Sustained Success

Situation Analysis: In early 2011, the wine category in Canada was healthy and growing, but Jackson-Triggs, a well-known, dominant player in Ontario and B.C., was in trouble, having lost its ranking as the number one national wine brand. Its base SKU (Proprietors’ Selection), which represented almost 80% of the volume, was in a steep decline. Category growth was being fuelled by hundreds of new brands with bright, playful labels and names like Cupcake, Ménage à Trois and Girls Night Out. Jackson-Triggs wines appeared comparatively stale and uninspired as the brand and its heritage had little meaning for consumers.

Insight & Strategy: A brand audit revealed communication in the wine category almost always focused on the varietal, the appellation or food pairings, with beautiful vineyard shots, generic product photography and cliché drinking occasions.

Further research revealed Jackson-Triggs drinkers described themselves as being down-to-earth and straightforward with an aversion to pretense. Thus, the real target for the brand was “Wine Drinkers” who didn’t overthink wine purchases, and not “Wine Lovers.” For this group, brand bonding should be more casual and emotional to trigger associations with wine drinking occasions. Jackson-Triggs needed to become established as a lifestyle brand, connected to the feelings and emotions that make any experience more special, and associated with a wide range of wine drinking moments.

Execution: Instead of focusing on the clichéd drinking occasions of typical wine advertising, the aim was to communicate that no matter what mood people were in or going for, “We’ve got a wine for that.” This would also provide implicit support for a key product attribute – the large number of varietals, size and packaging formats the brand offered. Launched on TV in November 2011, two spots were created for the first year of the campaign, the second rolling out in April 2012, supported by sponsorships with specialty channels, print, a newly redesigned corporate website, social media and PR. In year two, the television spots continued before being updated for year three, focused on promoting Jackson-Triggs’ box format wines. Print insertions in trade publications such as Food & Drink, Taste Magazine and Occasions Magazine were used to help support and strengthen the communication.

Results: With goals to increase case volume sales, purchase intent and strengthen brand equity, the launch of the new platform in November 2011 stopped the bleeding, gained market share and made Jackson-Triggs relevant again. Twelve months into the campaign, sales were up 31% nationally, with sales in the following twelve months up a further 22%, while sales for Jackson-Triggs’ primary competitor, French Cross, declined by 2% vs. last year. Brand awareness is at an all-time high as of spring 2014, above its direct category competition by 20%, and six-month consumption increased significantly from 23% to 41%.

Cause & Effect:

Equity tracking revealed that 57% of those who recalled seeing the ad consumed the brand in the past six months with 73% rating the advertising between eight to 10 (on a 10-point scale), and the advertising also drew in new and lapsed drinkers. In year two, unaided awareness recall levels was highest of all the wine brands tested. While there were no changes to pricing, distribution, support levels and promotional activity, two months before the advertising started new packaging was introduced.

Credits:
Client: Constellation Brands Canada
SVP marketing: Steve Bollinger
VP marketing, domestic wines: Maria Melo-Boone
Marketing director, lifestyle wines: Andres Rios
Agency: Bensimon Byrne
President: Jack Bensimon
CD: Joseph Bonnici
ACDs: Hayes Steinberg, Chris Harrison
Group account director: Zeeshan Hussain
Business lead: Sara Myers
Director of production services: Michelle Pilling
Managing director, Narrative PR: Amanda Alvaro
Account supervisor, Narrative PR: Laura Serra