gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards"

No. Not for me. To the two are distinct seperates. Your cartoons are a you and so IMHO are a sought after product in themselves. The wine is not you. It is Stormhoek from Wellington, Cape, S Africa and can't be linked to your cartoons. Non bloggers will not connect the two and will be relying on interrupt or supermarket gondola placement to try to persuade them to buy a bottle or two.

I can associate the two and will buy Stormhoek more out of curiosity than anything. I'll buy your cartoons because I can see them and I like them. I'll have to part with cash for Stormhoek, an unknown product and might not like it. Hope this makes sense & helps in a miniscule way.

I like your stuff and your "indirect marketing" concept...so I'll look for Stormhoek wine next time I'm browsing the wine store shelves. Then again, I drink wine.

Is your art on the Stormhoek label?

can i have both?

Eagerly awaiting US release, and related online directory. Has your marketing plan worked, ect.? Well, I'll be trying the wine not because I like your "marketing concept", but because I'm interested, curious(the marketing worked). I have to agree with Robert Bruce though, they are two distinct experiences and no cartoon, no matter how much I enjoy it, is going to make me drink a wine I don't like.

I haven't downloaded any of the high-res cartoons, but the fact that you have put your name behind the product gives me enough confidence to pick up a bottle if I ever see it here in Canada.

I'll drink Stormhoek (if it ever makes it down here to Australia, and if it cuts the mustard in the midst of plenty!) because I've read about it here. Others won't necessarily make the connection between cartoons and wine unless the cartoons are on the label (which is a good idea BTW).

Yes. A label with your cartoon will sell the wine like hotcakes. Do limited runs of a particular cartoon. Number them etc etc.

Make buying Stormhoek a truly unique experience.

Your word get the first bottle in my hands. After that, it's up to the wine...

That's sort of how I see it too, Andy. Obviously, I wouldn't expect somebody to buy it (a second time) if it weren't up to snuff.

I'll second Andy's comments. I might not have picked up a bottle of Stormhoek without your endorsement, but would be willing to give it a try now. I'm not sure that the hi-res images have any direct influence on that decision, but I do find that I get a better feel for your images in the larger picture, and do appreciate your making them available.

I know that I only tried the various flying dog beers here in the states because of Steadman's art on the label..

I've been collecting cartoons to take to the photo printer and have prints made of. Now, I only have to convince them of the Creative Commons use license.

If I were old enough, I'd find myself a bottle of Stormhoek and give it a whirl. Or you could ship me one ;)

As Andy and Jason say, because of your mentioning it, I will try it now and see if I like it. I love wine and am always looking for some new, great wine. I've also been to Southern Africa and the wine there is quite respectable, IMHO.

I've tried several bottles just to make sure I wasn't mistaken about it the first time - so I guess it's working!

I think your cartoons would be a good piece of interuption in themselves on the bottles - especially if you can come up with sufficiently edgy messages - get people to connect with you after the purchase in a closed micro-brand loop kind of way?

I was already looking forward to trying stormhook... and maybe even being able to spell it... before you changed the rules about the cartoons.

Your indirect marketing approach will get me to try Stormhoek (if it ever comes to Canada)...
...but will it make me a repeat customer? Only if it is good enough. You have opened the door for me to peek in. If its a shambles inside, I won't stay long.

I keep wondering about your reach. You are getting your message out to this audience loud and clear (though since I do not imbibe, it is lost on me).

Actually, I haven't been able to see how the "indirect" part of the marketing works. You alluded to this in your "original" Stormhoek post. This must be the key to your marketing plan, but it is just not visible to me (though it is probably on the end of my nose, I just don't see it...).

I would buy one bottle of red wine if it was available in this corner of the world, because you've made me curious. I would only buy a second bottle if the first one was absolutely excellent, definitely better than local wines. Spaniards are programmed to despise foreign wines, so that's saying a lot.

IMHO, the fact that I come here and read your stuff is enough for me to pick up one bottle. Echoing everyone else, I would not buy another bottle if it wasnt good. What you CAN do though, is on the lables of the bottle, put the link to the blog. There you can build a sense of community and company loyalty to the drinkers. Kind of similar to an inside joke, where people would be able to associate your art with the wine. Obviously, if they like it enough, you can create a forum where people can be with like-minded people. Love the blog btw.

