen 1, D-55452 Burg Layen, www.wiv-ag.com, info.wineworld@wiv-ag.com

Responsible: Sandra Beck, Corporate Communication, sandra.beck@wiv-ag.com Editorial team: Sandra Beck, Martina Veith Design and layout: Christine Krause Final copy date for articles for the next issue: 31.08.2015

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Wine Festivals bring export success The Japanese idea goes round the world

Spotlight

Dr Bernd Köhler to become Member of the Executive Board Within the scope of his activities as CFO/ CRO, he will be in charge of the areas of Finances, Controlling and IT in the WIV Group and will also be responsible for restructuring.

On 4 May 2015, Dr Bernd Köhler will take over the position of CFO (Chief Financial Officer) and CRO (Chief Restructuring Office) at WIV Wein International, which became vacant after the departure of Dr Josef Spieler.

Dr Köhler, whose doctorate is in economics, has almost 20 years of operative management experience as a board member, director and divisional manager in various companies and industries. In particular, he has successfully implemented a number of turnarounds, comprehensive improvement projects and financing concepts.

After studying economics in Heidelberg and obtaining a doctorate in business administration, Dr Köhler worked for over ten years at Siemens AG in various management positions in Germany and abroad. After this, Dr Köhler was Board Spokesman for VOGT electronic AG in Erlau and, from 2006 to 2011, was with TA Triumph-Adler AG in Nuremberg as Director for Finances and Service. Most recently, from 2011 to 2014, he was Finance Director and CEO of Phoenix Solar AG in Sulzemoos, where he successfully steered the company through the solar industry crisis.

WIV Wein International AG sells Naked Wines On 10. April 2015, WIV Wein International AG reached an agreement with Majestic Wine PLC, a publicly quoted company which is the largest British wine dealer, concerning the sale of its holding in the online wine retailer Naked Wines.

WIV took a majority holding in the startup company Naked Wines in 2009 and thus laid the foundations for its successful growth course in the UK and its further expansion in Australia and the USA. Within just a few years, Naked Wines had become one of the world‘s largest and fastest growing online wine dealers. „We enthusiastically followed and supported the development and expansion phase.

To continue along this growth path, we looked for a high-performing investor who, in addition to providing financial strength, can also offer growth potential through a wide range of synergies. We are delighted to have found, in Majestic Wine, an investor that sees the opportunities of the business model as we do and that will secure the further expansion of this still young company“, explains Andres Ruff, Chairman of the Executive Board of WIV. „With the revenue from the sales, we will be able to finance investments in the future of our other business areas and protect the independence of this family company“, continues Andres Ruff. Naked Wines will continue to operate in the fu-

ture as an independent company, run by the existing management led by Rowan Gormley. In addition, Rowan Gormley will join the Executive Board of the Majestic Wine Group with immediate effect and will be appointed the new Board Chairman and CEO. „We would like to thank WIV for its fantastic support and commitment which allowed us to turn an idea into a successful business model, and also to wish the company the best of luck“, Rowan Gormley, Managing Director of Naked Wines, emphasised.

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Company news

We’re looking to the future

We have started the new financial year with a wide range of tasks to tackle, but also with plenty of confidence and faith in ourselves.

first signs of success in the past financial year. Through strict management of costs, a halt to purchasing and, above all, consistently reducing stocks, we have cut our net financial debt and considerably improved our liquidity position. However, what is much more important than these measures – some of which are only short-term or with a one-off effect – is the fact that we have made progress with the necessary restructuring of our business divisions.

The WIV Group has gone through a difficult year. Stagnating sales, a critical liquidity situation and major restructuring expenditure – which was, however, essential – have kept our company, our staff and our partners on tenterhooks.

A situation like this forces any company to make major cuts. We have reacted resolutely and started introducing operational and structural measures back in May 2014; we were able to record the

We had the chance to adapt ourselves independently and proactively to the prevailing conditions and we made use of this opportunity by pursuing a comprehensive concept. In this way, we are reacting to the changes in the markets and making our company more resistant and more competitive for the future. We want to become a leading company in the wine business: customer-focussed, streamlined, productive and efficient.

Dear colleagues and employees of the WIV group, dear business partners,

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The sale of our online outlet Naked Wines should also be evaluated against this background. Admittedly, we are losing an important growth business, but this was associated with high investments and start-up losses. Its sale was a strategic decision allowing us to concentrate on our core business, direct wine sales, wholesale and retail sales, and mac. And naturally, the sale gives us the financial freedom to shape our refocussing independently.

Because the sale of Naked Wines has not changed anything in terms of the need to implement our turnaround programme.

Lots of things are going on at WIV at the moment. And in this, I am also counting on your absolute commitment, your total motivation and your unbounded passion.

In Germany, the United Kingdom and France, we are currently working flat out on reorganising Direct Sales. The company mergers have been decided on and

Company news

already implemented in the UK as from January. In Germany, the new Direct Sales structure was presented to external sales staff in a national roadshow in March and the mergers will take place gradually until August 2015. The German brands recently started using a shared wine programme and Bacchus immediately achieved a record sales week with it. The company merger in France is also progressing, with Pierre Laforest and Ferdinand Pieroth coming together to create one strong brand in the future. Keep up the good work!

In these turbulent times, Japan and Switzerland are continuing to operate successfully and have thus become important pillars in in direct sales business. We would like to thank them for this stability.

Our British wholesale company Hallgarten Druitt Novum Wines established the „Nike“ profit-improving concept last year.

A wide range of restructuring and improvement measures has produced a turnaround and excellent results. Bravo!

Our wine specialist Vino undertook to improve its branch organisation and branch control and to introduce an optimised product range and pricing policy, and has already achieved this in part.

Our exhibition design company mac continues to be stable and successful, increasing both sales and profits again. With over 2,700 projects, mac has been able to further expand its market position and become one of the leading international companies in the industry. Once again, mac has taken on a great deal this year

and is continuing to work on measures that will increase sales and profits. Many thanks!

Across all our business divisions, combining expensive structures and reducing complexity are important building blocks on the pathway to becoming an efficient, profitable company. On the other hand, we will focus our activities even more strongly on our customers. In many countries, we are working on CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems for more efficient and effective canvassing of the market. With an automated, needsoriented customer approach and new customer loyalty measures, we are aiming to increase activation rates and sales revenues. Mobile order recording using tablet PCs is not just a way of impressing our customers. These new, fantastic tools will also make work easier for our valued business partners. Initial tests in the UK have already been successful. Sales representatives in France and Germany will be testing the use of tablets over the next few weeks.

