Tesco Uses Social Media To Create South African Wine

Move over, Brewdog with its #mashtag brew: Tesco is letting its customers' voices be heard by creating a wine using social media. 

Tesco, the U.K.'s biggest supermarket chain, is launching a "socially created" wine designed by Tesco's social media community. According to Advertising Age, the wine will be made with grapes from the Enaleni community in South Africa, helping them to build a sustainable future. The community grows grapes but has never had the resources to produce and market its own wines. James Griswood, product development manager at Tesco, says "This campaign is not about producing a bottle of wine, it's about supporting a community... It provides the Enaleni Community with the opportunity to get their amazing wine onto the shelves in the U.K. without using a third-party producer."

Tesco first invited wine bloggers and members of its social media community to a wine tasting on June 26, where attendees judged five wines (two whites and three reds). The next step is a social media campaign to choose a name and bottle design. An app created by "We Are Social" will appear on Tesco's Facebook page as a medium for the online community to vote and offer ideas. The creator of the winning name or design will win a trip to South Africa courtesy of Enotria, a wine importer.

Griswood says, "I can't wait to see what the social media communities suggest and select — I'm sure this wine will be a best seller by the end of the year." The wine will hit the shelves and an online market in October.