Actually, Hugh, I have been noting the cartoons I want in FeedDemon. Once I have a couple, I will get them printed out and put them on display in either my office or humble abode.

As for the Stormhoek, once I find out when it hits the states--specifically, Baltimore, MD--I will definitely give it a whirl. As Andy said above, from there, the wine will have to prove itself. Nonetheless, I will try anything once.

I would not buy another bottle if it wasn't good, either...

The Hugh connection would make me notice Stormhoek if I saw it in a shop (don't know if they sell it here in Sweden). I might buy it if it were below my price point, and I'd be a lot more likely to do so if it had a Hugh label. But the story you're telling about freshness sounds to my oenophile-for-decades ears like a crock.

Ive downloaded a few of your images and I must admit that if I ever see Stormhoek in Philadelphia I'll give it a try once. Then make a firm decision afterwards.

"oenophile-for-decades"

exactly.

It goes a bit like this: I enjoy your cartoons and writing. Because of that I have respect for you and your opinion. Because you endorse Stormhoek, I might try it.
Even though I'm not a wine person, really.

Will Stormhoek make it to central Europe any time soon? I would ick up a bottle just to see what you are on about (and a gapingvoid cartoon on the label would make me buy it even more certainly).

i did not downloaded any of your cartons yet but i plan to do it.
if this wine would be reachable anwhere close i would definitely try it.

I'll try the wine because I enjoy your blog and you've talked about it. Of course if the wine blows I'll spam you back to 1999. ,-)

I don't personally take advantage of you making the cartoons available in hi-res format - BUT I really like the idea that you've made them freely available.

In a way I guess I see it as walking your own talk.

Not being a fan of cartoons except for the New Yorker cartoons they have no effect on me and certainly wouldn't cause me to buy a product. In fact, I find them somewhat of a turn off. What is amusing to one person may be insulting to another. One must be cautious in using humor in advertising.

I'd give one a go if I see it, if only because you kept talking about it and that makes me curious. The Hugh Connection is potent :)

i'd try it if i could find it - do you sell it in aus?

If I see it, I'll probably try it. It's done well enough through word of mouth marketing that there must be some substance behind the hype.

"Not being a fan of cartoons except for the New Yorker cartoons they have no effect on me and certainly wouldn't cause me to buy a product. In fact, I find them somewhat of a turn off. What is amusing to one person may be insulting to another. One must be cautious in using humor in advertising."

Wow, that should be a cartoon in itself. Or is that just me? ;-)

I might buy one, but just for the 'what the fuck' novelty.

In truth, I sit through the stuff about yachts / wine / suits to see the cartoons, not to be part of some grand microbrand revolution.

Wine is wine, it has a flavor (for better or worse), there's really not much to 'converse' about.

I think your quid pro quo appeal--I release the images, you give the wine the tiebreaker when you're just grabbing off the shelf--is more compelling; I'm more excited about providing indirect payment for services rendered than 'viral marketing'.

Then again, maybe I don't 'get it' :-)

I've always saved my favorite cartoon of yours to my PC. The high-res pics are very nice, thank you.

Your marketing plan is working as reinforcement to me, since I've want to buy a bottle of Stormhoek already. When are they available in NY?

I will say this, I've spread the word of your wine to all my friends, so when it does become available to us it will be purchased. We're waiting patiently in NYC & LI. Next week whilst traveling upstate I'll be recommending it there too.

I'm no more likely to buy it now than before.

The reason I read gapingvoid is that you're a marketing guy who seems to know a rather lot about the sort of niche marketing I'm interested in these days. What do you know from wine? (What do I know from wine, for that matter?)

It's probably better to say that I wouldn't buy Stormhoek because I read gapingvoid; however there's a good chance I'd try it if Stormhoek donated a few bottles for an event I was attending. Their acting on your advice is more likely to get me to try it than your telling me your advice to them.

Are you selling wine on gapingvoid or are you selling Hugh?