Alongside improved, efficient customer communication, a streamlined product range and new, strategic product programmes will support our sales companies. The first own brands for Germany will be available for sale in May. Through our newly installed WIV Central Purchasing system, we will be able to combine our volumes and purchasing power and achieve better quality at lower prices. We will further optimise wine planning, the ordering system and supply scheduling and make these more efficient

by introducing supply chain management software.

You can see that we are planning a great deal. All our measures, on which we are continuing to work flat out, are focussed primarily on the benefit to the customer, from an operational point of view. They will generate far greater efficiency within the Group and help us to get our company on a stable footing for the future. Looking forward, we are planning targeted growth with commercially viable business models, even if we are only expecting moderate growth in sales and profits in 2015.

I have now been with the company for a year – a good opportunity to thank you for your commitment, your „bite“ and your hard work. It is a great joy for me to lead the WIV Group into the future with you. I know that we will all have to face particular challenges along this path, but this is our opportunity to take this company to where it belongs: to the top!

With best wishes, Your

Andres Ruff Chairman of the Executive Board

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Company news

READY FOR TAKE-OFF A flying start for Direct Sales Germany Changes in the industry and for customers plus the unsatisfactory development of sales revenues and results in Germany meant that it was necessary to reshape the organisational and management structures. The Direct Sales division of the company is therefore being restructured and will consist in Germany in the future of two instead of the previous six sales companies.

The core of the refocussing of Direct Sales that has been decided on is the merger and reorganisation of the sales companies.

Reichsgraf von Plettenberg, Pierre Laforest and Bacchus are being combined into one strong sales brand, „Bacchus Weine der Welt“. Graf von Zedlitz Sekt- und Weinhaus Alt Kreuznach, Fürstliche Weingalerie Schloss Weikersheim and Reichsgraf von Ingelheim will be appearing in the market as the brand „Reichsgraf von Ingelheim“.

This will strengthen the corporate profile and create a more efficient organisational structure and more effective market covering. The focus is on meeting customer demands even more precisely and on increasing efficiency and flexibility.

In the middle of March, the new management team led by Christiane Gill (General Manager) toured through five cities in Germany, with the motto „Take-Off 2015“, in order to inform all the wine consultants, if possible, about the refocussing of the German direct sales companies. Around 700 wine consultants accepted the invitation and discovered what the new structures and concepts mean for them as partners and experienced the resultant innovations and improvements at first hand. Entertaining presentations guided the guests

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through the new brand worlds of „Bacchus Weine der Welt“ and „Reichsgraf von Ingelheim“ and showed them how the brands would meet the needs of customers in the future and present themselves afresh. The new organisational structure and the specialist departments providing support were also presented, along with the positioning and the range and CRM strategy for the two brands. In between, there was still time for personal meetings, discussions, questions and direct feedback between the management team and the sales people.

Only one conclusion could be drawn from all the feedback: the „Take-Off 2015“ roadshow was a total success and was the ideal instrument to explain the perspectives of direct sales to as many wine consultants as possible. Ultimately, the aim is to take all our wine consultants and employees with us through the upcoming, sometimes far-reaching changes and innovations, and to leave no-one behind.

The roadshow has now ended, but the exciting journey is continuing – not only with further events, but also with more innovations which will get direct sales in Germany back on track for success again.

“I am delighted that the roadshow generated so many positive responses – how we target our brands, set priorities and adopt new, creative courses.

Your feedback and your affirmations really make me feel that we will make it together. After all, we are all in the same boat, we have a common objective: We want to establish Direct Sales as a modern, punchy division, with enthusiastic customers and a strong position in the market – in short: we want to celebrate our successes again.

There are bound to be a few stumbling blocks along the way. But these are obstacles that will merely show us that we are ultimately making progress step by step – day by day, week by week.

Our journey of change has started!

With this in mind, I would like to wish us all every success, and I am delighted to be accompanying you along this path.”

Yours, Christiane Gill General Manager Direct Sales Germany

Company news

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Direct ristiane Gill Managing uehren, Ch D n o -v rt le Oliver Buh s 5 sales area s offices and 26 sale ing on: nges focuss ra ct u d ro P aly, Spain, th Africa, It France, Sou sp. Baden) Germany (e

im

e von Ingelh f a r g s h ic Re rs: ing Directo

Manag iane Gill nnen, Christ Manfred So s 1 sales area s offices and 11 sale ing on: ges focuss n ra ct u d Pro sen, Nahe, sp. Rheinhes (e y an m er G g) and Italy Württember

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Company news Not just old wine in new wineskins

WIV goes for international own brands

“Whereas in the past, more than 2,000 different products were purchased each year for worldwide direct sales, the aim now is to streamline the range considerably and improve it. This means that the costs of purchasing, production, management and storage will be lower. However, we will be reinvesting part of this saving: in better quality wines and high-value equipment.”

Christoph Rehklau, Director Marketing

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An important pillar of the WIV Group’s restructuring concept is a streamlined, clearly structured product portfolio that is optimally tailored to the needs of customers and that makes us more competitive and opens up additional market opportunities.

At the core of the wine range are the new own brands, which were developed for the most important origins, primarily Italy, France and Spain.

The brands, wine types and bottling variants have been defined and were presented as samples for the first time at the 2014 Wine Tasting.

From basic to premium – at a perfect price and to the highest standards Each country portfolio consists of various lines: there is something to suit every palate and every purse here, from entry-level wines to premium products. All of our own brands are carefully selected wines of the highest quality, offering excellent value for money, attractively labelled and with a story that sells well. Specified product profiles and regular independent quality controls guarantee the high quality of the wines.

It is our declared aim to show that we have a strong presence in the market by our shared use of our own brands worldwide and thus to stand out more clearly from our competitors. Seen commercially, we can increase our purchasing volumes by combining wine orders and thus achieve better purchasing prices and higher margins.

With the help of new marketing strategies and sales support, in the form of separate websites for example, we intend that the attractive own brands should also help to attract new customers, increase customer loyalty and strengthen the company’s image.

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Company news

A new area: Product Management Part of the newly structured WIV Marketing is the area of Product Management, which is responsible for the development, planning, control and monitoring of the ranges and own brands, for product development and for brand protection. The product managers for Direct Sales Germany are Jürgen Klein, Kai Wiechert and Lisa Wilhelm, supported by Ulrike Brauer.

