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The early 1990s saw the South African wine industry
undergo a radical restructuring of activities. Political
transformation enabled a return to the international
market, and red wine was enjoying a boom because of
its newly discovered health-giving properties. At the
time, however, South African vineyards were very
much skewed towards producing white-wine
varieties.
This was largely because the former apartheid
government had given white farmers favoured
treatment. KWV was a parastatal set up in 1918 to
provide minimum wine-price support and
statutory surplus removal. Farmers started
producing bulk wine because, thanks to
the KWV, they were guaranteed
disposal of their product. Vast
quantities of high-bearing white
varieties such as Colombar and
Chenin Blanc were planted, with these
generally ending up as brandy spirits
and grape juice concentrate, which the
KWV was obligated to dispose of.
Farmers felt free to cultivate tonnage
without assuming responsibility for
marketing their harvest.
After the ANC came into power in
1994, KWV undertook to transform
itself from a national co-operative into
a company and began a programme of
complete deregulation. Suddenly,
grape farmers had to adopt a more
commercial attitude, something that
has seen a huge change in the national
vineyard. In 1990, for instance, 84% of
local vineyards were planted to white
grapes and only 16% to red. By 2002,
white grapes had dropped to 61% of
total area under vineyard, and red
grapes had risen to 39%.
All this in an effort to bring the local
industry in line with global trends. On
the whole, South Africa has enjoyed
success, with total wine exports rising
from just under 22 million litres in 1992
to 218 million litres in 2002.
What's a moot point, however, is whether South Africa
is successfully building a brand relative to competitors
like Australia, Chile and Argentina. Is the South
African wine industry meeting the challenge of
conveying a compelling sense of self? Viewed
collectively, does the standard of packaging of South
African wines give the consumer good reason to buy?
Consider the UK, by far SA's most important market.
Here, approximately 90% of all wine is still sold at
less than £5 (about R60) a bottle. The consumer can
choose from a multitude of different wines, but
typically invests no more than 40 seconds in
making a choice. Until now, local producers
have managed to deliver outstanding
quality at low price points, but if they
are to continue to capture market
share, value for money alone is no
longer enough. The packaging promise
becomes key.
The consumer is looking for a brand
that delivers some kind of experience.
She (for most wine is increasingly sold
through supermarkets, where
customers tend to be female) cannot
physically sample any of the wines
before she purchases them, so a wine's
packaging main function is to
communicate its intrinsic properties in
as engaging a manner as possible.
There is concern that the true face of
South African wine is not currently
being conveyed. Take the category of
motorcars as an example. When
considering luxury German motorcars,
whatever the marque in question,
there's a sense of solid engineering,
thoroughness, attention to detail.
Italian motorcars, on the other hand, are
associated with flair, beautiful design and
emotion. Other than offering value for
money, does South African wine possess
any distinctive attributes? Arguably, the
romance and heritage of a local industry
that goes back some 350 years is not
being successfully communicated.
Often, it seems, we're still too burdened
by our own history to successfully harness
it to define ourselves, and instead resort to
drawing on outside references. Perhaps
this is because South Africa was the
pariah of the international community for
so long that, upon being accepted back
into the world community, local marketers
have followed established trends rather
than forged their own path. Opting for a
borrowed solution, however, smacks of
cultural cringe. It suggests that, as a
nation, we feel so inferior about our own
heritage that we're compelled to denounce
it whenever we want to attract the
international consumer.
On the other hand, it must also be stressed
that labels that are overtly "African" are
also hugely problematic. Design featuring
Bushman drawings, Ndebele patterns,
wildlife and the like are superficial and
clichéd. They arise from trying to pander
to an outsider's preconception of South
Africa rather than using an authentic and
original expression of the South African
experience. The point is that most ethnic
labels belittle the South African wine
industry, reducing our wine to little more
than some first-world tourist's holiday
memento.
However rich and diverse South Africa's
national identity, it's nonetheless difficult
to stipulate how local designers should
incorporate this into their wine packaging.
There needs to be an awareness of how
liquor packaging, and that of wine in
particular, is governed by a subtle but
definite visual language. Wine has a set of
traditional values, and if experimentation
is to take place, then it is within this set of
values. The consumer has certain
minimum expectations that the designer
must deliver on.
The main function of a wine's packaging is to communicate its intrinsic properties in as engaging a manner as possible.
The best wine packaging tends to be
classical, retaining all the traditional
cues: the homestead, the vineyards, the
region's defining character. The
consumer must have an idea what a
label stands for: if the winery is named
after the Rooiberg, for instance, then
the packaging should convey a definite
idea concerning the mountain to the
consumer. Simplicity and honesty are
key.
