While the marketing industry has always been obsessed with the new, some brands are increasingly looking to the past for their future inspiration, bringing back old slogans and jingles, not to mention resurrecting brands that have lain dormant for years.
This was a similar challenge faced by James Murch when he took over in the new role of UK sales manager at Chilean wine giant VSPT last year. In an effort to breathe new life into the static Chilean wine sector, VSPT wanted to introduce innovation, value and variety. Step forward Murch and his vision to relaunch the 35 South brand into the UK market.
Back in the 1990s, 35 South was one of the brand leaders of its era in the UK market when VSPT (or San Pedro, as it was then known), held a dominant position in the UK at a time when Chile was first establishing itself as a New World producer.
James Murch belileves the 35 South Wine brand best represents what the VSPT Wine Group stands for
“It was a great name, easy to pronounce and has great authenticity as it’s the line of latitude that passes through the winery in Molina [where 35 South is produced] in the Curico Valley. It was on sale everywhere,” says Murch. “It was successful and consumers loved it. However, over time, it disappeared from retail shelves. When I came into the role I said to the team you’ve got some great wines and some globally recognised and successful brands, but I don’t see your beating heart. What is the one thing that represents our total business, our people, our values and everything we do?”
To address this, Murch set out to define exactly what best represented VSPT and kept gravitating back to 35 South. “To me it was a former success because it represented something meaningful, had a great story and delivered exactly what the consumer needed.”
He adds: “When I think of other successful and well-known producers as a benchmark, I think of Chile or Australian producers who have built brands that have endured, lasting 20-30 years, or longer, in the UK.
“We needed to get back to our roots and a brand which represents and reflects everything VSPTand Chile are about. Something that offers great value to the shopper, a range of high quality winesand is going to stand the test of time.”
So Murch and his team set about reviving an old giant no longer being distributed in the UK.
“The vision was simple and focused. To rebuild 35 South and deliver a level of growth and success in the UK which would ensure consumers continue buying the brand in 20 or 30 years’ time. Next, set the strategy with equal focus and simplicity. To connect the consumer to the country, the brand story and the key messages whilst delivering high quality at affordable prices.
"Get these elements right and there’s no reason we can’t have something in the market that works really well and that consumers will connect with for a very long time.”
Time to prepare
Murch says it took around six months to prepare for the UK launch in October last year, which involved “large amounts of benchmark tastingagainst other, comparative brands already performing well in the same market”.
“We had to ensure our wines were at least equivalent too, if not better than the competition within the same price point and also consider £1 higher. We went through a very rigorous design and tasting process. If you’re a consumer with only £7 to £8 to spend and you don’t always shop by a specific brand or country, then we wanted to over deliver on quality and really satisfy the consumer and keep hold of them once they buy the brand.”
The new branding for 35 South which is now on sale in Sainsbury's
Consumer research and testing was another big factor in shaping the eventual finished proposition.
“It was important that the brand's design, price positioning and quality perception were fully tested otherwise we could have been attempting to launch a future failure.The feedback received from our consumer panel testing was very positive, especially the branded capsule, label design and colour selection, along with choice of Burgundy bottle. Overall feedback confirmed the brand was connecting and communicating well with the consumer and achieved higher than expected scoring.”
A brand design which also stands out and communicates the company’s sustainable values was a crucial requirementof the 35 South relaunch, adds Murch.
“‘Sustainable passion of the Andes’ was a brand message we wanted to use to connect our company values to our country and also our consumer. This alongside other subtleties within the label design deliver the message well.”
35 South is now available in Sainsburys and comes in two varietals – a Sauvignon Blanc and a Cabernet Sauvignon.
“It’s in the market now and selling really well,” says Murch. “We launched just before Christmas amongst all the market noise and big brand activity and it has performed really well. It´s not easy to stand out as a new product in such a busy category like wine at peak season, yet the sales performance was ahead of expectations so everybody is really pleased.”
While Murch has extensive experience of bringing brands to market, this is the first time he’s overseen each step of the process from vision and strategy setting, to label design and final execution with the customer in store.
“It has been a really enjoyable experience working with a passionate team back in Chile who have supported the brands development each step of theway. There has been a real sense of collectiveness and determination by everyone to make this work and create something special. We believe we have delivered a great final result at the end of a long process and one that I’m really proud of. VSPT is investing in the UK market to grow. 35 South is an important step in the longer term vision and development as a scale supplier for the UK.”
