Vinpass: How Wine Became a Social Game

By Evan Dawson, Managing Editor

Lenn and I are always leery of new trends in social media and wine, but we also deeply admire the work done by our friends at VinTank and Cruvee. Those guys are working with wineries to reach consumers directly, and in new ways. They know that making consumers happy makes wineries successful, so it's all about access and innovation.

That's where VinPass, a new social game, comes in. The concept of "social game" might sound strange, but it's been around longer than you probably realize. Tens of millions of people play social games already, from FourSquare to Farmville to many others. Some are silly time-wasters, but others have the legs to connect people across the globe.

We think VinPass can work in exactly that way. It's designed for wine lovers at any level, but it's most appealing (we think) to avid but newer wine drinkers. That's because it's set up to help consumers learn while playing the game.

The concept is simple: through Web-based and mobile apps, you unlock passes or earn badges by completing a variety of tasks. And the task always includes tasting or drinking wine.

You can see why we think this is a winner.

VinPass has put together a pass centered on my book, Summer in a Glass -- check out the pass here. You can unlock it by tasting wines from the Finger Lakes producers featured in the book. Simple.

Other passes can be unlocked by tasting roses from around the world, or a handful of offbeat varieties, or simply by tasting wines from specific wineries.

As a reward, those who play the game can unlock discounts on wines, or earn invitations to virtual tastings, or any number of other incentives.

One feature that appealed to us is ease of use. "Ease of use is key," says Paul Mabray, Chief Strategy Officer of VinTank. "There are challenges that we are learning to accommodate. For example, if a platform allows users to write in the wines and they misspell the brand, this makes it challenging but we are creating new solutions every day."

VinPass launched with 47 sponsors and the support of a number of wine personalities. NYCR will actively monitor the social game, and if it goes according to plan, expect more involvement in the future. We think it can expose more consumers to new wines, and it's always a net positive when consumers are seeking new experiences. 

Comments

[Arnold Waldstein]

Nice post.

I just don't know...

I make my living designing solutions at the intersection of commerce and community.

I spent the first half of career in gaming.

So I'm not a naysayer by any degree.

It might work certainly but I don't believe that this is the big frontier for the wine world.

For something that so many are so passionate about and with such a lack of community and referral systems and databases...is this the big connector?

I'll be happy (and try this out) for anything that rises from the happy demise of the Parker point scale that works.

Maybe...as long as it connects.

Platforms and social games work when they give expression to behavioral needs. I'm on the fence whether this is the need that is itching to get fulfilled.

[Evan Dawson]

Arnold - I understand your skepticism, and I would just say that I'm deeply impressed with Paul and the VinTank team's research and work ethic. They're willing to fail, but they work hard to avoid it.

That said, I wonder if you're not exactly the target audience for this kind of thing. Perhaps you are. Reading your blog, I tend to think probably not. But I'm often wrong.

[RichardPF]

I think VinPass needs to list the Rewards that people receive for acquiring Passes. Right now, people are in the dark as to what they might receive. If they complete a Pass, but hate the Reward, that could turn them off to the whole idea of VinPass. And if the Rewards are enticing enough, that could attract more people, and not just those new to wine.

[Arnold Waldstein]

Evan...thanks for the response.

I'm not at all negative about this just sharing my thoughts.

And I'm certain that I'm not the audience, but our readers are I would bet. I will support the app and write it up once I play with it.

We can (but won't) have a long discussion about why Zynga was built and works. Or about the behavior of badges in check in apps.

I just believe that the majority of the wine drinking market do love wine and want nothing more than to feel comfortable buying it. Somewhere in there lies the motivation to connect and play and share.

But hey...we shall see.

[Julie Brosterman]

Evan - thanks for the informative story. I've been curious about adoption of the game so hope you'll update us on that too.

It's great to know that a good idea can also be well executed.

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[Paul Mabray]

Evan - thank you for a kind article and participating in VinPass.

To give you some stats:
Over 9K people have played the game generating over 41K tasting notes and almost 400K impressions of the passes and it is only going to get better as we add more platforms (remember VinPass is just a game layer within the apps).

To Richard's points - we definitely are experimenting with all kinds of things, game dynamics, presenting the rewards earlier, marketing the game within the apps differently, communications to the players, etc. All of it is learning so we can better serve wine consumers and help stimulate learning through experience.

[Paul Mabray]

PS - the best two places to play VinPass are on Drync's iPhone app or Winelog.net