Launching The Loire

06 August 2004 By db staff writer

d=”standfirst”>From initial concept to launch, Chris Orr was privy to the wranglings and creative processes involved in the birth of a brand. At sub-£4.99, the spirit of compromise won the day

I like it,” says Eric de Montgolfier, directeur ge?ne?ral of Alliance Loire, clients of HwCg, and potential new kid on the block as far as brand building is concerned. “It’s very, how do you say, very… well it says everything we want it to, doesn’t it?” The occasion is the second in a string of meetings that are aimed at launching one of the few branded wines from the Loire into the UK market.

“I mean, Sancerre, Muscadet, etc – in a sense they are brands in themselves,” comments Deb Worton, marketing and PR director for HwCg, “but that doesn’t mean that consumers recognise the Loire or that there is a recognisable brand from the Loire out there at the moment.”

What HwCg, along with CorpBrand, the design specialists, had been charged with doing was helping the Alliance Loire co-operative to do just that. The plan was to create a brand for the Loire, much in the same way as HwCg created the Blason de Bourgogne brand two years ago, for the eponymous group of co-operatives in Burgundy. The latter has gone from zero to hero, where Burgundy sales are concerned, notching up a total of 50,000 cases over the past calendar year in the multiples and making it a niche brand success story for its delighted owners.

HwCg and Alliance bravely allowed us behind the scenes, fly on the wall style, of their brand building exercise, and it became apparent pretty quickly that one of the biggest challenges of all, not surprisingly, was choosing a name. “Do we include the Loire in the title?” was the first key question from all the parties involved. “Yes” was the answer from the French, and an unequivocal one at that. 

Out of the 20 or so suggestions put down on paper at the first meeting, La Source de la Loire was initially settled on. Heads nodded around the table, with one exception, that of Colin Porter, chairman of CorpBrand Identity. “It’s quite long,” he said afterwards, when I quizzed him over the potential of the title. “Eric’s right, it does say exactly what we want. It’s French but it is easily understood in English, it has all the right intonations – La Source sounding very natural. It’s just a challenge from the design point of view. But we’ll get round that.” By the second meeting, in late February, they already had. 

As we all sat down, Porter brought out the test designs to show Montgolfier and his colleague, Claude Guichet, the director of exports, along with Worton, a feel for the way they were going with  the design. 

Colin flips through the various options. Both Montgolfier and Guichet are keen on the boatinspired design. “We like the fact that it brings the essence of the Loire and the river together,” they comment. The biggest discussion point, however, is the shape of the bottle. There are three proposed by Porter, ranging from a normal Bordeaux style bottle, to a shape similar to the Piat d’Or bottle, with another shape that is probably best described as “in between” (see pics opposite for progression from initial designs to finished product on the right). 

Before the bottle shapes are revealed, Worton points out that they’ve gone for a blue tint on the glass for the white wine. I write in my notes “blue tint – they must be joking!!!!!” What on earth could a blue tint do other than render the packaging highly tacky and suspect? Warton spots my notes, smiles and whispers, “You wait and see.” And she’s right. The bottles come out, and the tint, similar to that featured on the Arniston Bay whites, does make a dramatic difference. It doesn’t look tacky, as I had originally supposed, but it does bring the wine and bottle to life. “I still wouldn’t buy it myself,” I murmur. “Fortunately, it’s not aimed at the likes of you,” jokes Warton. Harsh, but very fair. 

The meeting ends with an agreement to take several styles to focus groups and see which works best. The overwhelming majority of those around the table, from designers to the Alliance Loire themselves, prefer the bottle shape that is similar to that of Piat d’Or. 

“It’s different, it’s sleek, it’s sexy and most importantly,” states Worton, “it’s got stand out on the shelf.” 

The final note is for the French to make sure they do the due dilligence on whether La Source de la Loire can be used as a name. It would have been useful to have had it confirmed for this meeting, notes Worton, but it’s essential for the next one. “If we can’t use it,” says Porter, “it’s almost back to square one.”

The next meeting is down in the Loire. Porter, Warton, and HwCg’s winemaker, Robin Kinahan MW, fly down with two things in mind – to finalise the label and bottle design, and to ensure that the wines being proposed fit the quality standard and price points. “Frankly, we need to decide the blends that are worth going forward with now,” points out Warton, “or we just won’t get them done by June or July, which is our big cut-off point for getting the wines in the majors later on in the year.” That means Kinahan has a hard day working through the wine options, while the rest of the team hammers out the design.

We talk through the various designs, again alighting on the preferred bottle shape, with blue tint, and with a newer, simpler, cleaner design by Colin and his team. The French seem happy, HwCg seems happy, CorpBrand seems happy. However, the general entente cordialeis disturbed by discussions with the technical manager for the Alliance, who believes the bottling lines aren’t geared up for the “bastard” size and shape of the bottle. My French is limited but there’s an awful lot of shaking of heads going on. To add to the slightly tense air, a discussion about price causes consternation among Montgolfier and his team. Kinahan has tasted the wines and is keen to choose the final blends, but has reminded the Alliance team that price point, as mentioned at the beginning of the project, is key. “The basic range, [the plan is for three ranges encompassing basic, premium, and superpremium] has to come in under £5.” He’s adamant, despite the rather pained look from the Alliance team. They’ll have a fiddle with the figures. Kinahan is polite but forceful. “They must come in at £4.99 or it’s simply not worth it. We’ll cut out 85% of the market if we go above that price automatically.” The French agree to work on it.

As everyone flies back to the UK, there are mixed feelings. There’s been some agreement on the bottle design, but the shape is proving an issue and so is pricing, despite them having identified some perfect blends for the contents.

Zip to two months later and the London International Wine and Spirit Fair. I saunter up to the HwCg stand. The labels are completely different – very nice, but different. The name is different too. “Vallée Loire” has replaced La Source de Loire. The bottle is a traditional Bordeaux shaped bottle. “What happened?” I ask Worton. “Well, the name was already taken, the bottle was too expensive and fiddly to use on the standard range, though we’re using it for the premium range that will be launched later, and we had to ensure that the wine in the bottle stood up to scrutiny.” “But it’s so different,” I say. “I wouldn’t say different,” says Worton. “More of a compromise.” “That’s a big compromise,” I suggest. “Welcome to the real world,” she replies. “Besides, the main reason for most of the changes were the results from our customer focus groups. You can have all the good designs you want, but if they don’t turn the customer on, what’s the point. We reckon we’ll be able to confirm some major listings shortly.” 

One month later Tesco’s listings are confirmed, completing what the four month exercise. “It may not be what we originally planned,” says Worton, “but I still think it does the job, and it’s now on the shelf. And that’s half the battle.”

Presumably the second half will be getting people to actually buy it.