DUQ UE DE

MONTEBELLO “Own brands are a central pillar of our new product strategy, with which we are aiming to improve our range of wines and clearly increase our profits. By offering products that are tailored and focussed on our customers’ needs, we will drastically reduce the complexity of our product range and become far more efficient and productive.“ Andres Ruff, Chairman of the Executive Board

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Company news

Central purchasing – the pathway to success Earlier, the Procurement division was solely responsible for obtaining goods and services for the company from external sources, but today, purchasing needs to be more modern and far-reaching: it is now a central function within the company, which makes a major contribution to its overall success. Merging general purchasing and wine planning with materials planning and own brands under one management will bundle together all purchasing and product range activities together in future.

Combining purchasing activi-

sources and much more is also part of its remit. To date, not only have the purchasing departments of our company divisions operated completely independently of each other, but the buyers have also been distributed geographically across a number of locations. Under the management of Andreas Spies, functional areas and responsibilities will be brought together on a process-oriented basis in order to improve efficiency, and global purchasing activities will be coordinated. His task will be to improve purchasing success and to achieve the best result for the WIV Group as a whole.

ties in Central Purchasing Ensuring delivery capability The newly structured WIV Central Purchasing division is aiming to reduce costs and improve quality, thus benefitting both customers and the company, by negotiating better contracts and prices, combining volumes, increasing purchasing power and operating a specifically targeted supplier management system.

Here, Central Purchasing is essentially responsible for the procurement of wines and wine products and of materials and equipment. However, the purchase of office materials, gifts and advertising re-

and improving stock control Within the framework of the restructuring measures, Materials Planning division has increasingly come under pressure. On the one hand, stocks needed to be consistently reduced, and on the other, delivery capability for the company and for customers needed to be maintained. To cope better with these conflicting aims of ensuring delivery capability whilst simultaneously improving stock control, WIV will be introducing supply chain management

software over the next few months. The aims are to automate standardised processes and thus to concentrate on the more challenging cases. The improved wine planning which will be supported by the system will enable stocks to be reduced, transport costs lowered and processes optimised. Here specifically – by improving stock control, introducing needs-based product range planning and ensuring precise demand forecasts – it will be possible to exploit the considerable potential for reducing costs with the support of the new software. Rationalising business processes and being able to plan more precisely will also improve delivery capability, preventing out-of-stock situations and thus minimising sales losses.

The supply chain management software will be introduced in Germany by September and the international roll-out will start at the end of this year.

If you have any questions on these matters, please contact Andreas Spies, Manager Central Purchasing (andreas-spies@ wiv-ag.com) or Felix Gügel, Project Manager SCM Software (felix.guegel@wiv-ag. com).

Brands need management Marcus Ross and Tomas Gerlitz are the new Brand Managers responsible for the brand strategy and brand management of Bacchus Weine der Welt and Reichsgraf von Ingelheim. Their tasks including developing marketing campaigns, special offers and marketing plans and designing and running incentive programmes and competitions.

The Brand Management department has been newly created and is part of Marketing. The restructuring and the expansion of the personnel in this area are in line with the strategy of developing the German sales companies as strong brands that are clearly positioned – as the basis for successfully attracting new customers and consolidating long-term business relationships.

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WEIN Festival

Promising prospects for the future With our „WINE Festivals“, we have provided Direct Sales in Germany with a new, successful way of efficiently attracting new customers, which we will now continue to expand. 2014 produced the excellent result of around 750 new customers from just three WINE Festivals in various shopping centres. The daily new customer productivity rate is thus twice as high per wine consultant as it is at trade fairs and exhibitions, for example.

every customer is served attentively. The system of daily rotation at the counters provides all the wine consultants with the same opportunity to work successfully.

It is the sum total of all the coordinated details that make the WINE Festivals so interesting. Our overall appearance is highly professional, focussed on our new customers at every minute, and yet relaxed as far as the outside world is concerned.

identified with the idea from the beginning and who have implemented it consistently. You too can become part of this success – just talk to your manager about possible opportunities for deploying the concept.

Christian Voss, Director Trade Fairs, Events and Cooperations christian.voss@wiv-ag.com

Good prospects for the future Success is the sum total of lots of details There are many factors that contribute towards the success of the WINE Festivals, such as our stylish, inviting wine stand, for example. The open design of the stand conveys the atmosphere of a „specialist wine merchant“ and flat screens showing a wide range of videos on vineyards and wine producing regions encourage customers to happily spend a little time with us. Hostesses give out our vouchers, thus creating the first contact, and accompany new customers to our counters. Offering a free glass of prosecco allows us to transition smoothly into the wine tasting.

However, one of the most essential success factors is the ability to approach customers openly and sympathetically and to keep smiling morning, noon and night.

Even in the later hours of the evening,

Thanks to our successful presence, shopping centres have become aware of us as valuable cooperation partners. Our stands are a visual asset at central positions in shopping malls and add extra vitality to the existing shops. Long-term contracts are under discussion, which would provide us with the opportunity to run 15 to 20 WINE Festivals in Germany this year alone. Half of these have already been definitively agreed.

To make sure that 2015 also becomes a successful WINE Festivals year for Direct Sales in Germany, we are investing a large amount in new, carefully considered stand concepts and in installation and assembly that are visually perfect.

Every idea is only as good as its implementation. I would therefore like to compliment all wine consultants who have

The new “Trade Fairs, Events & Cooperations” department is made up of five experienced Direct Sales employees who act as contact partners for the Sales and Regional Sales Managers, our cooperation partners, the trade fair companies and the exhibition construction companies. The aim is to attract profitable new customers at events. For this, soundly based success and profitability studies are carried out. By coordinating matters centrally, attracting new event and cooperation partners professionally, developing a support system among promotional forces and deploying its wine consultants in a well targeted way, Direct Sales is hoping to have an even greater impact when attracting new customers.

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Company news

Effective sales support, served on a tablet

In order to make sales and marketing activities more efficient and more successful in the future, German wine consultants are being given tablet computers for the first time. After a test phase in May and June, the complete sales force will be provided with iPads. When Steffen Hauger, CRM Director for Direct Sales Germany, starts talking about the new tablet and its potential for the sales force, he goes into raptures. But the tablet only becomes the ideal sales tool once it has the right app.

Mr Hauger, you’ve just told us all about the possible uses and benefits of the tablets for our sales force. The use of tablets is also being tested at the moment in Direct Sales in France and the United Kingdom, and various systems are being compared. What app have you gone for?

We have decided on PEPPERI, a special sales application for our wine consultants working in the field. For us, it was the only solution that met all our requirements even in the standard version, whilst also offering a unique combination of catalogue, order entry and sales promotion. Sales reps can view wine descriptions and product photos when they are on the road, or enter orders directly. Because the app is linked with our SAP system, our employees

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also have all the relevant information about customers, the current delivery availability of products or their own turnover at their fingertips. And with the status display in real time, they can also see straight away whether the order has already been delivered or the customer has already paid.

