Prestige and History: How branding and bottling is critical to introducing your wine brand to China

As wine companies worldwide open their eyes to the true potential of China as a fantastic wine market, and in many cases a saviour of the wine industry (see my previous article “Ignore the Chinese wine market at your peril: How china can rescue the Australian Wine Industry” http://wp.me/pS6DN-1z ) it is important to consider the way wine is currently being marketed in China.  A vastly different drinking culture exists in China compared to the western world and as such, any penetration of wine into that drinking culture will require a considered market entry strategy that goes beyond the traditional wine marketing. Such a strategy would invariably require both an education of the Chinese consumer on how and why to drink wine and in addition to this an adaption of the marketing mix to appeal directly to the Chinese consumer. So what are Wine companies and distributors doing now in China to sell wine, and make it appealing to the Chinese Consumer?

Well it’s important to brand the wine appropriately. Most brands especially from Europe emphasise the word “Chateau” in their label, and many Chinese brands do likewise. This is understandable in a culture that is over 4000 years old, tradition and history adds prestige to a wine brand, and the word “Chateau” has an association with history and tradition. Some Chinese wine companies have gone so far as to build replica “Wine Chateaus” in China to capture the prestige and history of European wines and wineries. These Chinese brands also emphasise strong Chinese icons such as the Great Wall or the Silk Road, and this is wholly aimed at appealing to the nationalistic and patriotic feeling in China. However most of these Chinese brands are not really very great to drink…in fact I wouldn’t recommend them at all of I am honest. Of course that doesn’t mean they don’t sell in the Chinese Market, because they do!

Another brand image consideration in China is the bottle and closure device used. Even cheap, low cost wine is generally sold in bottles with a large dimple, and when you meet with wine distributors in China this is one of the first things for which they will look: How deep is the dimple? The bottle doesn’t need to necessarily contain prestigious wine, but it needs to appear that it does.  Using Cork closures is the other strong preference for the Chinese wine consumer, although a synthetic cork will probably suffice. The emotive sound and sensation of the cork being released is still important to the Chinese, and it is not as New Age as a screw cap. Once again this goes back to the desire for age, tradition, history and prestige.

 So what can we read into these branding and presentation preferences? Well wine is about prestige in China, and is more about the image than substance. If you think about my other article on understanding the Chinese wine market (http://wp.me/pS6DN-1G ), where I discuss the “shooting” and Toasting of wine in China, then taste is probably not going to be your primary motivation when buying wine in China. Ultimately creating the “right” image and branding for your wine will open up many more doors in China than the taste of your wine.

Present your wine brand as prestigious and you will find entry to the Chinese wine market much easier….but challenges will always exist, especially if you are from the New World Wine markets.