Polly Hammond

As the Founder and CEO of 5forests, Polly Hammond bridges the gap between strategy and execution in the wine, beer, and spirits industry, driving innovation through digital marketing solutions. She spends her days not only consulting, writing, and speaking about impactful trends but also rolling up her sleeves to implement effective digital marketing solutions for 5forests' clients.

A picture of the Miroir d'eau in Bordeaux in front of the Place de la Bourse. Text reads "Bordeaux - beyond en primeur with Jane Anson"

Bordeaux Beyond En Primeur, with Jane Anson, Real Business of Wine Ep. 8

On the day that the Bordeaux En Primeur week should be getting underway, Decanter correspondent and award-winning writer, Jane Anson discusses with chateau owners, merchants and scientists who have been analysing the region using satellite imagery, what the 2019 vintage is really like, the implications of delaying its Spring release, and more generally how the…

Picture of horns used in biodynamic practices. Text says "Getting the horn with Monty Waldin"

Getting the Horn, with Monty Waldin, Real Business of Wine Ep. 7

Star of TV’s Chateau Monty series, Monty Waldin is the world’s leading expert on Biodynamic wine, and author of two guides and a seminal book on the subject.

A picture of different style wine glasses, filled with different styles of wine (red, white, rosé..)

From The Top, with Jancis Robinson, Real Business of Wine Ep. 6

Jancis Robinson MW is unquestionably the world’s leading wine authority today. Editor of the Oxford Companion to Wine, co-author of the World Atlas of Wine, Financial Times columnist, and creator of https://jancisrobinson.com. What would *you* like to ask her?

A vintage map of East Europe in the background with the text reading "The East wind with Philip Cox

The East Wind, with Philip Cox, Real Business of Wine Ep. 5

Eastern European wines are finally beginning to gain more recognition, but it’s not easy, as British-born Philip Cox, Romania’s biggest exporter, will explain.

A picture of chairs arranged upside down on top of tables. Text is "when on.premise turns off".

When On-premise Turns Off, Real Business of Wine Ep. 4

As lockdowns are enforced from Naples to New York and restaurants put up “closed until further notice” signs, how is this affecting the sommeliers? How are thousands of men and women spending their time, now they are not pouring wine for customers? In Episode 3, we talk to James Tidwell of Texsom, co-head of the…

Young people looking at virtual graphs in a futuristic way. Text reads as "Remote control".

Remote Control, Real Business of Wine Ep. 3

As countries and regions, from Spain to San Francisco declare States of Emergency and lockdown, tens – possibly hundreds – of thousands of wine professionals are having to change the way they work. For our second Live Panel, we share experiences with three leading members of the wine industry, and an expert on digital tools…

Dark smoke as background. Text says "Events beyond our control"

Events Beyond our Control, Real Business of Wine Ep. 2

Our first Live Video Podcast – focusing on the wine world in the face of the postponement/cancellation of all of its major Winter/Spring events: Chengdu Wine Fair, Prowein, Vinitaly, Vinexpo Hong Kong, RAW London… We were delighted to welcome: Ian Ford, former CEO of Summergate, one of China’s top importers, and now heading the Nimbility…

A road that runs until the horizon, and says START. Text on top of that picture says "Making a start"

Making A Start, Real Business of Wine Ep. 1

An honest discussion about what led to the Real Business of Wine series, a content initiative by Robert Joseph, aka WineThinker, and Polly Hammond, Founder, 5forests.

“Hi Virginia” or "Does your personalization suck?"

“Hi Virginia” or “Does your marketing personalization suck?”

Technology, data, and the interwebs gave us an ability to “personalize” content, which many businesses took at face value: add a name here or there, automate emails based on what someone’s bought or visited, remarket elsewhere to the same people; but, for the vast majority, it simply meant adding someone’s first name to an email…

A love letter to old friends: how to revive a dead email list

What the heck do you do with an email database that hasn’t been used in ages? We’ve all been on the receiving end of these emails, the ones where we think, “who IS this?” and immediately unsubscribe. So in typical fashion, I’m going to take the “real human” approach to this conundrum. But first, let’s…

Built for Play. What the wine industry can learn from Video Game design.

Lately, I’ve been pondering my GenX husband’s secret guilty pleasure: MMORPGs, huge multiplayer online games with complex story plots that often rely on community-building to master. Dear Hubby has been a gamer for as long as we’ve been married, and before life got busy with kids and businesses and mortgages, I spent many an evening…

Creating delight and building connections

I’ve decided to eschew the crappy list-ification that you’ll find littering Google when you search Customer Delight, because while those lists might give you some very middle-of-the-road places to start, they don’t help you shift your thinking. Delight is a way of looking at communication and marketing that needs to be embraced by everyone on…