What is CRM? CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, which refers to a strategy for the systematic structuring of all of a company’s relationships and interactions with existing and potential customers. Ultimately, the aim is that the company will become more successful by systematically maintaining customer relationships.

Company news

What was most important to you when you made your choice?

Simple operation and a clearly laid out user interface. After all, we are wine consultants, not computer specialists. Using the touchscreen and with just a few clicks, we can present the whole world of wines to our customers; illustrations and informative wine descriptions with all the relevant data are saved here – and are available even when the tablet is offline! So it’s possible to work even without an internet connection. The orders taken on the spot are saved and automatically transmitted to SAP as soon as the device is back online.

This not only makes work easier for the wine consultants, it also looks innovative and professional as far as customers are concerned. In this way, we make a good impression on our customers and can offer the very highest standard of advice, which will hopefully be reflected in higher order rates too.

Are there discussions with the CRM managers in the UK and France? Is a central solution for WIV being considered?

The people responsible, Amanda Cox for the UK and Frédéric Séguin for France, meet regularly under the guidance of David Samuel to talk about the subjects of CRM and Mobile Sales. Basically, three different solutions are competing with each other at the moment, and the best will then be chosen for the international roll-out. Our colleagues are currently a little way ahead of us, but we’re catching up fast.

With all the enthusiasm prevailing – and rightly so – at the moment, is mobile order capture using the iPad just a building block within the overall CRM strategy?

Absolutely right. The aim of our CRM strategy is to actively shape customer relationships, to attract profitable customers for the company and to retain them in the long term. For this, we need intelligent tools and processes which will help us to systematically manage and evaluate the vast quantity of data we hold. Only in this way can we appeal to and interact with our various target groups.

Naturally, the iPad is a good tool for improving our sales management, since it simplifies processes and improves the quality of our service. Ultimately, it’s all about our corporate philosophy, not about the technology. And that is centred on offering our customers precisely what they need at the moment. For me, CRM is, quite simply, total customer orientation.

Many thanks, Mr Hauger.

What comes next?

There will be a pilot phase in April and May, when we will provide around 20 wine consultants with the new tablets. We want to observe precisely how the system works in practice, whether this is at home wine tastings, events or trade fairs and exhibitions. We’re keen to see how our customers will react too, of course.

With PEPPERI, we’ve gone for a very intelligent app, and the functions already listed are only some of the possibilities offered. A diary and route planning, cross-selling and up-selling are other subjects on which we are currently working.

In parallel, we are setting up a training concept, testing data security and looking at what is needed to allow private use of the devices.

The newly installed CRM division consists of Steffen Hauger (Director), Folco Westphal (CRM Manager & Data Protection Officer) and Markus Schwemm (CRM Manager), who – with support from the IT department – are responsible for setting up and launching Mobile Sales, connecting Direct Sales and Telemarketing to the CRM department and analysing and evaluating customer data. The data will then be taken as the basis for recommendations for the best form of contact (e.g. visit, telephone or internet) and for precisely targeted marketing and sales activities so that we can communicate even more effectively and specifically with customers and strengthen customer loyalty.

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People

3 QUESTIONS FOR ...

Peter Schneider,

Director, Recruitment and Training A special department for “staff development” headed by Peter Schneider started work in March. The team of six focuses on attracting suitable employees for Direct Sales, training, staff development and staff retention. We asked Peter Schneider what tasks were facing him and what his introduction to WIV was like.

Attracting and retaining qualified sales partners is the greatest challenge facing the German direct sales sector. How difficult is it really to find new wine consultants? What methods are you going for in Recruitment?

Finding suitable staff will continue to be a challenge. The aim of the newly structured Staff Development department is to centralise advertisements in the various media and to control recruitment using a professional applicant tool. In order to integrate all the levels, Staff Development will offer seminars on professional recruitment in the regional markets.

Finding people is one thing, keeping them is another: How significant is Staff Development in Direct Sales?

In my view, Staff Development is a service for Sales and Marketing. By drawing up practice-based concepts for recruitment and for training and continuing professional development, we can create a basis for Sales and Marketing to grow in terms of personnel. Training and support measures increase people’s loyalty to WIV as a company and thus reduce staff turnover.

German direct sales companies see “finding and retaining qualified sales partners” as being the greatest challenge.

Market study on the situation in the direct sales sector, 2013; source: BDD e.V.

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My introduction to WIV was a great success. The welcome from my new colleagues was fantastic. As part of the roadshow through Germany, I had the chance to integrate very quickly into the management team. I am really looking forward to facing the challenges within WIV with this great team and successfully implementing the proposed restructuring.

The concept proposed is a stepped concept, under which new partners will be trained, promoted and deployed in line with their abilities.

BDD market study: sales partners will also be urgently needed in future in Germany.

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How was your introduction to WIV?

Peter Schneider has been the Director of the “Staff Development and Training” department since March 2015. He had previously worked for bofrost*, where he was Regional Manager, West Germany and National Manager for new customer call centres, training concepts and staff development.

Company news

More support for Sales and Marketing: the Wine Consultant Service

As part of the reorganisation of Direct Sales, German wine consultants will be provided in future with rapid assistance and information by the newly created “Wine Consultant Service” department.

Led by Anna Noack, the nine staff members will process all inquiries and sort out detailed and specific questions about products, deliveries, methods of payment and billing. Sales figure notifications will also be recorded and further processed in the Wine Consultant Service department in the future.

If a customer order, for example, has been recorded with the incorrect order or customer type, the Service staff will be able to correct this immediately and independently rectify orders that have already been entered. This also applies for requests for the correction of charges, commission splitting or cancellations.

Communication routes will be shorter, and experience gained from the Bacchus pilot project shows that the service is highly valued. Christine Ries has been supporting 100 Bacchus wine consultants for a year and has achieved a noticeable increase in productivity in terms of both sales and service.

Anna Noack and her team are the central point of contact in Burg Layen for German wine consultants.

Frequent questions include: • Has the customer paid?

• Can the customer be supplied?

• Does the customer have a delivery block?

• When will the delivery be made?

In addition, the new department, which will be working centrally for Direct Sales Germany, actively forwards information and documents to the wine consultants, such as details of products, wine ranges, freezes on selling and special offers.

This means that contact will not only be more personal, but also simpler: in future, you will be able to call the service number + 49 (0) 6721-408-318 to reach the members of the Wine Consultant Service.

The aim is not only to relieve our sales managers of administrative activities, but also, at the same time, to support the work of the wine consultants by avoiding duplicated work and answering queries competently and quickly.

