Greatest job in the world? Maybe for some…
Another “greatest job in the world” has been launched, this time in the wine industry. The Murphy-Goode winery is offering US$10,000 a month for a 6 month stint to blog, tweet, you tube and facebook your days about their wine. Based in Healdsburg in the Sonoma region of California, US, the applicants will need to go through a rigorous few months of public scrutiny before the chosen one is revealed.
The head of Murphy-Goode winery, David Ready Jr, was inspired by the original Australian version of the “greatest job in the world”.
“We thought, ‘Wow, can we apply this to the wine industry?’ I guess we can,” Ready Jr told the Los Angeles Times newspaper.
At the website for the competition, there are quite a few applicants on there already. The vast majority are from the US, so it hasn’t really captured the imagination of the world as the Australian version did. There are a few entertaining clips if you have the time or the interest.
Is it a good idea? Well for the winery it is great. It is getting their brand to their target market. More importantly, they are spending less to reach a lot of people than more traditional marketing would reach for the same cost.
For the applicants it is a bit of time to get their clip together for a 1 in 10,000 shot to win. However if they reach the top 10 they need to take a week out to do some media hoopla at the winery. In these economic times, where holding onto a job isn’t that easy, taking a week off work to pursue this may not send the best message to the boss… If you get that far I guess you are in with a shot, so it may be worth it.
The US$60,000 for six months of work is good money for someone starting out in marketing/PR. However, you are tied to that one wine brand for 6 months. What if you want a particular wine with a meal? You are earning enough to go out and afford a good meal and a very good bottle of wine. So what do you do? Enjoy your meal with a wine of your choice, or select one form the winery you (very publicly) work for, which you may not enjoy as much? Do you stop eating white meat because their whites are not as good as their reds? I have not tasted their product so, this could be irrelevant, however I would expect you would need to make a few sacrifices. Personally, as someone passionate about wine (as the contestants should be), I am not sure if I would manage with those restrictions. So for me, no it would not be worth it. For others $60,000 is worth a few sacrifices.
Let us know what you think!
