Prosecco editorial feature march 2017, The Drinks Business

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BRANDS of hope and glory 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

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prosecco 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 crowdpleaser. 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

with the sparkler to new heights, the same month Aldi launched Proseccoflavoured tea, allowing fans to get their fizz fix in the morning, albeit in a caffeinefree, 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 As it stands, few consumers its heartland, in January the would be able to name one, let Conegliano Valdobbiadene region – home to Prosecco DOCG alone a handful of Prosecco – formally submitted its bid to be brands, which hints at a failure recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site nine years after on the part of producers to fully negotiations began. However, flourishing reign in capitalise on the popularity of Prosecco’s the UK may be stalled this year by price rises caused by the the category in the UK combined impact of Brexit, inflation and alcohol duty – a perfect storm of problems that could see the UK soared past the £1 billion mark for the sparkler go up by 59p per bottle on the first time, with retail sales during the average. In these exciting but uncertain first three months of the year equalling as times for Prosecco, it’s vital for producers much liquid to fill an Olympic-sized to work out what makes them unique and swimming pool. start building their brands around the Prosecco now accounts for over half of globe in the same way the Champagne the sparkling retail market in the UK, houses have done so successfully with own-label Prosecco sales up by 79% for centuries. at Lidl. Sales of the sparkler went bananas As it stands, few consumers would be last Christmas, with the Co-op’s ownable to name one, let alone a handful of label Prosecco emerging as the retailer’s Prosecco brands, which hints at a failure top-selling wine over the festive season. on the part of producers to fully capitalise Aldi paints a similarly rosy picture – the on the popularity of the category in the German discount retailer shifted more UK and the brand building opportunities than two million bottles of Prosecco last such popularity affords. The recent December. Taking the national obsession

Feature findings > 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. > Prosecco accounts for over half of the sparkling retail market in the UK, with own-label Prosecco sales up 79% at Lidl and Aldi selling two million bottles of Prosecco last December. > 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. > Producers need to work out what makes them unique and start building their brands around the globe in the same way the Champagne houses have done for centuries. > One way Prosecco brands are standing out from the crowd is through their bottle design and packaging, such as Bottega’s eyecatching gold bottle. > New player Casanova changed the game this year with the launch of the world’s most expensive Prosecco, priced at £1,290 and encrusted with 3,370 Swarovski crystals. > Brands such as Zonin and Scavi & Ray are using Italy’s fashion credentials as a marketing tool, the former with its Dress Code collection and the latter by being the official Prosecco of London Fashion Week for the last seven seasons.

runaway success of own-label Prosecco makes it more important than ever for producers to tell their stories.

One way Prosecco brands are standing out from the crowd is through their bottle design and eye-catching packaging. Paolo Lasagni of Bosco Viticultori believes

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Trade talk: How are you using design & packaging and marketing initiatives to maximise consumer awareness of your brand both in Italy and in your key export markets?

CRISTINA FOLLADOR, MARKETING DIRECTOR, FOLLADOR “We consider packaging to be key in promoting prestige brands. As well as our classic bottle and label design that reflects our status, we have also introduced a category leading gift pack range that reflects our heritage and quality. We continue to work on education programmes with our global distributors and have developed a ‘visit the winery’ incentive, as we are sure our visitors will become Follador ambassadors.”

PAOLO LASAGNI, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BOSCO VITICULTORI Cold comfort: bottles of Prosecco on ice

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

“Design and packaging are key for brand building. At the moment, the top-selling Prosecco brands are private labels or exclusive labels – in some cases they don’t even have a brand name, but just say Prosecco on the front label. So they are ‘tailor made’ for the target market, and large UK retailers are the typical example of that. On the other hand, if a company wants to develop its own brand, you need to think about where you will be selling the wine and at what price. Once you’ve answered those questions, targeted packaging and a defined promotional strategy can be developed. Outer cases are becoming more important in the off-trade, and social media helps to spread your marketing message quickly.”

SEBASTIANO BONOMO, EXPORT MANAGER, GIUSTI WINE “Our new marketing campaign focuses on Prosecco DOC Rosalia, highlighting the agricultural nature of our winery and the essence of the single vineyard where this Prosecco comes from – a vineyard where the wildlife has returned confirming a well preserved and protected natural environment. The new advert paints a picture of our land, featuring vineyards surrounded by woodland, the warm colour of the earth and the brilliance of our sparkling wines. All of our marketing activities highlight our dedication to the sustainability of our land – the hills of Montello and the valley by the Piave River north of Venice.”

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, is coated in paint ‘Design is extremely important which containing real gold – a process that comes at a considerable cost, for building a brand – hence the sparkler’s £19.99 price consumers pay attention to tag. He’s keen to keep the exact production method a secret so it detail. My aim is to create can’t be copied. He does, timeless brands that are perfect however, reveal that each bottle of Bottega Gold is painted three inside and out, and whose times in a closely monitored cycle. “I have to use real gold to popularity never fades’ achieve a high-quality finish. If

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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

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prosecco Trade talk: How are you using design & packaging and marketing initiatives to maximise consumer awareness of your brand both in Italy and in your key export markets?

ROSLYN TUMIOTTO, MARKETING DIRECTOR, ROCCO VENEZIA “Rocco Venezia is a range of premium Prosecco Superiore DOCG. Rocco Venezia stands for affordable luxury; ‘a modern taste of Italy’. At Casa Rocco the pursuit of excellence, quality and uniqueness is our forte.