Even if the new processes need time to become established, this newly established department is making an important contribution to supporting sales and marketing and to improving the service provided to the wine consultants and the customer.

Christine Schröder, Daniel Schwanke, Sandra Deeg, Serhat Kilic, Peggy Hintz, Sonja Richter, Christine Ries, Rotraut Becker and Anna Noack (left to right)

Wine Consultant Service vs. Customer Service Customer Service, led by team leader Christiane Misamer, continues to be the first point of contact for all customer inquiries, complaints and customer correspondence in general. What is new is that the Customer Service staff will be entitled in future to deal with most matters on their own and to handle them directly in a way that meets customers’ needs.

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Company news

A marriage

MADE IN HEAVEN

Pieroth incorporating Vicomte Bernard de Romanet It was back in October 2014 that we made our first proposal regarding the merger of our two UK companies Pieroth and Vicomte Bernard de Romanet. For many years we had operated side by side as friendly competition in the marketplace but inside the business we had always worked in a close and collaborative way.

The main reason for the merger was clear; we needed to become more efficient and profitable whilst delivering an enhanced service and experience for both our customers and our employees.

The proposed merger was just one of a whole host of measures to make us fit for the future and the directors took the time to really explain this during a grand tour of all UK sales offices in November 2014.

The questions we had asked ourselves when considering our future were: • How can we create sustainable profitable growth?”

• What measures would be needed to make this a reality?”

The answers we came up with were the following: A merger of the two companies would allow us to strengthen our management structures in every location. We would be able to put the strongest leader in place in each office, someone who would have the ability and proven track record to lead a large group of people to success. This

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role model would support and develop the other sales managers in a more productive environment and as a team they would in turn be able to offer those same support and development skills to the sales teams.

A coming together of the two sales teams would also create a better more vibrant atmosphere in the offices, where a larger number of people could benefit from the role model effect of our most effective and successful wine consultants.

I am very happy to report that as of the beginning of February 2015 these two anticipated effects have become a reality. Everyone is happy with the new team arrangements and all are benefiting from the buzzing atmosphere of a larger strengthened sales team.

The month of January exceeded our goals and the previous year’s result when we operated as Pieroth and Romanet which has to be an encouraging early sign.

We wanted this merger to be a fun and painless experience so we put in plenty of effort to make it just that. We decided not to think of it so much as a corporate merger but more like a happy coming together of two parts, a marriage.

In December we had our engagement party, followed by our wedding on 2 January, followed in turn by the honeymoon and as you can see we created some beautiful photographs and marketing to celebrate the happy union.

Going forward this new “Super” company will have a great wine programme as it always has had, with wines from around the world, but with the advantage of one list rather than two which means fewer lines in our warehouse which in turn brings more buying power of individual products and stronger demand for quality and excellence in both wine and presentation. This advantage makes our products easier to sell which is great for our representatives but it is of course outstanding news for our customers who get even more value for money.

In addition to the marriage of Pieroth and Romanet we have other initiatives in progress to help take our business forward, one of which is a vastly improved service of delivery to our customers. In today’s world the expectation is one of fast delivery and excellent service and we intend to achieve these in two main ways.

We will use a new improved carrier service that will deliver within a 48 hour timescale combined with the introduction of a mobile representative sales tool in the form

Company news

of a tablet device. This tablet will allow representatives to enter their orders directly in the customer’s home at the point of sale with live access to the stock list, providing an immediate confirmation of the order to both the customer and the warehouse. This cuts out considerable time from our historical process so we will now deliver to our customers within 3-5 days of taking an order. Additional advantages for our wine consultants are the endless possibilities this tablet will offer in terms of sales support with product marketing, winemaker videos, training support, diary and route planning functionality, the list goes on.

These are just a few of the changes we are going through in the UK and there are plenty more to come during 2015. What

John Dove and

I would like to say is that change is good, it helps us evolve, it creates excitement, it revitalises us and it sets the course for a stronger, more successful business in the years to come.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the UK sales representatives, sales managers and administration staff who have been so open to this process, who have embraced the changes and who have been supportive of our joint goals. I am very proud of them all and look forward to a very long and happy marriage.

Amanda Cox Regional Executive Director UK, Western Europe

David Payne

pery

d Richard Hop

Kevin Eade un

Pieroth at a glance Pieroth incorporating Vicomte Bernard de Romanet Established in 2015 through the merger of Pieroth (founded 1961, specialized in fine German wines) und Vicomte Bernard de Romanet (founded 1967, specialized in French wines) • 280 employees • 112 sales offices (or a map of UK and locations) • Managing Directors: Amanda Cox and Howard Falk • Sales Directors: John Dove, Peter Forrest and David Payne

The announcement initially of a proposed merger I felt was received positively and as the weeks continued with conversation and ideas the proposal gathered momentum. January started with a great atmosphere bringing all parties together and I believe contributed to the excellent results achieved, producing a fabulous start to 2015.

Kevin Eade Area Sales Manager South West UK I’m really proud of the way that my staff has embraced the merger. The atmosphere in the office has never been more positive. Every rep has shown growth on last year!

A 12.6% start to the year will act as a launch pad to achieve great things in the South for 2015 and makes my usual personal goal, to achieve double digit growth, more feasible than ever before.

Richard Hoppery Regional Sales Manager Cardiff I have found the first month with both companies as one, Fantastic. It has brought a wealth of quality from both sides together and the buzz and morale in the office has been excellent.

People have been able to share ideas and there is now a feeling of ease as opposed to the worry of how change was going to affect them. It has been a great start for Cardiff and I am sure this will be a great year for us and the company in general. No more us and them.

Richard Chamberlain Regional Sales Manager Lingfield Reminds me of the Berlin Wall coming down, Brilliant Jon Walker Executive Wine Consultant Bristol

WINE WORLD 5 / 2015

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Company news

Asia Pacific: Even at the other end of the world, the challenges are the same Customer relationship management, stock optimisation and total customer focus – the central themes of WIV World also continue to be hot topics in the Asia-Pacific region.

Whilst Pieroth Japan, the most successful of the WIV companies (seven World Champion titles and one Special Achievement Award in six years!), is already a major step ahead and has become firmly established as a strong brand, work is continuing jointly with Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and China on concepts for finding customers, improving staff productivity and developing processes for increasing capacity and optimising costs.

The successful concept for attracting new customers through the World Wine Bars is being continued and constantly improved.

The end of March saw the opening of the 9th World Wine Bar in Tokyo Kaguraza, and the next new opening is scheduled for January 2016. In 2015, it is planned that 18,000 new customers are to be acquired in Wine Bars.

Successful sales ideas, such as Wine Festivals and the Fine Wine range (wines from top international producers), are being further developed, as is a shared product range strategy and optimised stock management with a reduced inventory coverage.

