The Marketing Place: New Zealand Wine, Altogether Unique

New Zealand Wine, Altogether Unique is the first branding refresh since Pure Discovery was developed in 2006, and will give the New Zealand wine industry a fresh start for 2023. During the November and December Marketing Hui series, New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) shared with members how the New Zealand Wine, Altogether Unique brand story intends to be the foundation on which regional wine stories are built, and on top of that the special and unique brand stories of member wineries and the New Zealand wine industry as a whole.

The new brand encompasses the three pillars of Purity, Innovation, and Care in a way that is fresh, modern, and sophisticated, whilst infusing a sense of New Zealand-ness. Incorporating the latest consumer insights, NZW worked alongside creative agency Many Minds to define its brand essence and create an accompanying new visual identity.

“The combination of New Zealand’s location, people, and climate is simply magic. There is nothing else like it on earth,” says Mike O’Sullivan, Creative Director, Many Minds. “There were key words that came back from the consumer insights, like our people, nature, and purity, which formed the foundation pillars of the New Zealand Wine essence of Purity, Innovation, and Care.” From these three pillars, the New Zealand Wine Brand Story was developed:Some places have unblemished sunlight, young soil or beautiful water. Others have innovation, passion for the craft or care for the land. But only one place has the purity of it all… New Zealand Wine. Altogether Unique.

New Zealand Wine Brand Story

To assist members to leverage the new brand platform, NZW has developed the New Zealand Wine Brand Story. This resource contains building blocks for telling the New Zealand wine story, as well as the journey NZW went on to develop the New Zealand Wine brand essence and new visual identity. The New Zealand Wine Brand Story is dynamic, and examples of the new brand in action will be added as they come to life. Download the New Zealand Wine Brand Story and video assets at nzwine.com.

To bring the brand story and the three pillars of the brand essence to life, NZW has created video content that can be used across the wine industry. A ‘member-sourced jigsaw’, the video aims to create an emotional connection to New Zealand wine. “This storytelling asset will tell the foundational story of New Zealand wine through the lens of the key pillars of Purity, Innovation, and Care – aspects that make New Zealand wine and the New Zealand wine industry, so unique and special,” says Charlotte Read, NZW General Manager Marketing.

“With global activity returning to ‘normal’, it’s more competitive than ever to have the voice of the New Zealand Wine brand heard, and a clear, premium brand message is essential. Creating a compelling brand positioning for New Zealand Wine is important as we seek to engage and motivate evolving wine drinking audiences.”

The short clip features Kiwi actor and winemaker Sir Sam Neill, of Jurassic Park and The Piano fame, who has been a part of the New Zealand wine story for more than 25 years. Sam is the proprietor of Two Paddocks, a family vineyard established in Central Otago 30 years ago.

The New Zealand Wine, Altogether Unique video can be used by all promoting the New Zealand wine industry, and used in presentations, at events, or on your social media channels.

As part of the brand essence work, a new visual identity for New Zealand Wine has also been created. “Whilst it wasn’t our intention originally to devise a new logo, they do act as a shortcut to understanding that we’ve put significant time and effort into understanding our brand,” says Charlotte. “The new design encapsulates the meaning of the brand essence in a way that our current fern logo does not.”

The origins of three circular forms in the logo represent the three unique selling points for what makes New Zealand wine different - Purity, Innovation, and Care. These three circular shapes were further crafted into more geometric organic forms reminiscent of fronds you would find on a grapevine, but rendered in “a more bespoke and timeless style”, she says. “The result is a highly contemporary mark, unique to New Zealand, that gives New Zealand Wine a more distinct visual presence on the world stage.”

New Zealand Wine Week 2023

New Zealand Wine Week ran from 30 January to 7 February and was the first opportunity for the new NZW brand to been seen around the world. Book-ended by the Dublin and London Annual trade tastings, it was a week for bite-sized “wine adjacent” webinars targeting trade and media in the UK, US and Canada, covering research at the forefront of New Zealand wine, our wine regions, and our country’s commitment to climate change. In these sessions, local producers and international trade had conversations about sustainability, site, and Sauvignon. A longer tasting webinar also took place, where Stephen Wong MW presented what puts the ‘New’ into New Zealand wine.