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As major brewers continue to look outside beer to expand their portfolio, Canada’s largest wine producer, Arterra is also branching out – launching two hard sparkling sodas.

Rilli Brill and In Good Order are both wine-based ready-to-drink beverages, and Arterra enlisted the help of Toronto-based brand and design agency Jacknife to create them from whole cloth, including branding, naming and packaging.

Instead of the bi-chromatic minimalist offerings normally associated with the “better-for-you” segment, Arterra opted for floral motifs and messaging for Rilli Brilli, including the tagline “live life in full bloom” and using the “#bloomingbriliance” hashtag. In Good Order’s design aesthetic is a playful Hawaiian and tiki bar-inspired design, with dancing hula girls, pineapples, thatched huts, hammocks, and “no shirt, no shoes, service” messaging.

Kim Norwich, creative director at Jacknife Design, says there is a preconceived notion that in the better-for-you space, products have to have a “clean” or “sterile” look and feel, but this does not have to be reflected all the time. “We started knowing the flavour would be pink lemonade rose [for Rillli Brilli] and wanted to amp that up and explore something that is not in the market,” Norwich says. Flowers and water colour, plus a distinctive name, she says, would help it stand out on shelf. For In Good Order, its playful Hawaiian design sensibilities bely its serious name, and Norwich says the aesthetic of summer and beach informed the design. “We decided to be a bit quirky with it, and it tested well, especially the cat in the hammock illustration,” she says. In terms of positioning, Norwich says it can co-exist with the likes of sangria and refrigerated coolers and other RTD beverages.

In feature windows, consumers can find the cans already chilled in the refrigerated section. Arterra also expanded distribution to include direct-to-consumer e-commerce through its Wine Rack retail chain, which was looking for a strong RTD offering.

Jacknife worked on the messaging too, and marketing has been largely digital-focused due to the pandemic – a particularly big pivot was moving away from experiential during the May long weekend.

More creative is to come via paid social, organic, influencer and Rilli Brilli in particular will include a heavy influencer component.

While the popularity of wine coolers peaked and dropped well before the recent boom in ready-to-drink offerings, Andrea Hunt, SVP and CMO at Arterra, tells strategy that both Rilli Brilli and In Good Order represent the producer’s first foray into RTDs. Both are on-trend in terms of things that have made the space increasingly popular, such as gluten-free, and low sugar and calorie content. She adds that single serve formats cater to the convenience and taste needs of today’s consumers and are a great opportunity to have fun with flavours and graphics in a way that is different than the more traditional wine offerings.

Hunt says that there are similarities between the two products’ propositions, but brand positioning and target differ. Rilli Brilli celebrates making the “unexpected really brilliant” and is instantly recognizable by its distinctive bloom illustrations. In Good Order is more fun and irreverent, with an inherent tension between its more serious name and unapologetically playful graphics.

Norwich says Rilli Brilli is geared to 25- to 40-year-old women, and has an aesthetic that resonated with them and could be served at brunch with girlfriends. With In Good Order, it’s more gender neutral, and geared to more of the cottage, park and backyard crowd.