An exclusive study by O-I shows that design is asserting itself as one of the main drivers of the selection of a rosé wine in France. The shape of a bottle, the creativity it expresses, its elegance, its transparency, its color, and even its sensorial aspects are now clearly identified as a key driver of choice for consumers, and especially for women and millenials.
With rosé being so trendy and becoming people’s favorite wine, O-I wanted to dig deeper and understand purchase habits. During the Just’Rosé Festival held mid-May in South of France, O-I conducted an original opinion survey among festival-goers, a panel of rosé wine consumers, to understand how they choose a wine and the role of design in that choice.
One of the first learning from the study is that a majority of respondents choose the actual wine directly at the point of purchase. While 48% know the name of the wine they want, 52% buy their bottles based on what inspires them at the shelf. This is even stronger for women and 18-34 year-olds. Women are 56% wanting to be inspired, and this goes up to 58% for the 18-34yo.
Bottle and label being the only inescapable communication vehicles available for brands, packaging becomes even more important to influence product choice.
More interestingly, the study sought to know which are the decisive choice drivers at the time of purchase for those who do not have a specific wine in mind: between the provenance of the wine (AOC, AOP, ...) , the design and the name of the wine grower. The answer is interesting: 55% for the provenance, 37% for the design and 8% for the name of the wine.
But, to the same question, 18-34 year-olds once more stand out, with 51% of respondents putting design as their number one influencer (pulled by women in this age group with 57%), 38% for provenance and 11% for the wine name. This type of consumer is more likely to pay a higher price for brands that offer individualized products and experiences. Thus, creating packaging worthy of being shared on social networks has become a lever to drive purchase
Rosé is the wine segment that most differentiates through packaging to seduce a consumer increasingly sensitive to the design of the bottle.
In addition to the study, O-I also sponsored the Pink Design Awards, an initiative designed to reward the packaging, not the content itself. 70 winegrowers participated and more than 1000 festival-goers voted for their favorite designs.
If the Sanary Pink Design Awards winners highlighted transparency, minimalism and elegance as core drivers of consumers’ preferences, this confirms a trend already observed during the Pink Rosé festival that took place early February in Cannes, France. 150 wine professionals (Pink Rosé Festival participants) had voted for their favorite bottles among 87 references.
Winners of the Pink Design Awards – Just’Rosé Edition 2019 Sanary-sur-Mer France
1. LA VILLA ANGELI Don Pasquale (left)
2. ULTIMATE UP (right)
3. CUVEE MARIE-CHRISTINE Château de L’Aumérade (center)
The conclusions we draw from these contests confirm market trends where the consumer is looking for a sleeker, more premium design and lighter color for the rosé.
Leveraging the power of packaging design on the rosé wine segment is not just a game of luck, it is rather the insurance to bet on a winning strategy.