US Cellars increase sales to promote the use of cork
The American wine cellars, “Bogle Vineyards, Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Grgich Hills Estate, Jordan Vineyard & Winery and Rutherford Ranch Winery,” joined the campaign to promote cork in the USA, the 100% Cork (www.100percentcork.org), promoting, through all the media and communication networks, the benefits of cork bottle stoppers and the value it adds to the wine.
“We use cork because it is better for our wines and is in line with our commitment to sustainability,” as the various cellars referred in a concerted testimony. “We also recognize and value the fact that the consumer associates cork to quality wines. This is another reason for us to use the seal and pride ourselves in being part of this promotional campaign,” affirmed various cellars.
According to Peter Weber, executive director of the Cork Quality Council, counterpart entity of the “Portuguese Cork Association (Apcor)” in that country, “promoting the utilization of cork is taking advantage of a marketing triumph still to be explored, seeing that many of these cellars already use cork, but are not able to call attention to this fact.”
“Wine producers clearly communicate to consumers when they produce wine from a certain region or it is organic. Therefore, it makes sense that the cellars should also call attention to the fact of using cork,” adds Peter Weber. In conclusion, he says: “We pride ourselves in being united with these leading cellars in the promotion of cork bottle stoppers. Together, we can alert others to the benefits of the cork bottle stopper and offer a service to the consumer that desires to purchase a wine sealed with a truly genuine product. “
Ben Pearson, wine critic of the San Franciscan Chronicle and Bottle Barn client, in Santa Rosa, says he is “very interested in seeing if this campaign has a positive influence on the consumers’ behavior. If it does, it will strengthen the cellars’ decision to chose cork and alert their clients of that option.”
Various studies have been performed in the USA concluding that the consumer prefers wine sealed with cork – for example, the study of Tragon, (June of 2014), which infers that 93 percent of consumers associate cork bottle stoppers with quality wines – and they are willing to pay an extra $1,97 for a wine bottle sealed with a cork bottle stopper (source:Nielsen).
The publicity campaign, which occurred during the festive season at the end of the year, included radio spots in four stations of San Francisco Bay area, as well as digital advertisements in order to attract attention to the Facebook campaign (https://www.facebook.com/100PercentCork) and the site www.100percentcork.org. With more than a hundred thousand fans, the facebook page is one of the largest social networks of the American wine industry and the place where many wine consumers look for more information about cork.
These activities form part of the Intercork II – International Cork Promotion, a communications project that Apcor undertook since last year, and are integrated in a global marketing campaign to publicize the advantages of cork bottle stoppers in the key markets of this division.
