Prosecco’s next step: brand building
Prosecco may outsell Champagne but it lags behind when it comes to brand awareness. Lucy Shaw asks what companies can do to get their names on consumers’ lips.
Britain’s unquenchable thirst for Prosecco has been pivotal to the category’s recent success. Propelled to popularity during the recession, when consumers didn’t want to be seen to be flashing their cash, wallet-friendly Prosecco emerged as the ultimate crowd-pleaser.
Light, fresh, slightly sweet, and with an appealing price point, it ticks all the boxes, meaning guilt-free cork popping around the clock. The strength of ‘brand Prosecco’ has solidified to the point where it now seems bulletproof, having carved a niche as a stylish sparkling wine rather than simply a cheap alternative to Champagne.
The latest figures suggest that Prosecco’s popularity is at an all-time high. According to the IRI, last year the UK was responsible for the lion’s share of Prosecco sales in Europe, accounting for 75% of total sales at a value of £600 million. To put this into perspective, British consumers glugged just £333m worth of Champagne over the same period.
Last year, sparkling wine sales in the UK soared past the £1 billion mark for the first time, with retail sales during the first three months of the year equalling as much liquid to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Prosecco now accounts for over half of the sparkling retail market in the UK, with own-label Prosecco sales up by 79% at Lidl.
Sales of the sparkler went bananas last Christmas, with the Co-op’s own-label Prosecco emerging as the retailer’s top-selling wine over the festive season.
Aldi paints a similarly rosy picture – the German discount retailer shifted more than two million bottles of Prosecco last December. Taking the national obsession with the sparkler to new heights, the same month Aldi launched Prosecco flavoured tea, allowing fans to get their fizz fix in the morning, albeit in a caffeine free, non-alcoholic form.
When it comes to Prosecco, bigger seems to be better. Sales of magnums are booming around the world, with Bosco Viticultori reporting a 1,000% uplift on a year ago.
LARGER-FORMAT BOTTLES
“There’s a real trend for people wanting Prosecco in larger-format bottles – we’re bottling magnums like crazy to keep up with demand,” managing director Paolo Lasagni told db last November, adding, “People are willing to pay more for magnums than the equivalent price of two 75cl bottles.”
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson even tried to use Prosecco as a bargaining chip in his Brexit negotiations. Last November Johnson was ridiculed by Italian minister Carlo Calenda after he suggested that Italy would sell less Prosecco if the European Union did not allow Britain to remain in the single market.
Keen to preserve the beauty of its heartland, in January the Conegliano Valdobbiadene region – home to Prosecco DOCG – formally submitted its bid to be recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site nine years after negotiations began. However, Prosecco’s flourishing reign in the UK may be stalled this year by price rises caused by the combined impact of Brexit, inflation and alcohol duty – a perfect storm of problems that could see the sparkler go up by 59p per bottle on average.
In these exciting but uncertain times for Prosecco, it’s vital for producers to work out what makes them unique and start building their brands around the globe in the same way the Champagne houses have done so successfully for centuries.
As it stands, few consumers would be able to name one, let alone a handful of Prosecco brands, which hints at a failure on the part of producers to fully capitalise on the popularity of the category in the UK and the brand building opportunities such popularity affords.
The recent packaging plays a vital role in enticing consumers to buy your brand. “In November we launched an own-label Prosecco in collaboration with M&S in a gold-painted bottle called Conte Priuli Oro, which sold out in a few weeks. People are looking for something different and something to show off with,” he reveals. Bottega was in on the gold-bottle trend early, launching its Gold expression in 2001.
The gold-bottle concept has gone on to be copied by a number of brands, most notably rapper Jay Z’s Champagne, Armand de Brignac, which launched in 2006. Bottega’s gold bottle was the brainchild of owner Sandro Bottega, an enthusiastic entrepreneur who understands the importance of impactful visuals to successfully build a memorable brand. Keen to be seen as a luxury Prosecco, Bottega wanted to create a bottle inspired by Venice’s use of gold in everything from architecture and jewellery to cutlery.
It took him five years to create what he deems to be the perfect version of the gold bottle, which is coated in paint containing real gold – a process that comes at a considerable cost, hence the sparkler’s £19.99 price tag.
He’s keen to keep the exact production method a secret so it can’t be copied. He does, however, reveal that each bottle of Bottega Gold is painted three times in a closely monitored cycle. “I have to use real gold to achieve a high-quality finish. If you leave them out in the sun they don’t fade,” Sandro enthuses.
The ostentatious bottles have found a natural home in high-end bars, clubs and restaurants around the world, with 60% of sales coming from the on-trade. Bottega has been battling with the Prosecco consorzio for years to try to get it to relax the law that forbids Proseccos in bottles other than clear glass from being labelled as crystals, but I’d rather pay more for the real thing. From a distance the bottle looks like a waterfall of diamonds.”
HIGH-END VENUES
In London, the fizz is on sale at Russian-owned restaurant Novikov in Mayfair, while the wider Casanova brand can be found at high-end venues such as The Ritz, Mews of Mayfair and the Library private members’ club in Covent Garden. The brand launched in 2014 and plays on the figure of Venetian adventurer, author and renowned womaniser Giacomo Casanova, whose lusty exploits are so well documented that his name has become a byword for sexual success. Parodi believes the name makes people smile, and chose it because of Casanova’s links to Venice and how well known he is all over the world.
Unafraid of taking risks to attract attention, Casanova’s adverts feature naked women shot in black and white by a fashion photographer, with strategically placed bottles of the Prosecco hiding their modesty. Such racy advertising would never fly in France, but Parodi says he hasn’t had a problem with them in Italy. “Provocation is always welcome.