In May, the first Wine Lounge is to be opened in the head offices of Pieroth Japan: for meetings, wine tastings, events and celebrations.

More new customers are to be found through expansion of the web shops and by an increase in the number of Groupon activities.

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Company news

Marching hand in hand towards success France is one of the oldest and most successful of the WIV Group’s markets. Following the “Optimo” project last year, which in addition to reducing costs in general dealt specifically with improving administrative and logistics processes, the focus now is on strengthening the sales organisations, providing CRM support to make sure that customer potential is fully exploited and on improving the product portfolio. Above this stands the overarching shared aim of being the market leader in France in both direct sales and telemarketing and captivating both customers and wine consultants with an outstanding range of French and international wines.

Joint new sales team training

Direct Sales: Synergies through cooperation and shared campaigns

Métairie: Optimising processing and improving the quality of consulting

A merger is on the cards in Direct Sales France: Since the beginning of the year, Ferdinand Pieroth (FP) and Pierre Laforest (PLF) have been using a shared wine programme, and they are also intending to purchase wines jointly. The two companies are also sharing resources as far as sales training is concerned: Joint training sessions and sales courses have been running for the 45 new sales employees at FP and PLF since the beginning of February.

For Métairie’s telephone sales operations, the introduction of a professional CRM system is also a vital step on the path to success. The automation of processes and routine functions will not only simplify handling in general, starting from approaching customers in a way that is appropriate for the target group and the best time to make contact, through the processing of the sale and subsequent delivery processes on to reporting afterwards. More than this, the aim ultimately is to build up a better long-term, emotional customer relationship which will be reflected in a higher activation rate and a broader regular customer base. For the team, this also means increased productivity and more effective selling. In combination with Métairie’s strong brand presence and the intelligent mixture of various methods of finding new customers, this is creating important new impulses for successful growth.

The main task for 2015, however, is the introduction of a CRM system so that dialogue with customers can be made as efficient and effective as possible. Other focal points are improving the quality of the services offered and optimising processes such as order processing, campaign management (sales campaigns), stock management and the option of paying by credit card.

In love, engaged, married The wedding of Pierre Laforest and Ferdinand Pieroth has now been celebrated. Christophe Bonvin and Frédéric Séguin produced the following summary, after the roadshow lasting five days:

15 April 2015: The happy couple – Pierre Laforest and Pieroth France – say “I do” in Angers.

Rings are also exchanged in Aix-en-Provence

• 9 meetings in 5 days • 2 Meetings with 250 wine consultants and employees • 3.500 km driven • 8 litres of bug spray and 4 kg sandwiches and sweets consumed …we loved it!

WINE WORLD 6 / 2015

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Company news

World Champions 2014 With its superb achievements, Pieroth Japan was able to repeat its success of the previous year and take the titles of WIV World Champion B2C Senior and WIV World Champion B2B. Pieroth Austria was also able to follow on the success of the previous year and take the World Champion Title B2C Junior (the article about this is on the right).

Pieroth Japan: Team B2B (top picture) and Team Direct Sales (bottom picture) get together to celebrate a very successful business year.

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Company news

Step by step to success Pieroth Austria wins World Champion B2C Junior title

Ralf Klefisch and Peter Walder (Managing Directors) and Albert Pernitsch (Sales Manager, Styria/Carinthia) accepted the cup on behalf of the entire team.

Restructuring in Austria started two years ago. The objective adopted by Ralf Klefisch and his team was to get the country back on track for success and to create a future-proof business model. This meant not only increasing sales but also achieving a turnaround in terms of profitability.

We have also introduced a lot of innovations in Italy. The most fundamental is undoubtedly the changing of the business model from pure telemarketing back to classic direct sales.

In particular, the reorganisation of Sales/ Marketing and the measures taken to minimise costs have not been easy for the staff, but they will undoubtedly secure the continuing existence of Direct Sales in Italy.

Last year, successful telemarketing based on the Swiss model was established in Poland in addition to classic direct sales, and a further telephone office was opened. The search for a successful, sustainable new customer concept has not yet been solved and therefore not yet completed. In addition, Malgorzata Szutrak has taken over responsibility for sales and marketing as the Managing Director of Pieroth Polska, replacing Wojciech Flondro.

As in many of our WIV markets, the challenge lay primarily in finding and establishing a high-performing, top-quality new customer concept. Austria has achieved its aim very impressively, increasing the number of new customers in 2013 by 72% and in 2014 by a further 20%.

We are often sceptical about changes, and they often trigger a sense of uncertainty in us. Taking the first step is often the most difficult thing to do, but we have that behind us, and so we should start looking positively to the future again now – because we all live from and for change.

The increase in sales recorded by Pieroth Austria from December 2012 to December 2014 was 35% and progress was also made in improving profitability. The reward for this was the WIV World Champion title B2C Junior for the 2013 and 2014 business years!

Mario Disch Regional Executive Director Central- / Eastern Europe

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Company news / People

up for restructuring: Great plans in its anniversary year As one of the top 3 specialist wine dealers (ranking published by the trade journal Weinwirtschaft, issue 4/2015), Vino has grown by an average of 12 percent per year since 2009. Despite this positive development, the management at Vino has started a comprehensive restructuring programme as part of the WIV Fitness concept.

The key objectives are to implement an optimised product range and pricing policy and to improve the branch portfolio. As far as products are concerned, Vino concentrates on high-selling articles and will in future have a standard range of around 360 wines and sparkling wines and 100 non-wine articles.

The locational strategy has also been revised. No new branches will be opening

in 2015, and the plan for 2016 is moderate expansion with two openings per year and the regional clustering of locations.

This means that Vino will focus on particular target regions with a much smaller sales area. The branches at Berlin-Steglitz and Brunnthal will be a model for this.

The restructuring also means that branches that consistently make a loss will not be able to remain in the branch portfolio. In the upcoming year, for example, the leases on two locations will not be extended and the branches will be closed.

The e-commerce strategy is also being modified and will now be primarily supporting the 20 branches, in that the newsletters, for example, will increasingly concentrate on branch-specific campaigns such as samplings and wine tastings. In

this way, online activities will also increase visitor frequency in the stores.

In the 15th year since the company was established, the design of the stores will be reworked and the external promotional effect of the branches will be improved.

One of the innovations is the „customers‘ favourites shelf“, presenting the top-selling wines. The till areas will be upgraded by the addition of a personal drinks recommendation, where staff members will alternate in presenting their own favourite drinks.

With our new training concept for the employees in the branches, we want to pass on what customers particularly value in a specialist wine store: the provision of excellent advice at the point of sale.

