Graphic reads 'Navigating branding with wine' overlaid on an image of a glass of red wine

Navigating branding with wine

Written by Ian Sutton

How many times have you wandered along the wine aisle in a supermarket looking for a familiar point of reference to help select a bottle?

Sometimes it’s simple, the right looking bottle jumps out at you – at the right price – and you pop it in your basket. But we often find ourselves in an unfamiliar shop, struggling to find a half-decent bottle that suits the occasion. All the recognisable wine brands seem mass-produced, and everything else is confusing.

You’re faced with the dilemma of a choice overload combined with a lack of clear brand signposting. Choosing a bottle of wine should be fun. But it rarely is.

Every business that has a complex hierarchy of products and services, a group of companies, sub-divisions or sub-brands puts its customers through this choice dilemma every day.

So, why does the wine industry present such a good opportunity to understand branding? One reason is the fact that the wine sector is not dominated by the global brands that are common in many other food and drink categories. Wine is still very much a cottage industry in this respect and most people are not wine experts.

The wine sector also demonstrates the way that we, as customers, rely heavily on branding cues to help us make purchase decisions. Some of the brand signals that we use as signposts include:

  • Country
  • Region
  • Grape variety
  • Colour and style of wine
  • Price
  • Producer logo
  • Product name
  • Bottle shape
  • Vintage/year
  • Label design
  • Awards
  • Fastening – cork or screwcap
  • Retailer/Restaurant

Our brains are storytelling, pattern-making systems. We’re looking for things that fit together and resonate with the story narrative that we are telling ourselves.

For example, you might be on the lookout for a nice bottle of wine to take to an important dinner party. Or something fun and informal for a barbecue. Or maybe a meaningful gift for a relative’s landmark birthday.

So, what’s the first brand cue you would look for? And then how do those cues play out after that?

You could start with country, grape variety or price. But what about the impact of a great looking bottle and label design?

Of course, these are just some usage occasions. Wine is bought for myriad reasons – for celebrations, romance, gifts, barbecues, business lunches, relaxation, food pairing, cooking and more.

Whatever the scenario, we take a gamble with our knowledge of branding cues in the hope of getting the right product to match the occasion.

But how does this relate to branding in other categories?

As a brand owner, ask yourself these questions…

What’s the first and most important signal of trust from your brand to a new customer?

It could be your product design and packaging, Tripadvisor review, Google preview text, website homepage, premises, social media feed, advertising campaign, or maybe you and your colleagues.

Whatever you think it might be, does it communicate the essential story of your brand in the best way possible, one that’s both recognisable, yet distinctive within your category?

Does this story of your brand resonate with the story that the customer is telling themselves about who they are and their current purchase occasion?

And does the brand story have a connected halo effect that runs across all the other trust signal moments in the customer’s buying journey?

Don’t worry if working it all out sounds like a challenge. We can help with that.