{"id":8097,"date":"2015-07-30T20:20:48","date_gmt":"2015-07-31T00:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/?p=8097"},"modified":"2015-07-30T20:20:48","modified_gmt":"2015-07-31T00:20:48","slug":"name-that-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/name-that-wine\/","title":{"rendered":"Name that wine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labels—both human and vinous—can drive success<\/strong><\/p>\n

Names make a difference. Science says so.<\/p>\n

Take human names. UCLA psychology professor, Albert Mehrabian, tested a slew of names to see how attractive people found them. Some equated to success; others to popularity or kindness.<\/p>\n

Traditional names such as Rachel or Robert got a jump start in the \u201cit\u2019s a jungle out there\u201d world.<\/p>\n

But modern alternative names did not score nearly as well. Breeze for example rated 16 on a 100 point sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cA name is part of an impression package. If you want to give your child a name that connotes low status, then you need to be aware of the consequences,\u201d Mehrabian cautioned.<\/p>\n

Might the same be true for wine? Maybe.<\/p>\n

But maybe not.<\/p>\n

Critter wines<\/strong>
\nAll of us need to be a tad skeptical when it comes pop psychology assessments. But back in the early 2000s, a phenomenon erupted in the wine world called Critter Wines. Now that moniker could not possibly sell wine, right? Think again.<\/p>\n

The winery known worldwide for largely establishing the branding phenomenon was Yellow Tail. The company\u2019s cute, colorful marsupial helped launch an ocean of inexpensive wine.<\/p>\n

\"YellowOf course, Yellow Tail also perfected an easy drinking libation to match its label. They produced a wine with less tannin and acidity while simultaneously bumping up the residual sugar a tad.<\/p>\n

The masses loved it. How much? Today, Yellow Tail has sold more than a billion bottles worldwide. That\u2019s a lot of hopping kangaroos. It also spawned an avalanche of other critter wines.<\/p>\n

As you negotiate the wine aisle in the local grocery store today you\u2019ll see: Goats Do Roam, Dancing Bull, Rex Goliath, The Little Penguin, Four Emus, Three Blind Moose, Cardinal Point, Porcupine Ridge, Badger Mountain, Butterfly Creek; the list goes on but you get the idea.<\/p>\n

All of this labeling is designed to demystify wine and make it more fun. One major target audience for such labeling is millennials; a cohort between the ages of 20 to the mid-30s and one of the fastest growing segments of wine drinkers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important for the wine industry to capture these folks today because \u201che who rocks the cradle rules the world.\u201d In 20 years, ageing millennials will have a wallet full of cash to spend on wine.<\/p>\n

So while fun wine labels can move the sales needle it might also telegraph a less prestigious wine in a buyer\u2019s mind. But if the wine is tasty and the cash register keeps ringing, who cares?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published in the Spring 2015 edition of inFauquier magazine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Labels—both human and vinous—can drive success Names make a difference. Science says so. Take human names. UCLA psychology professor, Albert Mehrabian, tested a slew of names to see how attractive people found them. Some equated to success; others to popularity or kindness. Traditional names such as Rachel or Robert got a jump start in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[825,820,821,824,822,823,819],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n