The Final Word

Giovanni Gaja, a 25-year-old, fifth generation, Italian winemaker, explains Gaja Wine’s decision to neither have a website nor social media presence, despite selling in 80 countries

- Riddhi Doshi

He surprised everyone at the dinner table when he said that his wine company has no website and no social media presence. In the present time isn’t it hard to think of an offline-only business model of an Italian wine label that is sold in 80 countries. Also, what was more surprising was that the proud announcement came from the 25-yearold Giovanni Gaja, a net-savvy millennial.

The Gaja family, behind the eponymous wine label, established in 1859, still believes in upholding the old values of personal interaction, with dealers, suppliers and clients, and word-of-mouth publicity. “We follow the ‘less is more’ communication philosophy,” says Giovanni. “We don’t have a website because we think that on websites, one always tries to say the best things about one’s products and company,” says Giovanni. “Not that, that’s bad, but I think that we don’t need a website. If you go online, you will see that other people have written about us and you will get all the information you require.”

For Gaja family and their business, traditions, beliefs and ideas of their forefathers are extremely important, and by not going online Giovanni believes that he and his two sisters, fifth-generation winemakers, are respecting Gaja’s original model of communication. “We are an artisanal brand. We don’t follow market trends and believe in producing only the best,” says Giovanni. “Hence, we go our route.”

Also, Giovanni, a management and commerce student is aware of the perils of social media and has decided to not launch the wine label on it yet. “Social media platforms have their benefits, but it’s hard to have something different and original to say every day. If you can’t, you face the risk of sounding banal, and that would work against the brand,” says Giovanni.