Time for change
The 35 South new branding has been carefully crafted to appeal to its target market
The UK market, stresses Murch, is going through big change, driven by excise duty reform, new legislation, and changing consumer habits.
“This creates a very dynamic category and over the next 12 months will drive out winners and losers as retailers seek outwell invested brands with high quality wines,” he says. “Brands which consumers trust, connect withand repeat purchase will always succeed, even during the mostchallenging times. In the coming 12 months there are some difficult choices for wine consumers to makeas the category starts to look more expensive with the duty reform changes. Some retailers have already started to increase prices on shelf.”
Murch and the VSPT team are now focusing their efforts on future plans for 35 South and looking to introduceother grape varieties to the range. Murch won’tbe drawn on which specific varietals he’s considering, but says: “Perhaps something a little different for consumers who don’t necessarily want Cabernet or Sauvignon Blanc.”
They are also looking at different packaging formats. “Sustainability is something that has never been more important especially to consumers and the industry is definitely changing to support more sustainable alternatives,” he says.
As part of that commitment, VSPT is looking at alternative packaging that includes bag in box and potentially cans.
“Consumers recognise the sustainable benefits of bag in box compared to glass bottles, and we see they arebecoming more popular, as long as the wine quality is there. I think the natural evolution of 35 South as a brand is to look at some of these alternatives including any new packaging which comes to the market.”
VSPT has also pledged that all its bottles across its entire portfolio will be 400g or less by 2030. “We are already fulfilling that commitment with 35 South produced in a 395g Burgundy bottle,” adds Murch, conceding that even lighterweight glass could be consideredin the future.
“There’s potentially a little further we can go as long as the integrity of the bottle and the brand messaging isn’t distorted.”
Pushing Chile forward
35 South new branding hopes to capture the natural habitat and beauty of where the wines are made and VSPT's commitment to sustainability
Looking to the future, Murch thinks there is much that Chile’s wine sector could learn from neighbouring Argentina, which has successfully adopted a single grape – Malbec – and let the world know about it.
“Argentina said, this is our flagship grape, and we are going to push that connectionof Argentina and Malbec and link it with food. Chile could have done something similar with Carménère, which I think is a missed opportunity. Consumers don’t know enough about Chile as a wine producing country, or this really interesting red varietal, so that’s a great story, and opportunity, still to be told. I feel a certain responsibility to try and take this to the market and help educate the UK consumers a little morethrough our brands andcommunication.”
Chilean wine, he believes, has a great future if the industry is able to explain to consumers its diversity and what its different wine producing regions can offer.
“I liken Chile to Australia 30 years ago when it was more a source of high volume supply, some known brands and very early stage premiumisation. Australia now is widely recognised for high volume brands but also its brilliant regionality, offering superb high quality wine from known regions like Coonawarra, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley, Clare Valley and Western Australia. Consumers are now better educated than ever and talk knowledgeably about the connection between certain areas better suiting specific varieties.”
“There is so much to inspire the consumer and get them excited and talking about Chile’s incredible diversity and wine capabiity. Elqui, Limari, Leyda, Cachapoal, Malleco to name a few are all areas producing outstanding quality yet almost unmentioned or promoted here in the UK. These areas arelike the Barossa and Coonawarra equivalent. Chile can certainly follow a similar evolution to Australia, but it will take time.”
The other story which needs better communicating is Chile’s unique location and surrounding beauty.
“Where else can you be surrounded by environmental extremes like you can in Chile? North, south, east and west the country has unparalleled landscapes yet the majority of UK wine consumers still know very little about the country.”
With his focus firmly on the years ahead, Murch says he is looking to rebuild 35 South into the cornerstone of the business, around which other brands and retail priorities will grow.
“We have built 35 South for the long term and our objective is for consumers to buy it and enjoy for decades to come, recognising it as a trustworthy brand, considered reliable and consistent vintage to vintage. We have plans to support our retail partners and also ambitions toinspire the UK consumer around the magic of Chile and the great wines it can deliver.”
* You can find out more about VSPT at its website here.
* VSPT is a commercial partner to The Buyer. You can find out more here.
