| Plexus Consulting Group | Success Stories | ||
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California Wine Institute (CWI) |
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425 Market Street, Suite 1000
Plexus Consulting Group, LLC |
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Vital Stats: CWI's mission is to initiate and advocate state, federal and international public policy to enhance the environment for the responsible consumption and enjoyment of wine. The California Wine Institute is the public policy advocacy association of California wineries. CWI brings together 840 wineries and affiliated businesses to support legislative and regulatory advocacy, international market development, media relations, scientific research, and education programs that benefit the entire California wine industry. The Challenge | The Solution | The Process | Findings and Solutions The Wine Institute’s International Department manages an export promotion program for the California wine industry. This program includes activities in 20 countries with a concentration in the major markets of the U.K., Canada, Japan, Germany and the Netherlands. During the past 16 years, each region developed its own brand identity to support their programs. This branding was evident on stationery, web sites, promotional materials, and signage at trade and consumer shows. In mid-2004, efforts to create a logo to replace the existing assortment of logos commenced. A design firm hired by CWI developed many designs that were reviewed by CWI’s international staff and it’s vintner members. There continued to be a lack of consensus on which design best represented the organization in foreign markets. As the trade (on and off-premise retailers) is CWI’s principal target in most countries, the logo needed to communicate a positive image to these important intermediaries to the consumer. A qualitative market research study was conducted by phone with leading wine retailers and restaurateurs in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Holland. A survey tool was created to garner overall impressions of California wine, market positioning and the relative strengths and weaknesses of two logos in support of CWI’s positioning statement. One-on-one interviews were conducted in the UK, Germany, Switzerland and Holland. The interviews, lasting 45 minutes, were conducted by the principal staff knowledgeable of the industry and familiar with the language to ensure a higher degree of consistency. A total of twelve (12) interviews were conducted in each country, forty-eight (48) in total. The surveys took place by telephone, or in person where possible. Past experience with logo design research suggested we capture the
Wine Institute’s collective insights into what the logo was to convey.
We facilitated a conference call with Wine Institute stakeholders
to ensure a meaningful survey tool was created. The outcomes needed
to address the following issues: CWI had a clear understanding of its position with the trade prior to the logo research. California wines are dominated by low priced brands. There is also a clear appreciation for California’s better wines but they are perceived as expensive. There was no appreciation of California’s middle tier of offerings which is dominated by Australia. Our research showed that one logo represented the current perception of California wines while the other logo presented an image CWI aspired to reach in future marketing efforts. While each logo scored well, one logo more clearly met the direction
of the new market positioning CWI was trying to create. The research
findings provided the logo’s designers with clear direction on changes
and enhancements that would optimize the logos functionality once
in market. The information collected in the logo research allowed
the CWI to present a well documented market position to its staff
and move forward with the rollout across the UK and Europe.
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