The best French labels often look like a
designer was never involved. At the
same time, the rise of New World
winemaking has seen a more
innovative approach applied to wine
packaging, which has helped demystify
wine. For one thing, traditional names
in languages other than English have
been jettisoned in favour of names that
have more universal appeal.
There are plenty of challenges as the
South African wine industry seeks to
adapt to international competition. If
local wine is to develop a standing in
the eyes of the world consumer,
packaging with style and substance is a
prerequisite. The challenge is to
transcend established modes and
genres, to create the kind of design a
market research-driven approach could
never deliver but that gives South
African wines a truly distinctive edge.
Our country is rich in different cultures.
This should be all the inspiration we
need.
So, how good are
SA wine makers at
managing their image?
Design Indaba Magazine
asked our dapper
writer, Christian Eedes
for his opinion, before
venturing out to Cape
Town's Winex Show.
This is what he said:
The best packaging seems to be at the top-end of the market
(wines around a R100 a bottle). Visit any boutique wine store and I
am sure that you and the Design Indaba magazine team would be
well qualified to make a selection.
Three wineries that I think have particularly strong packaging are:
Flagstone
Lanzerac
Meinert
Unfortunately, the worst packaging seems to be at the
bottom end of the market, as if consumers who are looking for
extra value for money don't deserve any extra effort when it
comes to packaging. Visit your local supermarket and you will see
that most wines around R20 a bottle, have atrocious packaging.
Furthermore, we asked the designers of
this label for their rationales
Martin Meinert believes that the wine he creates is not all of his
own doing. There are the elements, wind, water, earth, and sun
that join together presenting him with the raw materials that he
then crafts into wine. This process was what he wanted
expressed in his label.
The symbol created for Synchronicity has its origins in the
ancient art of weaving, a parrallel has been drawn between the
art of making wine and the art of weaving, where the end product
is influenced by the elements and only guided by man to achieve
a unique result. When all these elements align in such a way that
their synchronicity at that point creates a special product. Each
weaver used different symbols to identify their particular cloth
and all the symbols had a meaning, from wisdom to power. This
personal mark is captured in Martin's handwritten label. The
colours used are based earth tones, the soil that feeds the wine.
Weaving in Africa is an ancient practice, traces of woven plant
fibres date back thousands of years. Weaving is believed to have
had a divine origin, introduced by Faro the Sun and Water God,
who controls the cycle of seasons where nature marches to its
own rhythm, an invisible order to which all life responds. This
sence of continuity and change is reflected in the creation of
Syncronicity which exudes its own artistic spontaneity when all
the natural elements align.
Athol Moult
Design Art Associates
Then the team asked prominent South African
designers for their comments.
The promise of the international export
markets brings an array of problems. Do we
brand our (South African) product individually
or do we stand a chance against the world
collectively? Our local wine producers have
their noses too far up their wine glasses to
recognise that we have a better chance
fighting the New World wines together than
on our own. Yes it is all about 'da Dollar, but
does it grow the industry, does it make the
proverbial pie bigger or does it just make a
few producers successful?
One cannot separate the product from the
country of origin. Product and country go
hand in hand, we have seen it work in the
automotive industry, Mercedes, BMW
(Germany), Hyundai (Korea), Toyota (Japan),
in the liquor industry, Scotch (Scotland),
Tequila (Mexico), Bourbon (America) as so on.
Do any of the labels here work anywhere in
the world?
YES! Can it come from any vineyard in the
world? YES!
Does it differentiate South African wine from
the countless others in the world? NO!
Is there an opportunity here? DEFINITELY!
And I don't mean stick a Proudly SA label on it
or even a Ndebele pattern on it, but isn't that
the challenge?
Veejay Archary
Design Director, HerdBuoys McCann-Erickson
NICE WINE - PITY ABOUT THE
LABEL.
"Rated in the top three of best
packaged wines..." Huh? Sorry,
but I see nice design - safe design
in fact. Handsome bottles and
pretty graphics with handwritten
type (to avoid sweating over
proper typography). Nothing too
edgy or "out there". Probably
quite unlike the wines themselves,
trying manfully to get out from
behind the labels and take over the
world.
I must say I'm somewhat surprised
that these particular wines have
been recognised. Having had firsthand
experience of the Cape "wine
label mafia", and of Cape
winemakers themselves, none of
this surprises me. I can only
assume that the judges of "best
packaged wines" are wine
merchants and retailers. I sincerely
hope these judges are not graphic
designers - particularly not South
African graphic designers.
