• Make a campaign that shows how wine can be used in college kids’ culture.

• Create a Mondavi College collection and redesign the labels for a younger audience.

• Implement a digital campaign to build the Mondavi profile among the 21+ audience.

 

I have drawn a storyboard to articulate an advertisement idea for Mondavi. 3 students; 3 scenarios where they might drink or use wine. The concept is “Nothing but Mondavi in the fridge” and how that is all the student needs to tackle a situation - to show how wine, specifically Mondavi wine, is versatile and can fit into their culture on a number of occasions.

 

1. Thanksgiving with parents. Thanksgiving has crept up on me like a stealthy fox: silent, ruthless, and deadly. With graduation imminently approaching, my father is all too aware of my indecisiveness over my future career. He will tear into the turkey and rip into its carcass, the way he should like to do to me if it were acceptable to plunge a knife deep into the chest of a Man’s child. If I am not careful to arm myself with gestures of maturity, it is sure to be a bloodbath. Thankfully, Mom will be much more of an ally to me and she is my father’s weakness. What can I give her that asserts that I am happy to return to her arms, but also that I am growing into a young man to be proud of? Looking around the kitchen, the wilting flowers outside the window will not make the journey, nor do I have time to venture out to purchase a gift. Seeing the fridge as my final beacon of hope, I swing it open to see its empty body gleaming back at me, but for a single bottle of Mondavi wine. ‘Chardonnay’ the colourful label reads. Looking suitably sophisticated, I escort it out of the front door as I quickly google it on my phone. ‘Accompanies white meat well’ the search engine says - well fancy that, it will go with the turkey. Casually mention my oenophile knowledge of the pairing of Chardonnay and Turkey and it will be clear sailing into the persona of a mature, responsible, and considerate son. Parents, eat your heart out.

 

2. My date is coming over in an hour. I am thoroughly engrossed in beating my top score on Madden NFL ’12, when I hear my phone trill in the distance. Then tension is mounting as I fail to give Tom Brady the complete pass that would seal the deal, so I pause the game and put down my controller before I lob it in frustration across the room. Reluctantly caving to the social calling, I read the new text message that spikes my pulse beyond the high levels reached after Brady’s dashed hopes. I had entirely forgotten about my date tonight; my date with a girl who is one romantic evening away from letting me get off the bench and into touchdown territory. She’s going to be arriving in an hour, and a lump in my throat is now preventing me from breathing or processing any logical thought. I rush to the fridge, which is entirely empty but for a bottle of Mondavi Sauvignon Blanc - when did I even buy that? - and butter. To the cupboard and I see dried mushrooms, stock, and possibly some fat looking rice. Right, risotto it is. I leave it boiling away on the stove as I become a walking vacuum around

my apartment, spring cleaning as I go. I lay the table with two wine glasses that I discover under the sink, and a jug full of flowers that I pluck from the beds outside the apartment building’s front door. I dive in and out of the shower faster than Michael Phelps and return to the kitchen to a more pleasant smell than I anticipated. Dashing in some wine, the risotto aroma builds to a delicious climax. My buzzer rings like clockwork and I open the door to the most beautiful girl I have recently encountered. Handing her a glass of chilled wine, the colour of liquid gold, her eyes widen in astonishment and I can see the 50 yard line in her diluted pupils. We cheers hello and both silently marvel at what I have achieved: her open praise for my romantic effort is well received as I chuckle to myself. If only she had seen the bare ingredients.

 

3. Hosting a party. Tonight is the night that I officially come of age, the big 2-1, so this party has to be to be one that triumphs above all the rest! Very soon the kegs will roll in, the barbecues will set up, and the bodies will come together in an emphatic wave of dancing. Shifting figures that float around laughing with their red cups and elated smiles. In the mean time my banners are up, the stereo is set, and the plunge pool for punch sits alarmingly empty. I promised a bucket of delight - a colourful cocktail for those exotic beauties, or a sweet alternative to beer once the hiccuping ensues. But turning to my bald faced fridge I have little to offer but juices and the elegant figure of Mondavi. Her slender neck and plump little bottom boasts golden bubbles streaming down like hair, which mix with the velvety blackness of blackcurrant, or the fuchsia blood of the raspberry. Suddenly I feel like an extravagant European, with my cocktail bar spread out before me to entice the sweetest bees to all the colourful and delicious honey. The red syrup of a Mondavi Merlot flows into the swimming pool of juices and fruit, and creates an aromatic concoction that promises to delight the senses and then to blur them into a happy haze. A drink to offer my guests that tastes of the promise of summer and delivers the usual charm of the most supreme festivities. The cheers are ensuing and the jubilation is radiating around the party, and this night of momentous birthdays will be remembered as starting with something as simple as a Mondavi.

