Make Marketing History

The views of a marketing deviant.

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

In The Pink.

Is the increasing popularity of rosé wine due to the colour or the flavour? While ultimately it must be the flavour, there clearly is a visual attraction in play - one that producers focus upon in their choice of packaging. But how would you feel, if you knew that the fact that you could see the colour on the shelf meant that the flavour was being adversely affected?

In fact it's true. Light affects all wine and rosé is a relatively fragile wine which should ideally be stored in dark bottles since green glass filters out more than 60% of this damaging light and brown glass a massive 98%. It's arguable too that screwcaps are better for rosés in helping to maintain the fruitiness and freshness essential to their taste.

That's a story a lot of us haven't heard but once it becomes better known, will we feel the same about producers who insist on showing us the colour of the wine? Will we value more those who show us that they know and care about our drinking experience. In Britain, Marks & Spencer have insisted on dark glass and use coloured labels and caps to promote the pinkness. Personally, I think the first all-pink bottle will be even more effective.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mateus Rosé always used to come in dark bottles.

Of course, Pink wine is genreally young and drunk quickly so I really don't think the fragility is particularly an issue do you?

4:43 AM, May 30, 2006  
Blogger john dodds said...

1) How long does rose stay in bottles before you even get to see it?

2) It depends what you mean by young -if it's denuded by light then the advice is to drink it young - it's a vicious circle of traditional behaviour which has nothing to do with rose per se.

9:31 AM, May 30, 2006  
Blogger john dodds said...

3) The truth doesn't matter - it's the story that will grab the customer.

9:35 AM, May 30, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Pink, rose' wine? *hiccup* Will you please fill my glass?

On a serious note, good point. Companies must apeal to whomever the consumer is. Is that consumer in any particualar age bracket? Income bracket? Level of education? Gender?
After all, what's the first thing you think about in a "wine in the box". Me.... college, cheap & late teen years. But, "Rose wine in a Pink bottle..... It would make me look twice. - Julie -

7:39 PM, May 30, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

WRT to the time that wine stays in bottles before I see it, I would suspect that the majority of that time it is kept in dark storerooms (or in lightproof cases), simply because that is the cheapest thing to do, so I don't think that that comes into play.

Anyway, we are talking about PLONK here! High quality wine will come in dark bottles (indeed I had some last Xmas called something like Brilliant Corners (I know that's a Thelonius Monk tune...) and it came in an almost black bottle and was gorgeous)

8:04 AM, May 31, 2006  

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