industry means for your brand

For two consecutive years post-COVID, the Champagne industry in France has celebrated a strong rebound with increased shipments and a new all-time high for revenue. According to an announcement by the Comité Champagne, the industry sold 326 million bottles (up by 1.6%) last year. 

Champagne (and possibly the entire subset of sparkling wines) are reinforcing consumer trends that people are spending more on better. So though not exclusive to this category, premiumisation becomes incredibly relevant here.  

Why is premiumisation relevant in the Champagne and sparkling wine industry?  

There are several factors at play:

1. With previous supply issues due to lower yields in the Champagne region, consumers have looked to other regions for their sparkling fix leading to an explosion in new products like Cava, Prosecco, and Crémant.
2. COVID has influenced a trend in consumer behaviour towards better drinking experiences, with people looking for ways to add luxury and celebration to their daily lives.
3. Food & beverage establishments have followed suit and are now offering products across price and style ranges that make the once celebratory drink more accessible and desired for the ‘every day’
4. The global champagne and sparkling wine market size is projected to grow to £23.9 billion by 2025 because of trends in urbanisation, increasing disposable income and the emerging of new markets worldwide like China, India and Brazil.

This is all excellent news for the industry, but brands are now needing to double down on their positioning i.e. more demand, means more entrants, means more competition for consumers’ attention and loyalty.  

So how do you ensure you keep standing out from the crowd? How do you protect your share of the market? Or indeed, grow it.  

Bottle embellishments enable brand differentiation 

A 2020 study conducted by Wine Intelligence found that packaging design is a crucial factor for consumers when choosing champagne or sparkling wine with 60% of respondents saying that it influenced their purchasing decisions.  

Bottle embellishments, such as embossed or debossed labels, cartouches, and diecast coins and tags, are essential components of a brand’s bottle design. They not only add aesthetic intrigue to your product but also help to explicitly (or inexplicitly) communicate what differentiates your brand from lagging competitors.  

Go one further, and bring in virtual interactivity, education or even gamification into the full brand experience. We’ve been working with clients to implement these on wine bottles through NFC technology embedded in the embellishment – communicating functional benefits like authenticity, traceability, eco-factors and understanding production at the vineyard or promoting loyalty that secures new market segments to your customer base. 

Investing in bottle embellishments is a smart move for champagne and sparkling wine brands looking to enhance their brand positioning and appeal to consumers. 

So tell us…. how are you communicating your unique story?