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Portuguese 'umbrella brand' unveiled

The cash injection was announced at the launch in Lisbon last week of an umbrella brand for Portuguese wines: an eye-catching new logo with the slogan "Wines of Portugal: a world of difference", to be used on banners for shows and events, on promotional and point of sale materials, and (optionally) on back labels.

The 12-month development of the new brand was led by the Instituto do Vinho e da Vinha (IVV), a department within the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture, in consultation with ViniPortugal, the regional wine bodies (CVRs) and producers. The IVV worked with the Lisbon-based brand design and strategy agency Brandia Central, as well as Wine Intelligence.

Wine Intelligence focused on the USA and the UK, the biggest markets for unfortified Portuguese wines in value terms after Angola. Surveys were on-line, initially involving 2,000 regular wine drinkers in the US, 1,000 in the UK, across wine-drinking ages, gender, regions, drinking patterns and socio-economic groups. The final decision was based mainly on the opinion of US consumers in a second wave of research.

"We are still preparing the strategy, but it will start right now," said a representative of the IVV. "In the near future we will announce a plan of action based on proposals by the main protagonists for promotion in external markets (ViniPortugal, IVDP and others). For example advertising campaigns in priority markets and the creation of a website to spread the message of the brand abroad. The priority markets will include the USA, UK, Brazil, Canada, elsewhere in Europe, and Asia."

Until recently, marketing and promotional efforts for Portuguese wines have been somewhat splintered on the home front. Notably, Port with Douro wines, and Madeira, went their own way, outside the industry's energetic promotional organisation ViniPortugal. The new logo is designed to be used by all.

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