Gallo steps up UK Moscato drive

E&J Gallo is stepping up its push to replicate Moscato’s US success in the UK with the launch of a major new marketing campaign this month.

Billed as the company’s largest investment to date in its Moscato range, “Moscato: This Season’s Must-Have” will target fashion conscious 25-34-year-old women who, Gallo believes, “typically enjoy drinking refreshing and sweeter profile alcoholic drinks.”

Moscato has enjoyed a major surge in the US, with retail analysts IRI reporting 481% growth in sales since 2009, adding $323 million to the market’s wine category. The trend has been widely linked to the grape variety’s adoption by a number of music stars.

In the UK, Gallo is hoping to capitalise on “a growing trend towards sweeter and lighter styles.” Since launching its Gallo Family Vineyards Summer Red, Summer White and Moscato over the last three years, the company points to Nielsen off-trade data indicating that the range has so far generated £25m in sales.

Having launched a pink Moscato in the UK earlier this year, Gallo is now aiming to reach 300,000 consumers with a sampling drive for this expression, as well as its white Moscato. This will be supported by print and online advertising, social media activity and in-store promotions, designed to reach a total of 5.3m consumers.

“This is a very exciting time for Gallo Family Vineyards and its Moscato portfolio,” said Alexis Byron, marketing manager for Gallo Family Vineyards UK & EMEA. “Our overall Moscato campaign is very bold – we want to give Moscato its very own persona that will resonate strongly with our target audience.

“Our target consumers are keen to show that they are ‘on-trend’ and by creating our “Moscato: This Season’s Must-Have” platform we’re offering them the ideal opportunity to discover their perfect wine from our Moscato portfolio.”

Perhaps one of the main sources of competition for Moscato in the UK is Prosecco. Sales of the category leapt by 40% in 2013, with commentators noting that the lightly sparkling, often off-dry style has been adopted by many consumers as an “everyday treat”.