MARKETING: RHONE: Seeing red

Inter Rhône’s sophisticated new advertising campaign uses photographic images that create the illusion of a glass of Côtes de Rhône wine. Patrick Schmitt reports

News that a long-running and highly popular marketing campaign may be in breach of Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) guidelines would have most sinking their head in their hands and loudly calling on the support of a non-earthly power. But for Inter Rhône, financiers of the successful “Think Red, Think Côtes du Rhône” initiative, the suggestion that its humorous cartoon hippo and hedgehog illustrations could be seen to be targeting children, and therefore unsuitable, provided motivation for a complete rethink of a 10-year-old media drive. Not only that, but the generic body decided to double its UK marketing spend. “We took this constraint as an opportunity to improve and change the campaign,” says Olivier Legrand, export marketing manager for Inter Rhône.

In other words, far from surrendering to despair and redirecting resources, the French wine region planned to raise its prominence in the UK, while incorporating any ASA concerns. The first step was to draw up a brief: “We wanted to keep the strong points of the previous campaign,” explains Legrand, referring to visibility and originality of the illustrations, “and we wanted to keep the ‘Think Red, Think Côtes du Rhône’ strapline.” Three creative agencies were approached, including Toybox, maker of the original campaign, and a pitch was organised for April this year. Toybox, despite its experience of Inter Rhône’s UK promotional activities, and its suggested continuation of the cartoon concept, this time without any animals, lost out to agency Group MB.

But how would Group MB improve upon the existing campaign? The French wine region has built a particular personality in Britain, and grown market share too, during its decade of somewhat irreverent marketing imagery, seen most prominently on London’s Underground. The splashes of red on black and white cartoon imagery were striking in their simplicity, and highly adaptable. What would retain the concept, enjoy such longevity, please the ASA, and increase consciousness of Côte du Rhône?

To find out, the drinks business followed Inter Rhône to a studio in West London.

Creative process
Here, we had a chance to witness the execution of an idea conceived by creative agency Group MB. Central to this was the suggestion of a glass of red wine in a range of situations to provide a series of photographic posters. The first execution comprises an outline of a man holding a bunch of white tulips behind his back. In front of him is a woman opening a door. Returning to the flowers, it is clear one of the tulips is red to represent a glass of Côtes du Rhône.

As Legrand explains, “The main concept is that when you see an object in your life that is red and the shape of a glass of wine you have to think Côtes du Rhône. Maybe it is not as humourous [as the previous campaign], but it is more sophisticated, and it keeps the link with ‘Think Red, Think Côtes du Rhône’.

“We did extensive consumer research for the new campaign and the answers from consumers were very positive. They saw it as very modern and stylish, and like a game in the sense they had to search for the object, and you will always wonder what will be the next visual.”

The posters will only reflect moments “favourable to the consumption of wine”, according to Legrand. “It’s as though you are giving the consumer a starting point for a story and they have to fill in the gaps – we are giving them a situation where they could drink wine.”

The second poster will contain an image of a woman’s legs from behind, and the shape of her red high heels will suggest a glass of wine (see picture, left), while the third will contain a man with a red bow tie undone, again, to suggest a glass of red.

Neil Chappell, creative director of Group MB, explains: “We always wanted to do this photographically as we felt it was right for this particular brief. It is a visual trompe l’oeil, playing around with what is reality. Subsequent executions will be slightly more cryptic, as the best advertising has a sense of intrigue and gives you a reward.” He cites the print advertising for The Economist as a benchmark for this approach, although conceding it is for a more selective audience, while noting the likes of Lavazza as “a more idiosyncratic example with a strong sense of place – it is very Italian.”

For Legrand, “the strength of this campaign is maybe not that it makes you laugh, but that it makes you smile. It also keeps the mood and spirit of the previous campaign: something unexpected in the world of wine where imagery tends to always include a landscape, vineyard and people sharing a glass of wine. It also illustrates the simplicity of the Think Red, Think Côtes du Rhône message and the link between the visual and the slogan is more obvious.”

One criticism of the previous campaign was the fact it only seems to connect with the UK consumer, despite attempts to use it in Germany and The Netherlands. However, despite the suggestion the new print advertising has a more widespread appeal, there are no plans to use it outside the UK, although Ireland may get the campaign next year.

As for producers back in the Rhône, Legrand reports an enthusiastic response to the new executions. “They like the previous campaign,” he says, “but it was hard for them to use on point of sale or neck tags. This one they feel more comfortable with.”

Overall, however much the trade may miss the cartoon animals or welcome the latest photographic approach, it is important to note that this is the largest investment Inter Rhône has done in the UK for many years. “We have put aside £500,000 for 2008 and the same amount for 2009,” says Legrand. “To compare, last year we spent £250,000, while the average for the last five years has been around £300,000.” Justifying the increased spend, he adds, “Our objective is to raise awareness of Côtes du Rhône. Over the last few years sales have increased, but awareness has not risen as much as sales – we hope to up spontaneous brand awareness from 11% to 14% over the next two years (TNS Sofres).”

db © September 2008