Tradition plays an influential role in how wineries package their product for consumers. The shape of the bottle signifies the type of wine inside. Labels communicate the varietal, appellation, alcohol content and, most critical to the winery, the brand.

These constants have begun changing. Plastic stoppers or screw caps sometimes supplant the traditional cork closures. The size of wine labels expanded to accommodate winery stories and more expansive imagery and then expanded further with wraparound bottle design. The popularity of hard seltzers and canned cocktails boosted canned wines and wine-based hybrids to appeal to the younger generations who prefer these convenient, single-serve, often lower alcohol drinks.

The desire to reach the younger demographic groups drives many of these changes. But to acquire them as consumers, wineries must speak their language, not just on social media but also in their packaging.

Consider hard seltzers and canned cocktails — their packaging is young, fresh, and irreverent, and the label art is cool. A hybrid like Line 39 wine spritzer from Napa comes in a 250ml aluminum bottle with added flavors and cap colors that match the wine varietal. Mind & Body, Trinchero Family's wine for Millennials, comes with a big but simple label with all varietals packaged in the same bottle shape. Portalupi sells wine in refillable milk bottles right on the edge of sustainability, nostalgia and craft trends. The now infamous 19 Crimes come in frosted bottles with interactive labels that tell each prisoner's story.

"The battle to get the consumer to pick up a bottle is monumental," says Dennis Sones, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at ByQuest, the firm that created those frosted bottles. "If you get your packaging right, consumers will see themselves in your product. By right, we mean communicating the brand, the quality, and the price perception. It's your first handshake with the consumer. Many marketing people tell me that if a consumer picks up your bottle, they are 80% sold."

Sones is one of the speakers at the May 25th packXplore Conference, where he and other experts will share their knowledge to help wineries find a path forward into innovative packaging design that will engage the customers they seek to acquire.

Sones has noticed that there is a lot of new product development in spirits, but not so much in wine. His goal is to start conversations by sharing ideas on packaging innovation to give people something to think about and talk over with their marketing or creative team.

"I ask them, 'What is your vision as a winemaker or winery owner? Do you want this thing you've hand-crafted with love to be the world's best secret, or do you want to share it with the world?' Most tell me they want to share it. Packaging helps them go beyond social media to communicate their message to the world. Otherwise, it's just red juice in a clear bottle."

The team at Affinity Creative Group and their guest Hilary Berkey, Marketing Director at Codorníu Raventós Wineries & Vineyards, will continue the conversation with case studies that challenge attendees to think about how they are adapting their brand to remain relevant. The examples explore whether an evolutionary design refresh is enough or if a more radical transformation is needed. For a new brand launch, they delve into how it will fit with the established brands or if it should forge a new path with a new group of consumers.

NielsenIQ will share data on which demographics respond to innovative packaging, and Shana Bull will cue up specific packaging examples to illustrate how they can make consumers happy enough to notice it on social media or an online marketplace or pick up the bottle and buy it.

packXplore will change how you think about packaging and the importance you place on it in your marketing and strategy. It will make you question its material (glass, aluminum, cork, screw, sustainable), shape (traditional, custom-made), labeling (color, size, design, humor, story), and much more.

So, if you want to capture the attention of prospective buyers, picture their first point of interaction with your wine at the store or online and make sure your packaging design says everything they want to hear. The packXplore Conference will be held in person on Wednesday, May 25th, 2022, at the Hyatt Regency Sonoma Wine Country, Santa Rosa, CA.

packaging packaging event bottles cans