Brand Development in prosecco
The Challenge
Mionetto was losing share in a fragmented UK prosecco category, and was at risk of losing distribution. The UK brand team hypothesised that it lacked clear differentiation or premium cues. We needed to prove or disprove this hypothesis and get to the root causes of the brand’s weakening performance in order to develop the best way forward to restoring its momentum.
The Approach
The success of any brand repositioning or new strategy had to meet the following criteria:
- It required a thorough and holistic diagnosis of problems specific to the UK market, to identify immediate and urgent action which would avoid further share erosion and or distribution loss, winning a breathing space whilst a longer term brand strategy could be enacted.
- Any conclusions and strategic recommendations would need alignment with key stakeholders and brand guardians in the Italian winery, and be compatible with global strategy.
- But it also needed to resonate with retail customers, demonstrating a clear role for the Mionetto brand in adding value to the category.
The Solution
We conducted a multi-stage project which would deliver 360 degree holistic understanding of the prosecco category and the role of Freixenet’s portfolio of brands within it with special focus on Mionetto. We…
Step 1. Re-analysed existing data, and in particular Kantar’s shopper data, bringing new insight about Mionetto’s role in the consumer’s repertoire of prosecco.
Step 2. Conducted a quantitative study of prosecco shoppers to understand the purchase decision tree, demand spaces, prompts and drivers, brand funnels and equity, and brand repertoires. Marketing materials and messaging were also critiqued by respondents and a segmentation defined Mionetto’s core consumer profile and the demand spaces in which it could win.
Step 3. Engaged qualitatively with Mionetto’s core consumer on shopping safaris to learn more from their encounters with brands at the point of purchase, understand in more depth their demand spaces and add rich insights around their perception of Mionetto’s proposition, marketing and visual assets alongside the competitive set.
The Result – Mionetto 1887
Mionetto was playing a secondary role in consumer repertoires, bought only occasionally, despite being price competitive. It has a distinctive “true prosecco” taste, ideal for a more discerning palate but we discovered that its brand design and messaging were failing to resonate, differentiate or project premium values.
So we changed that! We…
- re-defined the target consumer, creating an archetypal profile
- elevated the most compelling and unique elements of the brand story in creative content and marketing materials
- dialled up attributes and associations resonant with more discerning consumers’ interest in provenance, sustainability and craftsmanship
- reinforcing that premium-ness and craftsmanship with the introduction of new products from the winery and borrowing design elements from other parts of the range
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