Building premium commodity brands : an exploratory study of New World fine wine

Abstract

The research explored how the four marketing!mix!elements!namely!product,!price,!promotion!and! place,!can!be!used!to!position!premium!commodity!brands!in!such!a!way!that!it!stimulates!regional! competitiveness!and!business!growth!for!producers!and!marketers!operating!globally.!!The!study! specifically!focussed!on!fine!wine!as!a!premium!commodity.!!Factors!such!as!product!innovation,! place!of!origin,!pricing!strategies,!promotional!activities!and!channel!management!and!distribution! were!considered!as!part!of!an!integrated!marketing!strategy.!! ! Eighteen! respondents,! including!wine! industry!experts,!wine!producers!and!wine!marketers! from! four!New!World!wine! producing! countries,!South!Africa,!Australia,!New!Zealand! and! the!United! States of America (USA) formed part of the qualitative study. The research and associated model aimed to identify a link between brand positioning strategies (as related to the marketing mix), brand knowledge and brand equity.

It was found that making fine wine accessible to its target market and having relationships with key players in the industry are the most relevant factors in building strong New World fine wine brands that can compete effectively in the global fine wine market. To illustrate these findings the research project concluded with a conceptual framework based on the Dimensions of Brand Knowledge(Keller,1993).