Do the labels matter so much to the consumer?

"Yes", is the loud answer of a recent study presented by Nielsen at the Oregon Wine Symposium on February 11, 2008 in Eugene. Over 3,300 wine brands are now crowding the shelves of grocery stores since 1999 and they now represent about 70% of active brands. Interestingly, their price points are higher. In 2007, 27% of new wines fell in the $10-$14 price range, while 21% were $14-$25 and 19% ranged $8-$10, still according to Nielsen.

Unfortunately, the consumers are not at all brand loyal. They love to try new wines and new brands. That's why the labels are so important: they need to catch the eye of the consumers but more importantly, to answer basic questions. The wine label must communicate the quality of the wine (60%), reinforce the brand name (55%) and emotionally appeal to the consumer (42%) .

Is it true for all labels? While in California this summer, I was amazed to notice how many brands chose to just put a letter on their front label, like the J Wine label.


Quite beautiful, but not very informative. The problem with labels is to manage to have a beautiful label with a lot of information - back label is critical!