This episode covers WSET Diploma D2 — Chapter 8: An Introduction to Marketing Wine.

Rather than treating marketing as promotion or branding alone, this chapter frames marketing as a profit-led management process rooted in understanding the target consumer and the experience they seek from wine — not just the liquid itself.

We work through the core definition used by WSET, the five-stage marketing process, and the use of SWOT analysis to test whether a marketing objective is realistically achievable. Particular emphasis is placed on strategic fit: how internal resources and capabilities align (or fail to align) with external opportunities and threats in the wider business environment.

For exam answers, the key skill is explanation rather than description — showing how consumer needs, organisational capabilities, and external forces interact to shape marketing decisions and profitability.

Next episode: Chapter 9, where we move from marketing principles to the product itself and examine how branding, positioning, and product life cycles influence pricing power and long-term success.

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