New Managing Director at Vino Axel Henschke was appointed as the new Managing Director of the specialist wine store chain Vino - Weine und Ideen GmbH as from 20 April 2015. He succeeds Nina Schade, who will be leaving the company at the end of the year after the end of her parental leave.

Axel Henschke has many years of experience in sales and marketing in the retail and specialist trade.

Born in Frankfurt, he will be responsible primarily for the development of new sales strategies and concepts and will control marketing via the retail and online sales channels.

Before joining Vino, he had been Marketing Manager and most recently Head of Sales at “Maxi Zoo”, Europe’s market leading pet supplies company, where he was responsible for restructuring the branch organisation and integrating the retail and e-commerce sales channels.

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Company news

further expands its market position In the 2014 financial year, mac messe- und ausstellungscenter Service GmbH was able to increase its sales by around 2.5 percent over the previous year. In 2014, the trade fair experts based in Langenlonsheim completed more than 2,700 projects at trade fairs, exhibitions and events in Germany and 35 other countries. This great track record makes mac one of the leading international exhibition design companies in Germany.

Notwithstanding the great operating results and successful business developments, initiatives have been started aiming at further improving mac’s processes and performance.

This includes the establishment of a special New Customer team at mac, whose task is to generate inquiries from new customers and to turn these into orders. The team consists of experienced sales people, but also closely integrates colleagues from the Design and Construction/Calculation de“Strengthening our partments. It concentrates its activities primarily on target marketing and acquisition customer groups which will concepts has certainly paid ideally fit the portfolio of seroff. Our customers value the vices offered by mac.

expert support and high quality standards offered by mac.”

The New Customer team at mac: Denis Espenschied, Ralf-Thomas Becker, Nicole Spitzley, Bertram Gericke [seated] and Christine Düringer (left to right).

The New Customer team started work at the beginning of this year – and has already Gernot Becker, been able to enjoy a major mac Managing Director triumph: Eaton Industries, whose German headquarters is in Bonn, had invited the company to pitch at relatively short notice. With just three weeks from design planning to development of the offer and the presentation in London, the team was able to win the contract in the face of tough international competition.

mac has operated in 35 countries on the realisation of 384 projects abroad. These figures prove that the mac strategy of accompanying its customers abroad is bearing fruit.

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Company news

Smart growth: Focussing on profits rather than turnover Hallgarten Druitt Novum Wines

The Hallgarten Druitt & Novum Wines (UK) earnings improvement programme was launched back at the beginning of January 2014, and far-reaching restructuring measures were introduced. These were preceded by a comprehensive profitability study, competition analyses and surveys of customers and staff. Even though Hallgarten has been able to drive steady growth in sales over 10 years, the results in the same period bener reached satisfactory levels and action was required.

The essential features of the project are consistent focus on profitable customers, an expansion of the range of services offered and a change in the remuneration system. In parallel, costs were saved

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by outsourcing logistics, streamlining and improving processes and a moderate reduction of staffing levels.

The initial measures began to bear fruit during the last financial year, when Hallgarten posted a slight growth in sales and a clear increase in profits. For 2015, the main focus is on improving customer service. Over 160 initiatives for improving services have been approved and will be implemented over the next few months. Because this is another of the results of the restructure programme: a change in thinking on the part of all the employees: going for smart growth by consistently focussing on performance and profits.

Company news

top Transport-Organisations-Partner GmbH

Well positioned: Transport expertise and individual storage concepts In the hard-fought logistics market, service quality is an important success factor for any company wishing to stand out from its competitors. The logistics company top has also faced the competitive challenge and carried out a customer survey as part of a profitability study. The aim was to document and evaluate essential services provided by top GmbH in comparison with DHL, the leading international logistics concern. The survey showed that top is not only rated as good by customers, but achieves a positive rating in an overall comparison.

This is a great result for the logistics company from Langenlonsheim that has specialised in the transport of fragile and

sensitive goods, such as wine, sparkling wine and spirits. More than 40 employees and numerous partners ensure smooth deliveries in Germany and abroad. 200 vehicles are on the roads each day, guaranteeing nationwide deliveries throughout Germany.

The comprehensive logistics service, covering warehouse storage, order picking, delivery and the handling of customs and insurance formalities, along with individual customer service, is valued by many different customers in the wine industry.

Alongside the WIV subsidiaries, 880 wineries and wine trading companies use top’s services. top’s aim for 2015 is to convince new cus-

tomers of the benefits of everything it has to offer. The company is very strong in the area of service, providing notification of delivery by telephone, transport free to the place of use and the handling of return shipments.

The central warehouse in Langenlonsheim has around 20,000 palette spaces where an average of 8.5 -10.0 million bottles can be stored. The rental of free storage areas, whether in the chilled warehouse, high-bay store or bulk warehouse, is an important component of its warehousing services. For top’s customers, this provides a smooth, effective complete solution, covering storage, order picking and dispatch.

WINE WORLD 5 / 2015

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Products

10,000 francs for Songo Foundation FRIENDSHIP WINE Von Freunden – für Freunde!

«Songo.info» is the name of the aid project that gives the children and young people of Kayamandi, a township on the outskirts of the South African wine stronghold of Stellenbosch, a taste of a better life.

The project aims to get children off the streets and to provide them with meaningful activities through cycling. One of its most famous collaborators is the Swiss cyclist Christoph Sauser, Olympic winner and five times World Mountain Biking Champion. WIV and the Meerendal winery have created “Friendship” in aid of the project.

The sale of the wine in Switzerland raised 10,000 swiss francs, which will now be donated to support the work of songo.info.

Together with the artist Richard Scott, children designed the label for our wine.

Handing over the cheque in Switzerland: our colleagues Ralph Loosli and Mario Disch hand over the donation to Christoph Sauser (centre of photo)

Products

ge a t n vi w ne a e m i gt n ri sp r o f e n A del ightful wi The fruity accent from the southwest 2014 CHEVANCEAU CÔTES DES GASCOGNE I.G.P., SEMI-DRY, FRANCE Unusual, seductive white wines from Gascony in southwest France, home of the Musketeers. Here, at the foot of the Pyrenees, vintners have been producing wines for around 2,000 years. The fresh Atlantic climate allows the grapes to ripen and retain their aroma, and this is also reflected very pleasantly in the wine. The aromas of exotic fruits are obvious even in the nose. The citrus flavours continue on the palate, creating the sensation of a pleasantly refreshing summer wine. “Chevanceau” is made from 100% Colombard grapes and is a fragrant, lively white wine that is the perfect example of wines from the Gascony region. Well chilled, it makes a perfect aperitif and the ideal accompaniment to summer meals. www.vino24.de

The “Côtes de Gascogne” appelation is famous not only as the home of the Musketeers but also, most importantly, as the source of a fine brandy, Armagnac, which is only produced in this region. It is the oldest spirit in France, with a history dating back to the year 1461.

