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Follow my lead: how wine brands should adapt to fit the consumer

Faced with declining consumption, wine businesses need to meet consumers where they’re at, but how? Eloise Feilden shares insights on the topic from the ProWein Business Talk.

Follow my lead: how wine brands should adapt to fit the consumer

Wine consumption is declining in every one of the world’s major markets. In continental Europe, the downward trend has progressed over decades. For many years these declines were offset by growth in markets including the US, UK, Northern Europe and APAC markets — Japan, China and Australia to name a few.

But the last decade has seen these former growth markets also tip into the red. The average UK adult now drinks about 14% less wine than in 2000, according to data from IWSR.

In an era of declining global wine consumption, a strategic approach to engage consumers is more important than ever.

Understanding the needs and desires of the consumer is the logical first step.

Italian winemaker Piero Mastroberardino is vice president of Federvini (The Italian Federation of Industrial Producers, Exporters and Importers of Wines, Spirits, Syrups, Vinegar). During a panel discussion on the future of the global wine industry, hosted yesterday (14 January) by drinks sector trade fair ProWein, Mastroberardino argued that for the average wine drinker, technical information “is getting less and less important”.

Indeed, according to ProWein’s latest wine industry survey, technical details about the wine and medals and scores were the lowest ranking features of wine communication that businesses are looking to for the future.

Now in its eighth year, the ProWein Business Survey sought insights from 1,398 industry professionals representing producers (from small wineries, cooperatives and large wineries), intermediaries (exporters, importers, distributors and wholesalers) and retailers (speciality, on-trade and hotels).

A total of 57% of industry professionals taking part in the survey argued that technical details about the wine should play a less significant role in wine communication in the future, compared to 35% who argued it should be used more often.

Maren Lahm, chief marketing officer at Henkell Freixenet Germany, was also on the panel. She argued that technology’s rise has shifted focus away from technical wine information. “People are more and more used to getting information fast,” Lahm said, meaning information which takes more time to explain has taken a back seat.

Medals and scores had the lowest ranking among the features considered, with 59% of survey respondents saying that they should be used less in future wine communications.

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Instead, emotional storytelling, presenting wine in social settings and information about food pairings scored highest, with a respective 85%, 80% and 77% of respondents saying these aspects should be employed more often in wine communication.

Lahm argued that wine businesses need to better understand their consumers, and do so by focusing their efforts on occasion-led drinking.

“We need to be closer to where they are really consuming the product,” she said. Brands, Lahm argued, need to “show [consumers] the relevance of the product in their different occasions”.

This consumer-led approach inherently means a strong reliance on the on-trade. As Mastroberardino put it: “The image of a brand is built in the restaurants.”

Wine businesses should be adapting themselves to current trends in drinking behaviour. Lahm used the examples of mixology and aperitivo, two popular drinks trends at the moment, arguing that the wine industry needs to “broaden” the types of occasions it is associated with and consider “how can we make [wine] more versatile”.

“People need to drink and experience the product, and we need to show them the occasions where the product is fitting,” she said.

Austere versus aspirational

When it comes to premium brand positioning, businesses should follow in the footsteps of Champagne producers, Lahm said, who continue to successfully corner the luxury market.

“Champagne is the ultimate symbol of luxury,” she said. The category has maintained its success despite the relative austerity of its taste profile compared with some styles of sparkling wine. Lahm explained: “We know that when we do blind tastings, [Champagne] is not the most liked of all sparkling wines.” Instead, Prosecco “really hits the taste profile of a lot of people”.

Luxury brands, she said, have “always lived off this aspirational aspect”, highlighting the power that storytelling can have on how wine is perceived. All brands have to do is harness it.

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