I guess most of us creatives have
long given up the struggle to
design decent and challenging
wine labels. The local wine
industry seems obsessed with the
"man from Sainsbury" buying five
bazillion cases. Even if our wine
labels pictured a dead bat - and
the deal went through, they'd still
be happy. Small "boutique"
cellars do a far better job on their
branding and labelling - but do not
appear to have been recognised
here.
Looking through the images
supplied as examples, are wines
with names that sound like engine
oil additives. "Synchronicity" is
not something I'd like to drink
along with my rare roast beef.
Devon Crest (looks like Deron?)
has handwriting that, to me, looks
like home-brew from the Milnerton
flea market. Lanzerac manages to
appear swish, though very safe
and a tad boring. All very safe…
I my view, we have far better
examples of local wine packaging
as examples of design excellence.
I really think it's time the local wine
industry got a grip on itself, and
put a little energy and money into
commissioning decent design. If
ever there was an opportunity for
local design to become a player on
the world stage, wine labels are a
way in. The field is wide open -
even naff New Zealand manages
to produce some really interesting
wine packaging.
"Could do better" as my
headmaster always used to say.
Garth Walker
Designer, Orange Juice Design
"You'll never work for the wine
industry again"
I can't understand how these were voted the best but anyway, I like the
Lanzerac packaging. I think it's production values are particularly high
especially the quality of the APL (Applied Colour lettering - the gold foil
applied directly onto the bottle). My feelings generally are that there are
too many Labels from South Africa that look too similar. I think this is
because there are studios that only do wine labels and the market
consider them to be specialist, which we as designers know a 'specialist
wine label designer' is a misnomer. The market use these 'specialists'
and very rarely use anyone else - hence the similarity on our shelves.
I also feel there is a lack of good ideas on our shelves, good packaging
around the world has great ideas. Generally I like packaging that has a
sense of humanity - packs that do not patronise the consumer. Wine
packs like Paddasvlei and Goats Do Roam are examples of this in my
opinion, although I do not particularly like the graphics.
Sean Harrison
Design Director, CODE
The basic criteria for many things in design is
to look good and do the job. In the case of
packaging that job is to identify, sometimes
protect and 'to sell' off the shelf. Remembering
also that over 40% of shoppers take less than 5
seconds to make their buying decisions. So
yes I can look at the labels from a purely
aesthetic aspect and comment on the overall
impression, the colour palette, the typography,
the iconography etc.
But as a brander and a designer I have to ask
about the brand: what are its values, its
positioning, where is it sold and to who?
Another consideration is that the positioning of
some brands can vary by country. In South
Africa to have a big celebration, provided you
are pretty well heeled, could involve buying a
bottle of non-vintage Moet & Chandon French
champagne for around R350. The 'House of
Moët' as a brand dates back to 1743. However,
my memory of Moët is finishing a presentation
mid-afternoon on a Saturday in Amsterdam,
going into a sidewalk café and seeing a young
couple who looked as if they could be art
students ordering up one bowl of soup, a
chunk of bread, a bottle of Moët and two
glasses! Moët looks special and tastes special,
every time, and is something for special
occasions.
At the back of my mind is the fact that I think
wine is a very weakly branded category as a
whole - particularly in South Africa. Brands
take time to build, demand a certain level of
consistency, but need to stay relevant.
Words and descriptors that may be fine in
South Africa in that they are understood,
distinctive and pronounceable may not work or
simply be banned, internationally. We are no
longer allowed to use words such as port and
champagne. SFW for years suffered from the
word 'winery' as internationally it is interpreted
as being small, almost a family set up, and not
a very serious business.
Handwritten labels to me tend to confirm this
view and without referring to a graphologist it's
hard to take the first two visuals seriously. My
mother's hand written labels on her jams and
preserves were far more exciting. From the
hundreds of new offerings fighting for a share
of my wallet it's difficult to treat this solution
with any respect, and they certainly say
nothing to me about wine. Lanzerac on the
other hand has refreshed its brand and is
building on the tradition of the past in classic
style. However it's a pity this isn't followed
through as the 'Band-Aid' treatment of the
cultivors is hardly in keeping with the rest of
the design. It would have been so easy.
Packaging is not something to be done in
isolation, nor should it be changed willy-nilly.
When I prowl around wine shops in Makro,
Rebel, Spier Estates, when travelling
internationally, you soon sense the brands that
regard their packaging as serious business
rather than frivolous short term acts of so
called creativity.
Jeremy Sampson
Chief Executive of Interbrand Sampson.
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