A lively, fruity frizzante delight from the Cape of Good Hope This fruity-sweet perlé wine made from selected Muscat grapes is simply fantastic with brunch, as an aperitif or with desserts. Anyone who has ever eaten muscatel grapes knows just how irresistibly seductive this grape variety is. With the fragrance of juicy, exotic fruit with a touch of muscat, the freshness of its aromas combines seductively with its pleasantly sweet flavour and fine bubbles.

Frizzante wines from the Southern Hemisphere are incredibly rare – almost non-existent. The new vintage (2015!) will be available shortly from Bacchus (www.bacchus.de).

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News from the world of WIV

Stunning success for Pierre Laforest at the “Tournante Saint Vincent” wine festival in Vougeot

The “Tournante Saint Vincent” was established in 1939 by the brotherhood of the Chevaliers du Tastevin as a festival in honour of the patron saint of wine. Each year, a different wine-producing town in Burgundy is granted the honour of being allowed to organise the festival.

This year, more than 40,000 visitors came to Vougeot, where this extraordinary wine festival was held on 24 and 25 January.

Our two wine sellers Céline Guilleminot and Martin Senaud from Burgundy erected a stand outside the “La Grande Cave” building.

Despite the snow, they managed to achieve record sales of 10,000 euro in just two days!

Long live Burgundy!

A wider range of professions at Pieroth Japan 23 full-time chefs and 17 part-timer employees are currently working in the restaurant operation of the World Wine Bars (WWB).

The photo shows (from left to right): Deguchi Akira (chef, Osaka WWB), adviser and celebrity chef Olivier Oddos, Marc Bonnard (chef responsible for all Pieroth WWB) and Laurent Faivre (Managing Director, Pieroth Japan).

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News from the world of WIV

mac nominated for Meeting Experts Green Award Wood residues and exhibition stand parts provide heat for factory hall and offices mac messe- und ausstellungscenter Service GmbH has been nominated for the Meeting Experts Green Award in the Energy Management and Resource Conservation category. This means that mac is one of the top four companies in this group. An independent jury finally granted the Energy Management and Resource Conservation award to the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, which was reopened in 2004 after a complete refurbishment and which aims to become climate-neutral by the year 2020. Alongside mac, the Hanover Congress Centre and the Eggensberger Biohotel were also nominated.

Pieroth winery receives yet another award In the new “Der Feinschmecker” Wine Guide 2015, Pieroth wine has been awarded an “F” for quality for the first time, and the Gault Millau rates Pieroth as one of the most highly recommended wineries in Germany.

mac Managing Director Gernot Becker (2nd from right) and mac Environmental Officer Tobias Mannhold (2nd from left) are delighted to be nominated for the Meeting Experts Green Award in the Energy Management and Resource Conservation category.

A perfect weekend in Monaco

As the proud winners of a sales competition and in gratitude for their outstanding achievements, the top Japanese sales people and sales managers enjoyed a few perfect days in Monaco: Laurent Faivre, Hiromitsu Okoshi, Kazuhiko Ishii, Sukenao Kubota, Masaki Uehara, Ryo Ihara, Naohiko Yoshimura, Yoshio Matsuura, Osamu Hyonaga, Tomokazu Imai (from left to right).

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News from the world of WIV

Honour Day in Japan Traditionally, the top sales people at Pieroth Japan are honoured in January for their superb achievements in the past year. This year, 260 out of a total of 600 wine consultants were invited to the grand gala.

With a turnover of 10.5 billion yen, or 79.4 million euro, and more than 50,000 new customers, Pieroth Japan is again able to look back on a totally successful financial year in 2014.

Laurent Faivre, Andres Ruff, Dirk Schmell and Dr Johannes Pieroth (left to right) cut the cake to celebrate last year‘s record sales

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Other guests included the most important wine suppliers and the greatest wine and champagne houses of France: Taittinger, Baron Edmond Rothschild and Gerard Bertrand.

News from the world of WIV

National sales meeting In the UK, the best and most successful employees met together in order to get to know colleagues from all over the country, exchange experiences and find out about the planned development of the company. This year, of course, the presentations focussed on the merger between Pieroth and Romanet and the changes that this will bring. In the evening, the most successful employees were honoured for the achievements in the past year and – in line with British tradition – the celebrations continued into the early hours of the morning.

Although it was only taking place for the second time, this national conference has become a most interesting sales platform.

An open exchange of thoughts and experiences that crosses the bounds of hierarchies and different office brings promising new sales ideas to the fore.

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M , e M

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I’m Sandy and I’ve done it! Every day, every hour, turn the pain into power!

Austria : m Pieroth ountain o M fr r e e th m f Africa. e Hum Top o dal, South t Christin n n a re e lt e su M n it to ttles Wine co m her vis ber of bo etings fro hest num re ig g h anville. s e d rb th n u se e sold ip to D sh tr , e n o th ti n ti pe sucnd wo In a com k to this winery a aler dran eerendal th M rg e e B th ka from e and Eri ne. mmit, sh champag e g On the su ta in v f o a glass cess with

Sandy Darman (Pieroth Australia) took part in a charity run in aid of cancer prevention, running 60 kilometres in and around Sydney in two days. 2.3 million AUS $ (€ 1.65 million) were raised during the campaign, which will be donated to the „Chris O‘Brien Lifehouse“, an internationally unique cancer treatment and research facility in Sydney.

Happy day! Stephanie Donnelly, Rebecca Lunn, Sandy Darman – with Jane Chiu and Eric Harrison squeezing into the picture in the background.

the Southern ate Christmas in br le ce ey th w th This is ho n Adkins (Piero ard Bone and Ro ed fe to Hemisphere: Rich e barbecue e in charge of th ar d) an al Ze w Ne BBQ. at the Christmas their colleagues

roth Gill Storrey (Pie kes a ta d) New Zealan g the rin quick break du ign in telephone campa Auckland.

Melbourne Cup Day is the day when the most valuable horse race in Australia and Oceania is run, which is also one of the most lucrative in the world. The event is also famous as the “race that brings the nation to a standstill” – but this doesn’t include Pieroth Australia, as these photos show.

We’d love to receive your stories and pictures from everyday life.

What are your daily challenges? What are you up to? Who do you meet?

Send your pictures with a few brief comments to info.wineworld@wiv-ag.com