Life can be boring and annoying at times, so we need to be provocative every now and then but in a classy way – I never want to be vulgar, it’s all about what you see and don’t see – I want people to use their imaginations,” he says. The first Prosecco producer to really tap into Venice’s brand-building potential was Bisol, which runs a Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms – Venissa – on the tiny Venetian island of Mazzorbo. The family-owned producer offers consumers the chance to follow in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway on a white wine tour in a classic car that takes in Venice, the Euganean Hills, Cartizze and the Dolomites.
“Hemingway lived on the island of Torcello for a year and was a great ambassador for Venice. Using Venice as a sales hook is the future for Prosecco producers – it’s great to bring people here and inspire emotions that create memories. We have a unique opportunity as the region is only an hour from Venice,” says Gianluca Bisol.
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In terms of successful brand building, Casanova’s Parodi believes Prosecco producers should take a leaf out of the Champenois’ book. “Champagne brands have worked very hard on their marketing.
Prosecco isn’t at the same level, despite it outselling Champagne. My aim is to create the first really strong Prosecco brand – I want people to ask for Casanova when they drink Prosecco,” he says.
The Casanova name is slowly seeping into the public’s consciousness via collaborations with glamourous events such as London Fashion Week and a hook-up with Versace. Also playing on Italy’s fashion connection is Scavi & Ray, which has been the official Prosecco of London Fashion Week for seven consecutive seasons.
“As a premium, fashion-forward brand it’s great for Scavi & Ray to be positioned at such a key event in the global fashion community, where it has become a recognised part of the fashion season’s celebrations,” says UK brand manager Suneetha Adivihalli.
MOOD-ENHANCER
Another brand using fashion as a marketing tool is Zonin, which recently launched its Dress Code range of three different Proseccos dressed in black, grey and white bottles to represent the inclusion of a small percentage of Pinot Nero, Pinot Grigio and Pinot Bianco in the blends.
Encouraging consumers to pair their Prosecco with their mood, the “floral and fresh” white edition is said to be “graceful and joyful”, while the “fruity” grey edition is “modern and dynamic”, and the “intense” black edition is “mysterious and elegant”.
The range was launched alongside a Dress Your Feelings marketing campaign that plays on the idea of mood and wine matching. Francesco Zonin reveals that the white version has been the best seller, with black in the middle and grey proving the least popular, though he believes it mixes best in cocktails – an idea Prosecco producers should be embracing rather than turning their noses up at. “The Bellini is one of the reasons Prosecco got so popular outside of Italy and producers need to understand that.
If consumers love Prosecco blended with peach purée there’s nothing wrong with that,” Zonin says, adding: “One of the key reasons why Prosecco has been so successful is that you don’t need an excuse to drink it. For a small cost, it gives consumers a taste of the Italian lifestyle.”
80 The first Prosecco producer to really tap into Venice’s brand-building potential was Bisol, which runs a Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms – Venissa – on the tiny Venetian island of Mazzorbo. The family-owned producer offers consumers the chance to follow in the footsteps of Ernest Hemingway on a white wine tour in a classic car that takes in Venice, the Euganean Hills, Cartizze and the Dolomites.
“Hemingway lived on the island of Torcello for a year and was a great ambassador for Venice. Using Venice as a sales hook is the future for Prosecco producers – it’s great to bring people here and inspire emotions that create memories. We have a unique opportunity as the region is only an hour from Venice,” says Gianluca Bisol.
In terms of successful brand building, Casanova’s Parodi believes Prosecco producers should take a leaf out of the Champenois’ book.
“Champagne brands have worked very hard on their marketing. Prosecco isn’t at the same level, despite it outselling Champagne. My aim is to create the first really strong Prosecco brand – I want people to ask for Casanova when they drink Prosecco,” he says.
The Casanova name is slowly seeping into the public’s consciousness via collaborations with glamourous events such as London Fashion Week and a hook-up with Versace. Also playing on Italy’s fashion connection is Scavi & Ray, which has been the official Prosecco of London Fashion Week for seven consecutive seasons.
“As a premium, fashion-forward brand it’s great for Scavi & Ray to be positioned at such a key event in the global fashion community, ‘There are some interesting family-owned brands that have potential to grow as they have a story to tell, but we’re working Given Prosecco’s popularity among women, Zonin is due to launch a new Prosecco expression at ProWein specifically targeted at female consumers, which will “play on elegance”.
“Women aged 25-45 are shaping wine consumption so we’re aiming this new Prosecco at them. They’re a very sophisticated audience who know what they want and understand the importance of quality,” says Zonin. Like Parodi, Zonin believes the next step for the Prosecco category is to start building strong brands that consumers not only recognise but seek out, though the current state of play in the UK makes this incredibly tricky.
“With every trend, be it food, wine, fashion or cars, you create the category first then the brands follow. The SUV comes before Toyota or Audi. Prosecco will become a more branded category in the UK but it’s not easy to make an impact as there are a huge number of brands competing with one another, and a small number of retailers,” Zonin points out. He does, however, believe that around a dozen Prosecco brands will emerge over the next few years as category leaders.
Gianluca Bisol echoes Zonin’s sentiments. “When I started out 20 years ago there were 15 Prosecco producers, now there are 200. Prosecco itself is the strongest brand at the moment and it’s a problem. There are some interesting family-owned brands that have a lot of potential to grow as they have a story to tell, but we’re working with small margins and the price of grapes is very high, so there are limited chances to promote the brands properly,” he says.
Over the past five years, Prosecco producers have done a fantastic job of collectively promoting ‘brand Prosecco’. As the category matures, and consumers start developing a taste for specific brands, there is space within the category for Grandes Marques to emerge that consumers actively align themselves to and seek out.
For this to happen, producers need to turn their fans into brand ambassadors by giving them a reason to stay loyal. In the notoriously fickle wine world this is no mean feat, but it’s essential for the category to evolve.
