Los Andes has a 137-year history of communication in Mendoza, Argentina, which began with Los Andes newspaper. In the last five years, the company accelerated several processes to generate a multiplatform ecosystem.

One of the challenges was to increase new digital audiences through several niche products. Guarda14 is a great example of this with 25,000 new unique visitors, 10% advertising operating profit, and part of Los Andes’ digital audience of 10 million.

Guarda14 capitalises on wine

Medoza, Argentina, is known for its wine production, and the wine industry is important in the region’s history. It is an emerging enotourism destination for travelers interested in exploring the Argentina Wine Route.

Guarda14 started two years ago for people who were interested in wine with both news and special content. It is also intended for people interested in the wine industry. It was a strong challenge to combine both B2C and B2B content. Wine, wineries, enotourism, industry news, and social events were the main content pillars for this product.

The idea and way to reach the audience was quite simple: We focused our editorial content for both audiences, but only on the Web site instead of in a multi-platform format. We decided to avoid the newspaper platform. It needed to work by itself, surviving in the Los Andes ecosystem.

Guarda14 attracted members in a short period of time even though it was not a priority for Los Andes. It was a test, and it brought in a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1% of pageviews.

2019: Entering the Los Andes ecosystem

We moved Guarda14 to the Los Andes platform in early 2019. People were not aware that it was a Los Andes product. A couple of great surprises emerged.

First, Guarda14 was amoung the most-read articles 12 times in 2019. Additionally, by integrating into the Los Andes ecosystem, Guarda14 achieved three times its growth on Facebook (20,000 followers). It also performs well on Twitter and Instagram.

Marketing and monetisation

To build loyalty with readers, we organised three paid events in 2019 for readers who wanted to participate in gatherings at a winery. Wine, food, and music were part of the offer. More than 200 people were present at each event.

To build loyalty with the wine industry, we worked with wineries to develop different ways of communication. On Instagram, we launched a game called #TiempodeDescorche. It offered presents for Instagram followers, and in exchange for these presents, Guarda14 increased its posts for these brands in Instagram and through other platforms like the newspaper, Web, video, and podcast.

Challenges for 2020

In 2020, we want to gain position in the wine world, not only for readers but also with industry and winery initiatives. Here are our goals for the year:

• Reach other markets inside Argentina and abroad, as well as develop agreements with other global wine regions and media companies interested in wine to maximise the audience in both areas.
• Monetise content and other products such as the Guarda14 wine club, newsletters, and exclusive wine-tasting events.
• Create a wine loyalty programme in addition to the Los Andes pass, which is the loyalty programme for Los Andes’ 50,000 subscribers.
• Create a closer relation with other brands and increase our audience size on every platform (Web, social networks, and events).
• Guarda14 rises to be an example of best practices in innovation, profitability, and professionalism.

We encourage media companies that have wine industries in their countries to work together, exchanging experiences, stories, and content to develop opportunities like this through niche products.

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