"Peeno Noir"

Terry's presentation in class surprised me - I had completely underestimated the marketing capability of creative, pop culture wine labels. I knew that wine labels could be powerful. As Terry said, walking down the aisle of a store you typically spend only 30 seconds glancing at hundreds of bottles so a powerful label is crucial to drawing the consumer's attention. Yet, in my own experience, I quickly ignored the more modern labels that have creative/witty names or references to pop culture and celebrities. I always associated those labels with poor quality. I assumed that there would be a substantial mark-up for the creative label and I would be paying more for that than quality. (At least with big name vineyards you are paying for a brand name associated with quality.) But, after researching more, I've learned that, among millennials, I hold a minority viewpoint. As it turns out, there are more quirky names out there than I had imagined - and many of them have had a lasting presence on the shelves.(1) For example, the wine label "Seven Deadly Zins" has been successful because the pun is memorable.(1) Some consumers could be more likely to remember that witty name than the name of a vineyard. Wine labeling even fits with millennial trends in gift giving. Since millennials have shown they like to give more personalized gifts, they are more likely to buy a label that has some relevance to them or the person they are gifting the wine to. Personally, I have received as gifts about a half dozen bottles of "Peeno Noir", a label referring to a character in the TV show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.(2) The friends who have gifted me this certainly did not pick that bottle for its quality but instead because it referred to something related to me (I really like the show). While I don't plan on changing my own buying habits in the near future, Terry's presentation opened my eyes to the huge market opportunity for labeling wines targeted at the millennial consumer.

Sources

(1) http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1072&context=grcsp

(2) https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/wnbza9/tituss-burgess-of-unbreakable-kimmy-schmidt-doesnt-suffer-wine-snobs

Why you don't see wine commercials during the Super Bowl (except Yellow Tail)

Today I learned a fun fact about advertisements during the Super Bowl. I noticed that Yellow Tail was the only wine brand I saw in the commercials, so I turned to Google on if there was a reason for this. I learned that Anheuser-Busch has exclusive category rights to the Super Bowl, meaning other alcohol brands cannot advertise. However, Yellow Tail takes advantage of a loophole by buying local ads.

Turns out, Yellow Tail bought 80 local ads this year, up from 70 local ads last year. It's a cumbersome process because they have to purchase 80 separate ads versus just buying one national ad, and it's more expensive. There's also the risk that A-B would buy a local ad, which then means the exclusivity deal kicks back in. But Yellow Tail claims it's a good investment, and I'm sure being known as the only wine brand in the Super Bowl helps as well. They also have the national presence that many other wine brands don't have, so it makes more sense for them.

Regional beer brands do this too, by the way. I read that Shiner aired their first ad this year in Texas.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/Ad-Meter/2018/01/30/yellow-tail-wine-finds-way-around-anheuser-buschs-super-bowl-ad-exclusivity/1076129001/