July 11 2010
When shopping for wine this weekend, I was nearly and irrationally compelled to buy the iconic Kenwood “Jack London” Zinfandel (a wine I have never had and know little about) when I saw its price—$21.99. The combination of the bottle as objet d’art combined with a snap emotional response to the wine as a “value” by price nearly had me tugging at my pocket book.
A calmer head prevailed, mostly because I long ago lost my 180-degree view of the consumer wine experience. However, given that I now know via wine-searcher.com that the price in between the ‘06’s and the ’07’s from Kenwood have dropped at least $5 a bottle, I’m certain that other consumers will likely have an emotional response triggered when they see the sleek, hefty screen printed bottle at its current, reduced price.
This collision of design and price is the same secret sauce that has allowed the retail store Target to elevate itself beyond that of a mass-market purveyor of commodities and into the realm of stylish design.
Target has figured out that taking everyday items and adding a little bit of panache works wonders on holding and even increasing price points. Witness: the recent announcement that, available exclusively at Target, designer Cynthia Rowley and Pampers have collaborated on designer diapers. The retail price? A 33% premium over a 10 pack of regular Pamper diapers.
Laugh if you will, but there are moms who will, without question, buy the dandy diapers.
And, of course, Chefs have long known about the value of design with artfully composed plates that allow restaurant patrons to “eat with their eyes first,” while the restaurant charges a premium in the process.
These aren’t the only examples of design commanding price premiums, either; they’re just the most apparent as I’ve considered wine sales, flattened price thresholds, brand discounting and the myriad of issues that go into creating and selling a wine.
One of the chief challenges that the wine industry is now grappling with is the fact that over the course of the last decade, prices escalated at a much faster rate than perceived value increased. This is okay in flush times, but not okay when the economic times are tighter. Thus, in a very simplistic nutshell, what the wine business is now experiencing is a narrowing in between the perceived value of what a consumer receives and what the wine costs.
If luxury wineries can find the sweet spot—where price and perceived value intersect, as in my Kenwood “Jack London” Zinfandel example, then wineries are putting themselves in a good position.
Yet, lowering price to match perceived value is a grapeshot defensive tactic and it is a lot more fun to play offense. One offensive move is upgrading wine packaging. This notion is substantiated in a recent cover story on wine packaging from Wines & Vines magazine. The article notes:
Dave Schuemann, owner and creative director of CF Napa Brand Design, Napa, concurs. “Strategically, many brands have been upgrading their product lines to be more premium and expensive looking in order to hold their price-point,” he notes.
“With this 2010 economy, showing the wine package as quality comes first,” says Patti Britton, principal of Britton Design, Sonoma, Calif. In the 1990s, she explains, “A conservative, quality wine label design with the vineyard illustration, embossing, foil stamping (was typical of the) $20 per bottle price range. Now, it’s more like the $10-$12 range.”
I think the signs point to a renaissance in wine packaging in the domestic wine business. And, frankly, it is about time. Just like vini and viticultural research, the Aussies long ago kicked our ass in wine packaging, if you have progressive beliefs, that is. Wine packaging is like politics, you have conservatives and you have progressives.
I am not here to debate left vs. right, New World vs. Old World sensibilities, but I have been watching packaging web sites like The Die Line and Lovely Packaging, amongst others. Below is an amalgamation of wine packaging examples that I have pulled from their sites and elsewhere. Pay attention to the wine aisle. Chances are good that wine enthusiasts will see a leap in domestic wine packaging innovation over the coming years, wrought by trying to match price perception to reality.
*Update* A rogue link caused the previous version of this post to have a paragraph removed. I’m republishing the entire post for clarity.
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It will be a battle between old school and innovated wine packaging. Things now change, but every wine maker has to take into consideration the taste on top of all factors. Cheers!