REINVENTING THE MARKETING MODEL:
New World producers revolutionized the packaging and marketing aspects of wine making. Americans and Australians greatly impacted wine packaging by replacing the Old World standard liter bottle with a half-gallon flagon in the U.S. and the innovative “wine-in-a-box” package in Australia. Australians have been praised for this idea because boxed wine not only saves on shipping costs but it has made storage easier for consumers. Australians have also begun to use screw on caps rather than the traditional corks on premium wines; this is to prevent spoiling due to deficient corks. On the marketing side, New World producers began to differentiate their products to attract customers unaccustomed to wine. Ripple, an American wine was said to be unsophisticated wine and was marketed toward customers unaccustomed to wine. It was wildly successful and led to an increase in branding and marketing alike.
These were not the only major changes driven by New World companies, another was distribution. Previouslythe tasks of grape growing, wine making, distribution, and marketing were handled by different entities, many of which lacked the scale and knowledge to function proficiently. “In contrast, the large wine companies from the New World typically controlled the full value chain, extracting margins at every level and retaining bargaining power with increasingly concentrated retailers.” Since these producers held responsibility at every level, the quality of the final product was immaculate.
Wine Traditionalists felt the New World’s established grape-growing and wine-making ways were embarrassing. Arguing that in their drive for efficiency, consistency, and their desires to cater to less sophisticated palates, New World producers had lost the character that came with more vintage wines made in the traditional fashion. Annoying Old World producers even further was the fact that new wineries would name their wines Burgundy,...