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The Branding of Wine by Ed Mansel Lewis , Partner .
If I ever get a few minutes to myself I like to read pop psychology and business books . The more entrants I see in the UK wine industry , and the more wine I see being produced , the more I find myself mulling over ideas and advice about branding and sales that authors have shared from their own experiences in business .
I had a moment like this when I read the Wine GB 2023 report and learned that there are now over 940 vineyards in the UK producing over 22m bottles , increasing the gap between production and sales by over 10m bottles . Many vineyards sell wine under their own label , so there is suddenly an extraordinary amount of choice from a consumer ’ s perspective .
Achieving brand distinction in an increasingly crowded market space is going to be incredibly important . This reminded me of Jim Stengel ’ s book , Grow , which consolidated 10 years of research of over 50,000 companies to look at how a selection of 50 businesses achieved standout financial performance having put connection with people ’ s fundamental human values at the centre of the purpose of their business . Staggeringly , an investment in these 50 companies would have been 400 % more profitable than an investment in the S & P 500 over the 2000s .
Stengel identifies five fundamental human values , which he termed brand ideals , that many of these businesses have in common . They are listed below .
• Eliciting joy
• Enabling connections with other human beings
• Inspiring exploration
• Evoking pride
• Impacting society
Think of Red Bull ’ s mission to inspire exploration , Innocent Smoothie ’ s mission to impact society or Samsung ’ s ability to enable connection with others .
What does all this have to do with wine ? Well , channelling care and attention into ripening grapes on a carefully chosen site , then gently pressing the juice and expertly blending the wine before patiently laying it down to mature ready to be opened one day on a special occasion hits so many of these brand ideals : exploration , pride and joy . There is such a rich seam to tap into when you contemplate the purpose of your brand and way in which you want to connect with human values . As his research suggests , the results will follow . If you are puzzling over how to bridge the gap between your production and sales , I recommend Jim Stengel ’ s book and I would be delighted to join you for a glass of wine to get into the weeds on the topic if you have the time .
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