Santiago, August 14, 2008

The US Drinker: An Analysis of Market Consumer, Distribution, and Labeling Trends

With the growing importance of the United States as a major market for Chilean wine, Wines of Chile, ProChile, and CORFO hosted a seminar entitled: The US Drinker: An Analysis of Market Consumer, Distribution, and Labeling Trends in Santiago on Monday, August 11.

Four distinguished experts spoke before a public of more than 100 members of the local wine industry on the particularities of the wine industry in the United States, the evolution of North American consumers, their perceptions of Chilean wine, and how to identify new niches for stronger marketing.

Christian Miller, of Wine Opinion, spoke on the “Trends in the US Wine Industry,” beginning with a thorough analysis of the US wine market in general and the perceptions that North American consumers have of Chilean wine. He made comparisons between Chile other vitivinicultural powers, such as France, Australia, and Italy, etc., as well as with our most direct competitor, Argentina in order to help identify positive and negative aspects of the local industry and discover ways to differentiate it from competition. In this light, Miller stressed the importance of Chile’s unique wine valleys and urged producers to promote them along with their wine as a means of generating a holistic view of the industry and its international potential.

Ken Horiszny of HKA Design addressed the essential issues of “Packaging: the Image of a Wine” and the importance of wine labeling. For many, he claims, a label is just a label, but he insists that they are mistaken. The label is an image that presents a wine to the world and must embody everything that makes the brand unique. A good label integrates aspects such as a wine’s prestige, quality, and sophistication, and to illustrate, he referred to a number of cases in a stylistic renovation has directly led to increased sales.

Michael Greene, of Wines of Chile US, referred to the “Experience Economy: Marketing Wine in the United States.” Offering good products, attracting the public’s attention, and finally selling fine wine to North Americans requires more than an effective marketing strategy. A wine’s image should project an opportunity for experience, which delivers added value to the product. Wineries can include the consumers in the experiential aspects of their wines by presenting and promoting the beauty of the Chilean wine valleys and the unique aspects of the winery itself, from its buildings and vineyards to the team that makes the wine.

Frank Panicalli of Fedway Associates made his presentation on “US Wine Distribution Trends and New Jersey Distribution Overview.” His thoroughness and attention to detail resulted in an in-depth overview that provided the public with information on the most relevant aspects of a market as interesting as New Jersey’s.

The seminar ended with a question and answer session that generated an open and clarifying debate on the most important topics.

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