Lindemans looks to feel the love

Paul Milton, senior winemaker for red wines at Lindeman’s, chose to attend the London International Wine Fair for the first ever time this year in an effort to boost the profile of a brand which “hasn’t received much love” in recent years.

Speaking to the drinks business at the unveiling of the Australian brand’s new packaging, Milton (left) said: “I just really want to talk to people about the brand and this exciting new project we’ve undertaken to revamp its image.

“The brand went through a bit of a lull dating back to its time under Rosemount and the quality of wine suffered, but since 2006 we have seen a real turnaround and all vintages since then have been, in my opinion at least, fantastic.

“It still needs a further push though, and this is the time to do it.”

One of the main obstacles holding the brand back was, according to Milton, its dated labelling.

“The old labels were very out of date,” he admitted. “They were much like French labels in that people would not really have much of an idea what they were drinking, the labels simply didn’t highlight the style or grape varietal to a sufficient degree.

“These new labels not bring a whole new level of modernity and clarity for the consumer. People are often daunted by wine, but this makes their jobs easier when trying to pick out a wine from the shelf.”

Changes to the Lindeman’s packaging include taste descriptors on the front and back labels and stories explaining the history of each product range to aid differentiation.

Rebecca Haigh, senior brand manager for Lindeman’s, added: “The new packaging is an effective and modern evolution of the Lindeman’s brand and we’re confident that not only will it have maximum on-shelf stand-out, but it will also appeal to existing consumers and draw new people into the brand.

“Our ambition is to become a 10 million case power brand from our existing annual volume of 8.4m cases.”

Alan Lodge, 18.05.2011