Ayia Mavri Winery in Koilani Village, Limassol

QUESTION - Choose a service organisation and collect all forms of physical and virtual evidence that the organisation uses to communicate with
its customers. If customers see the firm's facility, also take a photograph of the service scape. Analyse the evidence in terms of compatibility,
consistency, and whether it over-promises or under-promises what the firm can deliver.

Virtual Presence – Website - https://ayiamavriwinery.com/

In terms of the company’s website ability to

communicate with its customers, Ayia Mavri
site accomplishes the goal, however the
message delivered may mislead some people.

WHY? Judging by the website design, I have

entered something exquisite, elegant, rich,
expensive. Even though the simplicity of the
site is noticeable, and the information, be it
available, is still generic. I still feel that as I will
enter the premises of Ayia Mavri, I will be
surrounded by sophistication levels of a James
Bond movie.
However, through this chic, glimmers a taste
of simplicity. The image of the winemaker
smelling his wine – might intimidate, but the
illustration of a stone house with a 1990
antenna, wooden windows and a long vine of
grape, doesn’t seam so unapproachable, but
welcoming. The homemade, white
background pictures of the product line, adds
on to the feeling of “home”. By clicking on the
bottles, we are given a brief description of the
bottles. The lack of a price tag, immediately is
evident and if observed carefully, the bottles
displayed in the pictures are from 2019,
especially whites and rose.
White and rose wines are usually updated in a
winery’s collection on an annual basis. As they
must be drunk fresh and of the year of
harvest or can be maximum 2 years old
(usually).
So, we can conclude that the website has not
been updated since 2019.
This will of course influence the company’s ability to communicate with their customers about the
updated collections and possibly new services that are available at the winery.

If I did not know this winery on a personal level, I could assume that this winery is in fact nothing
spectacular in an obvious way. This may drive the decision of the consumer towards not visiting the
winery and the company will fail to make an initial first contact. Unless, their product is already in
the shelves of the local supermarkets, this first contact will possibly give chance for a reality check
on the customer’s side.

Physical Presence – The Visit

“Traditional” – is a too vague of a term to describe this.

As you drive into the winery, it almost feels like you are
in someone’s drive way to a home, not a winery. A very
worn out gravel drive through on to the parking area (4
car slots) and you are greeted by a +/-40 year old vine
that travels through the face of the building and a sign
“Ayia Mavri Winery”. Not always immediately you are
greeted by the host, sometimes you must step
downstairs into the tasting room and let someone know
that you are there. This for me, represents a “trust level”
towards the customer. However, for some, this may
communicated lack of welcoming, acknowledgement and
attentiveness towards the customer.

The first thing that throws itself at you is the old wines
press, table with brochures and a home kitchen. The
kitchen really dives you into the life of the people who
work here. The mysterious black staircase, which leads
upstairs is never mentioned throughout the
presentation, which adds mystery to the
experience.

An older gentleman starts his

presentation with a welcoming
statement, already adjusting the
language preference to the customers’
need (Greek or English). Introduces
himself as the winemaker and a medical
doctor and proceeds to explain about
some of the techniques used to make the
wine. If asked more specific questions, Mr.
Ioannis Ioannidou will gladly keep a
conversation, as long as the English is not to
complicated.

When going downstairs, we enter the tasting

room, cash point, entrance to the cellar and
bottling area. We are directed to the “wall of
achievements” where the winery proudly
presents every wine competition certificate ever achieved, newspaper articles of winery mentions
and pictures with the recent presidents of Cyprus. Through a small door behind the cash point, we
enter the barrel room. A cool feel of slight humidity and the necessity to mind your head over the
low ceiling gives a sense of underground. The dusty bottles decorating the cellar along with some
French oak barrels give the visitor a scale of the business.

It is a small family owned and operated winery,

which is far from the “James Bond” style winery.
But maybe the elegance is in the wine?

The glassware used for the tasting is machine

washed, and it shows by the stains on the glass, but
at this point you didn’t expect anything else. The
wines are presented briefly but with love and care
towards every bottle. The presentation is either
made by one of the family members. Daughter,
Father or Mother or someone else,
whoever is available. Most would just listen to
the presentation and be ready for purchasing
and leaving. However, if you are able to keep
up a wine conversation, everyone is more
than happy to support the conversation. We
were even lucky to receive a free bottle of
muscat on the way out, after we were done
with our purchases.

“The aim is to exceed excellence in wine

making”, “Wine that enrich taste and soul”,
“Continue traditions” – are all fitting for this business.
But not in the way the website wants to present it.

The website misleads the mind into expecting an

experience that is not so “down to earth”. Thus,
giving a potential visitor a false idea of what to
expect. But through further research through social
media, customer
reviews in Google and Tripadvisor, most will
be guaranteed a 4.9/5 star experience. Maybe
not they way they expected, but even
better and less “corporate” and more family
based.

What the company delivers is a “family”

based approach to the art of wine. And a
customer who values that spirit from a business,
will definitely see that the winery is just in
balance of what is promises and
delivers, and for some, it delivers even more.