 

 

 

Marketing the Mondavi wine: make a limited range aimed at students.

Looking at the Woodbridge Collection, Mondavi already has an affordable range, but the business aim should persist for a price range of $5-20 per bottle to ensure its accessibility for as many college students as possible. Taking an array of 4 different but commonly recognised grapes from this collection could work best, such as Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot, and then Extra dry sparkling wine for those moments of celebration in college life. These bottles could be re-labelled with a more vibrant and colourful design to capture the attention of the 21+ audience. Mondavi could work in partnership with art students from renowned institutions such as RISD, in re-designing these labels. In a philanthropic venture these labels would give experience to training artists and offer a wide circulation of a signed piece of art, whilst also connecting with the creative minds of the target audience.
The artists could draw inspiration from the Chateau Mouton-Rothschild vintage wine labels, which combine art, imagination, and exoticism in their labels whilst maintaining an air of quality and class.

Campaign in the digital sphere: Mondavi Party.

Focusing on the versatility of taste of Mondavi wine, the digital campaign could invite followers on Facebook and Twitter to post their favourite wine cocktails or spritzers they have tasted or created using the new College Wine collection. Everyone who submits a cocktail and shares the campaign page on Facebook is automatically entered into the running to have a Mondavi party. A Mondavi party would be a celebration with 20 of your friends, which Mondavi would host at your college house serving your favourite Mondavi cocktail amoung others. The bar would be overflowing with delicious sensory tastes of Mondavi wines, and the in-house DJ would ensure that you and your friends celebrate a night to remember. Mondavi could throw a number of parties nationwide over the months of the activation campaign to create a brand buzz across the country, and videos of each party would be uploaded to the campaign webpages to showcase all the merriment that is possible with Mondavi Wines.

New product idea

I went to my sister’s 16th whilst working on this idea, and began to develop a new tangent for this Mondavi campaign. At this party wine was served to these young guests, but they struggled to enjoy it as they drank it from the bottle - too impatient for a glass and desperate to commandeer as much alcohol as possible - should it suddenly be removed by the parents. The over powering flavour of the wine knocked their unadulterated senses and there became a lot of wine wastage. I thought it a shame that they would miss the subtleties of flavour because of their determination to drink it from a full bottle, and wished that there was technology that allowed you to taste the wine as if it was breathing in a glass without having to remove it from the bottle. Such a wish gave birth to a blue sky idea a little outside the brief, but I think it could be a truly interesting concept. Something innovative and creatively curious. Had the stoppers and their fruit shots existed these 16 year olds might of enjoyed fruit concoctions with a smile on their face, rather than a harsh overpowering taste with a grimace. Let me go on to explain my new product idea.

You could re-design the bottle size to a 25cl bottle. This would give a personal serving of wine - perfect for consumption at parties and social events where lugging around a full bottle isn’t socially acceptable. Next, design a stopper that can be attached to an open bottle, and which has an air pocket within that delays the wine and mimics drinking from a glass.

The ergonomics of specifically crafted wine glasses for particular grapes, use shapes that enhance the flavours of the wine. For example, the extremely thin rim on a Sauvignon Blanc glass forces the head back which enhances the drinkers ability to taste all the subtle flavours of the grape’s palate. Creating a stopper that attempts to mimic this amplification of flavour would be an exciting venture for a product design team working with Mondavi.

It could also offers a a potential partnership with Riedel, a leading company in the manufacturing of elite wine glasses. Using their breadth of ergonomically knowledge that has accumulated since the 19th century to help develop the most effective and authentic replica to drinking from a glass.
It is possible that Riedel may not want to bastardise their brand in association with plastic that mimics the art of fine glassware, but the prospect of a patent fee could be more appealing. I considered that this too could be a philanthropic venture whereby the stopper design could be open to product design and engineering students across America, who could work in partnership with these prestigious oenological companies to support the development of the wine market and its products.

In a final addition, the product designers could seek to create Fruit shots (like the Nespresso shots) that can be added to the stoppers, which the wine filters through to create a wine cocktail on the go. Raspberry, Blackcurrant and Passion Fruit flavours are best matched with wine, and the Sauvignon Blanc and the Extra dry sparkling wine are the most suitable bottles from the College range to use in this venture, due to their dry crisp.
I considered a number of event marketing opportunities for this product at big college social events, such as the ‘Big Game’ between ivy league institutions, formal events such as college balls, or at festivals with a typically 21+ audience. Whereby Mondavi could set up a stall with the small bottles, stoppers and fruit shots, giving out testers.

The environmental and financial incentive for smaller bottles would be less wastage and more money per centre litre of wine. Equally, if successful this product could be appealing to a market from 21 to older audiences, in addition to the worldwide market such as the leading European Oenological market.