The wine industry in the U.S. is alive and well. Total revenue for wine sales are estimated to hit the $50 billion mark for 2020. Although that’s a big number, the wine industry is a competitive one, with wine labels from around the globe clamoring for a dominant position in the largest wine market in the world. With such a crowded field, differentiating your products from your competitors’ is a must.
One of the most effective ways to stand out is through the creative, unique use of wine packaging and labeling. In this post, we’ll explore what to consider when you’re choosing packaging for your wine, how your brand can benefit, and up-and-coming wine packaging trends. We’ll wrap up by looking at four inspiring, out-of-the-box wine packaging designs to get your creative juices flowing.
Benefits of Unique Wine Packaging
The most successful wine packaging is creative and memorable. Wine bottles, boxes, and labels are all fair game when it comes to putting your brand’s unique vibe on display. And making sure your wine stands out on the shelves is well worth the time and resources spent on distinctive packaging.
Increase Customer Interest
There’s a lot of competition in the US wine market. Consumers have choices — lots of them. As your potential customers walk down the aisle of their favorite wine shop, row upon row of bottles greet them. A whimsical label or unusually shaped bottle is much more likely to make them stop and pick up your bottle over someone else’s. Innovative wine packaging sells.
Foster Brand Recognition
Using an easily recognizable, innovative wine packaging across your brand makes it easier for loyal consumers to recognize your offerings. Over time, as your brand grows, your product offerings will also grow. Keeping a consistent style makes tying your new wine packaging into your existing lineup a lot simpler.
Easily Connect with Your Target Audience
It’s important to know your market segment before you begin creating your wine packaging design. What matters to one segment of the market may not matter much to another. For example, if your target audience skews younger, you may want to favor wine labels and boxes that lean toward a bolder and more whimsical look. If you’re marketing to mid-career professionals, a classic wine label design esthetic may pair well with packaging made from eco-friendly materials.
Heighten Perceived Value
Your wine packaging design is the first thing a consumer sees when they look at your product. A well-designed label, bottle, or box can heighten the perception of quality and desirability of your offering.
5 Wine Packaging Trends To Consider
New wine packaging trends are evolving constantly. This evolution is a response to advances in innovative wine packaging and changes in consumer preferences. Here are five trends to watch.
1. Eco-Conscious Packaging
Sustainable wine packaging that’s easy to recycle is a trend with sticking power. The shift in consumer preference towards more sustainable packaging choices has resulted in a number of new wine packaging options. Boxed wines, with their recyclable cardboard outer shells and plastic interior liners, are the most mainstream manifestations of this trend. Eco-friendly paper labels and labels made from bio-based plastics are also easy wins for wine sellers looking to use more environmentally friendly materials.
2. Bolder Is Better
Novelty is hard to come by these days, as consumers are constantly bombarded with marketing messages from all corners of daily life. Wine labels with memorable designs and bold colors can help product offerings stand out on store shelves lined with competing brands.
3. Unique Bottle Shapes and Sizes
With the bulk of wines stored in traditional bottles, packaging your wines in bottles with an unusual shape is an instant standout. A container rippling with whimsical curves or sporting a tall, sleek design visually differentiates your wines from everyone else’s. Smaller, single-serve-sized bottles are another way to appeal to consumers differently, attracting interest from those who love a good glass of wine but aren’t likely to down a traditional-sized bottle by the time it goes flat.
4. Alternative Packaging, Wine Boxes, and Cans
Wine can be stored in just about anything that creates a tight seal. Boxed wine and wine that comes in single-serve cans expands the possibilities for how wine can be enjoyed. Wine pouches cut out the more traditional wine bottle entirely, providing instead a container that’s fully recyclable, easy to store, and guaranteed not to shatter into a million messy pieces on the floor if it’s dropped.
5. High Tech Creds
In a smartphone-crazy culture, integrating a QR code into the label design is a creative way to appeal to the digitally savvy market segment. Information accessed via the QR code could include ingredients, the date it was bottled, expiration date, and some interesting facts or informational tidbits unique to that particular vintage.
4 Best Wine Packaging Design Ideas
Here are four of our favorite wine packaging and design inspirations to show you what can happen when a good idea comes together.
1. Lost Inhibitions Wine
This wine bottler is turning heads with its attention-grabbing labels. It’s safe to say that their whimsical and rather unorthodox messages aren’t found on any other wine bottles on the market today. Once you’ve seen one of their product offerings, it’s hard to forget them. This is packaging design at its finest!
2. Paperboy
This is about as green as they come. Paperboy is a wine bottle that’s made of 100% paper. It comes with a fully recyclable plastic wine bag similar to the ones found in boxed wines. The wine bottle shape offers the best of both worlds – a classic shape with all of the eco-friendly benefits of its boxed wine brethren.
3. Garçon Wines
Another eco-friendly wine bottle design, Garçon Wines’ flat bottle design not only saves space for more efficient storage and shipping, it’s also made from post-consumer, recycled PET plastic.
4. One87 Wine and Cocktails
What makes this bottling solution unique is the brilliant single-serve design. One87 Wine and Cocktails specialize in small, individually packaged drinks that come in bar-worthy shapes. Their single-use wines even come with a separate stem that you can attach to the container to provide a more dressed-up experience of holding a wine glass while you sip away.
5. Riviera Wine Group
It’s all about presentation with this company’s wine subscription service. Focused on introducing the world to wine sourced from California’s unique micro-producers, Riviera Wine Group offers a subscription service called WINECULT. Handpicked, artistically designed wines come nestled in a branded box, delivered to subscribers’ front doors.
Connecting the Dots
Having a quality lineup of wines can only take you so far. Innovative wine packaging and creative, unique label designs are the defining features of today’s most successful brands. By taking the time to identify what matters to your target audience and pairing that with recent trends in wine packaging, you’ll position your products to outsell your competition and gain a solid foothold in a competitive market.
If you have any questions about labels and product packaging, don’t hesitate to contact the Experience Team by phone or Live Chat! Our team is ready to serve your business with care and excellence.
You might also like:
• 6 Wine Label Design Tips to Save You Time and Money
• 5 Best Types of Labels for Glass Bottles and Jars
• Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Co-Packer
