Accolade’s Anakena brand to sponsor British tennis

Accolade Wines has signed a three-year sponsorship deal with the Lawn Tennis Association as it looks to promote its new Chilean wine brand, Anakena.

Accolade Wines CEO Paul Schaafsma (right) with British Davis Cup winner James Ward at the launch of Anakena at the Royal Albert Hall (Photo: Accolade)

To support the launch of Anakena – Accolade’s first investment in a South American winery, which gives it a footprint in all major New World winegrowing regions – Accolade will invest £500,000 in the brand over the next 12 months, the company said. This includes a new partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association which will see Anakena become the official wine of British Tennis and the Lawn Tennis Association.

The Anakena brand will also form part of the sponsorship of the Aegon Championships at The Queen’s Club and Wimbledon in 2016.

The announcement of the partnership was made by Accolade’s new CEO, Paul Schaafsma, at the British Tennis Champions Tournament at the Royal Albert Hall on 4 December. Tennis professionals including the defending champion of the Champions Tournament, Fernando González, and the current British number four – and member of the victorious Davis Cup team – James Ward attended the launch alongside Schaafsma.

“This partnership is a fantastic opportunity for Anakena and we couldn’t be happier to be working alongside the LTA and British Tennis team,” Schaafsma said, “particularly given the recent success in the Davis Cup, which saw the British team beat Belgium to win the tournament for the first time in 79 years.

“With general interest in tennis now heightened following this fantastic performance, we’re very excited about the 2016 calendar.”

New World

Anakena is the newest brand to enter the Accolade Wines portfolio following the company’s acquisition of Viña Anakena in September 2015. The purchase makes Accolade the only wine company to have a footprint in every major New World wine region, the company said.

Schaafsma said Accolade’s ownership would be able to take the brand to “the next level” in terms of its global presence and distribution, the connection to British tennis aimed at building awareness and loyalty for the brand.

“The brands have to be relevant, so we invest in our brands,” Schaafsma said. “I think today, the launch of the sponsorship with the Lawn Tennis Association of Great Britain is another example of us investing in brands.

“If you look at our portfolio, we sponsor the England cricket team and the Australian cricket team with [Australian wine brand] Hardy’s; if you look at what we’re doing with [New Zealand brand] Mud House, we’re investing above the line there; we’ve got some exciting news to announce in the new year about a partnership there…

“With Anakena, we felt that, for this to be a serious brand and for our partners to have a need for this brand, we want to make sure there was consumer awareness for it.

“With England just winning the Davis Cup, I think tennis is very much top of mind for English people and having a partnership with the Lawn Tennis Association – we’re going to be the key wine sponsor at the Queen’s Club tournament – there’ll be an Anakena cellar door at the event, there’ll be an Anakena bar in the corporate hospitality and Anakena wines will be poured throughout the event – is a significant investment in terms of brand.

‘A serious brand’

“What we’re saying to our customers and partners is: this is a serious brand. We are looking to bring this to market in a strong way and for our consumers, they will be able to recognise the brands because of the partnerships we have.”

Schaafsma added that the reputation that Anakena already has for producing high-quality wines should give the brand a strong presence on shop shelves.

“It is a quality winery,” he said. “They have won so many awards and the size of Anakena is quite small in this market, but where the focus has been is on premium and super-premium wines within the market for Chile. And what a great way to start – with a brand that already has the perception of being of high quality.

“Bringing that to a broader audience – there is no better way to start, so we are really excited.”