Walk into any wine-selling establishment and you’re immediately faced with a dizzying array of varietals, bottles and label designs. At a distance, the offerings may all look alike – bottle after bottle of whites, reds and rosé, but move closer and start to search for one to buy and the differences become clear. This is the moment your wine bottle design catches the consumer’s eye, and you have about three seconds more to entice them to pick it up. So how do you make sure your wine bottle design is one that people want to reach out for, touch, pick up and ultimately, buy?
A recent Nielsen study highlights 34 brands that are winning the shelf wars through innovative wine bottle design. The goal is to help brands and the design firms they work with better understand what drives consumer preference and then create a wine bottle design that not only catches the consumer’s eye, but compels them to the cash register.
The study found that all parts of the bottle are strategic to making that sale: bottle shape, size and color, and the label. It concluded that for the total wine package to effectively do its job, it needs to:
Using eye-scan technology, Nielsen was able to pinpoint which elements of an array of wine bottles a consumer’s eye first jumped to and then was able to track where the eye went next. This is valuable data for brands and designers, as they can use it to tweak wine bottle design elements and the bottle itself. The main attention getters? A label’s color, shape and contrast on the bottle.
The wine bottle has not changed much over the last several centuries, and its design has tended to be conservative. The time seems ripe for an update. While taste is what ultimately brings consumers back time and again to a particular wine, there’s no denying that current marketing trends call for a more progressive approach to wine bottle design.
While a wine bottle’s label ranks first in attracting the most attention from a consumer, recent studies point to new glass designs and fanciful closures as effective eye-catchers as well. In addition, many glass vendors are now offering articulated punts which beautifully capture and reflect light, adding an elegant twist to what is otherwise a conventional bottle. Some wineries are choosing odd-shaped bottles or ones with textural or sculptural elements. Others uses full bottle plastic laminates to create exciting designs that mimic gift wrap or faux wood.
In the past, wine bottle design was greatly influenced by the label. Today, direct on-bottle screen printing has become hugely popular, and the process allows your total package design to overcome challenges such as labeling irregular bottle shapes. Consumers believe screen printed labels bring a high-end look, even to value-priced brands. Wineries looking to differentiate their bottles from other offerings have wholeheartedly embraced the technology, as it allows them to create updated, can’t-miss-it-on-the-shelf labels.
If you want to catch consumers’ eyes and win over their hearts, today’s wine bottle design would seem to be about the perfect blend of bottle shape and label design. At Bottleprint, we’re in the business of helping you attract buyers through beautiful and original wine bottle screen printing. Contact us today to learn more about how our advanced screen printing technology can help your brand stand out.
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