With a new financial year dawning, the New Zealand Winegrowers (NZW) marketing team is excited to be undergoing a 'marketing reset'. We are repositioning and refocusing our energies to where we can add maximum value for the industry and NZW members. Earlier this year, at the NZW Marketing Committee's strategy workshop, it was unanimously agreed that the most impactful way we could add value for members was to redefine and strengthen the brand position for New Zealand wine. In our fast evolving 'noisy' key export markets, it is essential the overarching New Zealand wine brand messaging is clear and distinctive, to maximise cut through.
Work is underway to define the 'brand essence' of New Zealand Wine. The basis of this will highlight what we stand for as an industry, what is unique and special about our wines, our people, and our viticulture. It will highlight what sets us apart from other wine regions of the world and provide our members with the toold to use this in their own marketing.
Ensuring New Zealand wine is top-of-mind and relevant with changing drinking habits and evolving target audiences is a key focus for the brand refresh. We have an increasingly sophisticated audience who are knowledgeable about New Zealand wine and our country's natural beauty, but who may not be aware of our vast range of varieties and sophisticated food culture. There is also a large audience that are seeking to have a more premium wine experience and need to be introduced to New Zealand as a key choice.
In the next Winegrower magazine we will be able to unveil the new brand essence work and provide New Zealand wine brand assets. Our marketing reset has given us some real energy and enthusiasm for what we can achieve together, and how we can do it in out inimitable and innovative way as New Zealanders.
Ngā mihi, Charlotte
Charlotte Read is General Manager Marketing at NZW
The Blind Tasting
Wines that perform well in the Blind Tasting are selected to be part of our education and storytelling activities. This is an internal competition-standard selection tasting, open to all NZW members free of charge. From 2022, the Blind Tasting will be held in a different region each year. After the formal selection process, there will be an afternoon/early evening tasting and meet-and-greet for all members who wish to attend. Over 500 wines will be open, organised by variety and region, and ready to taste. We strongly encourage you to enter your wines and be a part of telling our New Zealand wine brand story to the world in our key markets. Look out for more detail via email in the coming months.
Pour Yourself a Glass of New Zealand
Pour Youself a Glass of New Zealand, NZW's month-long celebration of New Zealand's white wine varieties, concluded at the end of May. The campaign not only shone a spotlight on the breadth of high-quality white wine that New Zealand produces but was also the drive behind the campaign for the white wine emoji, which was an attention-grabbing headline globally.
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NZW actively promoted this campaign in New Zealand, USA, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, China, and Japan, but saw people as far flung as Cyprus, Malta and Vietnam signing the petition and supporting the campaign. The submission to the Unicode Consortium will be made in July and it is hoped that the outcome will be announced by the end of the year.
