that their friends haven’t tasted yet.” Another wine label feature that appeals to millennials is the QR code — square stamps found in retail packaging that shoppers can capture with a smartphone to instantly learn more about the wine and have an interactive experience with the winery. Ingredients for success Auston said statistics identify women as the largest wine-buying segment. “We don’t want to alienate anyone, but we might lean a little more feminine on things,” he said, which can be done with font, illustration, content or color. Dry Creek Vineyard president Kim Stare Wallace, whose father founded the family’s Sonoma winery in 1972, said, “The work Tony’s done for us over the years has helped keep us relevant, which is really important. The packaging is a ref lection of me and my family and we take it so personally, but Tony is very good at
listening and he just understands.” Wa l lace developed a naut ica l concept for her winery, combining her family’s love of winemaking and sai ling. In what was a f irst departure from a traditiona l sai lboat for Dry Creek, Wa l lace said Auston “had the vision and creativity to come up with another nautical motif, the i l lustration of a mariner. In fact, he came up with the name, The Mariner, and that became our f lagship Bordeaux- style red blend.” Auston said ingredients for a wine’s success include “a good product, a good value, a good package and good distribution,” he said. “Anything under $40, I’d say it is fully on me to get that first purchase. When I have a brand that is super-successful, that’s when I know I’ve done my job right.”
Christine Souza csouza@californiabountiful.com
More frequently, wineries are experimenting with interactive features on wine labels to engage would-be customers. Employing the technology of augmented reality, for instance, is an increasingly popular option. “Augmented reality apps are an amazing opportunity for a winery to reinforce a brand’s voice, its unique attributes and gather data on consumer behavior, like frequency, length of engagement and how the experience is being shared,” said Tony Auston, creative director/owner of Auston Design Group. WINE LABELS THAT ‘come alive’ A good example, he said, is Bogle Vineyard’s Phantom wine. With a downloaded smartphone app, the customer can hover the camera over the label and “watch it come alive. A seasonally appropriate spooky story begins and, ideally, engages the viewer for the duration and incites them to share it with friends.” The Phantom app, Auston said, has been successful at driving social media engagement with its shareable content. Currently, however, the cost of developing animated, augmented-reality programs make them cost-prohibitive for all but the larger companies. A QR code is another way wineries seek to engage customers. By scanning the code—the square stamp on the label—users gain access to additional information, such as details about the wine, winery, harvest, farming practices or special promotions. On higher-priced wines, QR codes can also help prevent fraud by counterfeiters.
Many wineries, such as Bogle Vineyards for its Phantom wine, use augmented reality to add to the wine experience and increase social media interaction.
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March/April 2021
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