Word & Mouth Blog

Where food, hospitality, branding, and human behavior all crash into each other. I write about restaurants, wine, placemaking, customer experience, and the small details that make people talk about a business long after they leave.

For even more snarky takes on marketing, pop culture, branding, and the internet, visit my Substack, Burnt Popcorn & Branding: Substack

  • A mix of hospitality, branding, customer psychology, hospitality culture, and internet behavior from someone who’s worked behind the scenes in marketing long enough to know what feels authentic and what feels painfully forced.

  • Yes. Especially if your marketing currently sounds like ChatGPT wrote it.

  • No LinkedIn thought leadership energy here. Just strategy, storytelling, and occasional side-eye toward trends, Chat-GPT written branding advice, and “disruptive” ideas that all look the same.

  • People in marketing, hospitality, branding, retail, wine, or anyone who secretly judges restaurants by their menu design before reading the food list.

Wine County Shana Bull Wine County Shana Bull

Wines to enjoy while watching the movie Cruella

Top Picks for wines to drink while watching the movie Cruella from Disney. The live-action Disney movie starring Emma Stone is a fun take on the movie 101 Dalmatians, featuring a favorite Disney villain. Set in the 70’s in London, the music, the makeup, and the fashion is fun to watch for anyone. This movie is best enjoyed with crumpets and a glass of wine.

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Bringing The Napa Valley Experience Online

The iconic St. Helena winery is known for being Napa Valley's oldest wine estate, their grand estate, and some BIG bold Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. When the “experience” of being at the winery was not allowed during the SIP (Shelter in Place) order for California, the Charles Krug team figured out how to bring that experience online with virtual wine tastings and Facebook Lives.

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Digital Marketing, Wine County, Pivotal Shana Bull Digital Marketing, Wine County, Pivotal Shana Bull

Wine Country Membership Card Had to Pivot To Sell Wine Online

The series is called Pivotal - a Focus on Digital Marketing - because everyone I've talked to both for this series, and through social media, or over the phone, they have realized that what worked in the past, AKA February 2020, wasn't going to work anymore, even after their businesses are granted permission to open back up.

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Tools For Creating Video For Virtual Wine Tastings

The experience of “wine” isn’t always JUST about the wine. Any winery that plans out virtual wine tastings should think about what core values they share with their customers and try to create video wine tastings that connect with their target audience and brings something else to the table. Here are some video tools to use to create better video quality for your virtual wine tastings.

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Post-Shelter in Place California Business Will Be Different

California Governor, Gavin Newsom shared some of his plans to open California back up after the COVID-19 pandemic slows (still no official date until we see trends in hospitalization numbers flattening). The plan will be lifting SIP in stages. California Small businesses that rely on customers may need to rethink this business plan for life after the SIP orders are lifted - and get creative.

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Restaurant and Winery Marketing Gets Creative While We Shelter in Place

With the shelter-in-place order, wineries and restaurants all over California are having to rethink their traditional model of people coming to them. Creativity tends to flourish during times of crisis, so I wanted to give a few shoutouts to brands that I think are doing a great job of embracing the horrible reality that we're dealing with right now.

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Marketing Is Still Important—Even During a Crisis

For many of us in the hospitality industry, all of our marketing efforts were directed at getting people into the tasting room, restaurant or hotel, and letting our tasting room staff sell wine club memberships/wine/food, etc. And even though this crisis is temporary, the brands that adapt will be able to move forward stronger, and the brands that simply want to revert to the status quo will be left behind.

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Digital Marketing, Wine County Shana Bull Digital Marketing, Wine County Shana Bull

Top 11 Wineries in California on Instagram

My picks for top CA Wineries on Instagram are not based on who has the most followers, the prettiest pictures, or which wineries get the most Instagram location check-ins. While those are important, I chose these wineries based on their community engagement and unique brands… I chose wineries on Instagram that were true to their brand passions and connected with their target audience.

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Wine Country Afternoon, Wine County Shana Bull Wine Country Afternoon, Wine County Shana Bull

Calistoga Girls Weekend {Advice for planning a trip to Napa Valley with Friends}

Spend time in Napa Valley’s rustic town for a Calistoga Girls Weekend is the mini-staycation or vacation you need. Especially great for moms or a Calistoga bachelorette party to enjoy Napa or Sonoma County wine county! Wine tasting, cocktails, relaxing by a mineral pool, great food, and dancing the night away at a local pub on Main Street - seriously, this is my go-to wine country destination for a girl’s weekend.

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