Essentially, the superior quality of our Prosecco range is what we pride ourselves in; and the packaging and presentation should reflect the calibre of the product. Since launching, we have identified the importance of having a memorable brand. For us the integrity and identity of our name and clear presentation means that we have an authentic message, and that reflects what we stand for inside the bottle and out.”

ELVIRA BORTOLOMIOL, PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER, BORTOLOMIOL

Venice: an inspiration to Prosecco makers DOCG, even if the liquid inside is DOCG certified. Sandro doesn’t hold out much hope of the law being changed any time soon, though this hasn’t tempted him to fill his gold bottles with DOC instead, as he believes discerning consumers would be able to taste the difference.

“Design is extremely important for building a brand – consumers pay attention to detail. My aim is to create timeless brands that are perfect inside and out, and whose popularity never fades. If you manage to achieve that then consumers will come back to you, but the Italian mentality doesn’t place enough importance on marketing,” laments Bottega. He adds: “I would love to see a new generation of Prosecco producers emerge that put brand building at the top

“Our respect for the environment filters down to the careful selection of suppliers and raw materials for sustainable packaging, through which we communicate our values. Our packaging is made from recycled materials and in every box you can read some words about our philosophy. The Bortolomiol family recently recovered an ancient silk mill in the center of Valdobbiadene, inside the Parco della Filandetta – Art & Wine Farm, a new space where events and demonstrate that wine is about more than just what’s in your glass.”

MARIO VANDI, HEAD OF MARKETING, CANTINE RIUNITE & CIV “Brand and product identity and marketing activities are key pillars for succeeding in a marketplace that is overcrowded with references. Brand and logo, bottle shapes, labels, graphics and colours have to make products immediately recognisable in all markets. In our case, the gold eagle with the red heart, the oval label (for main Maschio range), and the brilliant colors represent the visual identity of our Maschio and Maschio dei Cavalieri brands in all countries.”

of their agendas to collectively raise the profile of the category.” In a bid to build the Bottega brand in the UK, the company recently launched a Bottega bar franchise, which now includes sites in Birmingham, the Isle of White and the Baltic, with openings planned for Dubai, Guernsey and America this year.

Another Prosecco brand with ‘Champagne brands have big ambitions is new player Casanova, which hit the worked very hard on their headlines in January when it marketing. Prosecco isn’t at the announced the launch of the most expensive Prosecco same level, despite it outselling world’s – a Swarovski Edition priced at Champagne. I want people to £1,290 encrusted with 3,370 crystals. Just 100 magnums and ask for Casanova when they 150 75cl bottles were made and are being sold to nightclubs and drink Prosecco’ private clients in Russia, France

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and the US. “We’ve sold 20 magnums and 35 standard bottles so far,” enthuses Casanova’s founder, London-based Carlo Parodi, who quit a successful career in furniture production when he realised he wanted to work in an arena that supported his love of luxury and fuelled his partying habit. He hopes his audaciously priced Swarovski Edition will help catapult Prosecco into a luxury realm inhabited by prestige cuvée Champagnes such as Dom Pérignon.

“I realised there were no luxury Proseccos on the market and that there was a gap to be filled,” says Parodi, adding, “Other brands are using fake

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‘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’

Casanova launched in 2014

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 Russianowned 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

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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.

Trade talk: How are you using design & packaging and marketing initiatives to maximise consumer awareness of your brand both in Italy and in your key export markets?

KLAUS-JÜRGEN KÜRTEN, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, HENKELL & CO. GLOBAL “Mionetto Prosecco is chiefly exported to the US, Canada, the UK and Germany. Designed to transport the core values of ‘heritage’, ‘premium quality’, ‘premium taste’ and ‘style’, Mionetto represents the Italian way of life through a brand style associated with Italian art, fashion and design. A clearly contoured brand identity and well-defined communication policies ensure a uniform image. Internationally, the focus is on Mionetto Prosecco DOC Treviso Brut, which boasts an eye-catching orange design. All communications are aligned around the orange label, be it at launch events, in sponsorships for TV programmes like Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and The Good Wife, and TV commercials.”

SILVIA FRANCO, SALES, MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS, NINO FRANCO “For us, design and packaging has always been about what we want the customer to find inside a bottle of Nino Franco Prosecco: harmony, elegance and balance. With the help of our importers, we create marketing activities designed to promote our brand. In the on-trade, the best way to do this is to visit the markets and present our wines, creating a strong relationship with the different rings of the sales chain (importer, agent, buyer, sommelier), who will be our ambassadors to the final consumers.”

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where it has become a recognised part of the fashion season's celebrations,” says UK brand manager Suneetha Adivihalli.

MOOD-ENHANCER

Francesco Zonin thinks Prosecco cocktails are a good way in to the category

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 ‘There are some interesting public’s consciousness via with glamourous family-owned brands that have collaborations events such as London Fashion potential to grow as they have a Week and a hook-up with Versace.

Also playing on Italy’s fashion story to tell, but we’re working connection is Scavi & Ray, which has been the official Prosecco of with small margins and the London Fashion Week for seven price of grapes is very high, so consecutive seasons. “As a premium, fashion-forward brand there are limited chances to it’s great for Scavi & Ray to be promote the brands properly’ positioned at such a key event in the global fashion community,

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

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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.”

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